Pluomeshu
Umeshu is made from tart unripe ume, sugar, alcohol, and time. I’ve made it several times over the years, but my favorite variant used a different stone fruit.
While it’s not technically an umeshu because it’s not made with ume (a small Japanese fruit in the Prunus genus that also contains plums and apricots), this 12-bottle micro-batch of “Pluomeshu” was made by a similar process, fermenting and infusing unripe green pluots from a Berkeley back yard in sugar and a neutral spirit, straining after 6 months, then letting age another 6-18 months (the two-year batch will be ready summer 2018).
At 9 months it had a nice blend of tartness and still-bright stonefruit sweetness. At 18 months it’s taking on more honey and sherry flavors.