JAPANESE SHISO · YUZU · VODKA · 10.6% ABV
THE COCKTAIL SOMMELIERS OBSESS OVER. THE ONE NOBODY ELSE IS MAKING.
Cold-pressed Japanese shiso. Real yuzu citrus. The sour that changed everything.
Shiso Leaf 🌿
10.6% ABV ✨
Real Yuzu 🍋
THE ORIGIN STORY
"Shiso is the herb that Japanese cuisine kept to itself for centuries. Minty, basil-like, herbaceous, with a slight anise note that Western spirits had never met before. MXTology cold-pressed fresh shiso leaf and paired it with real yuzu — Japan's prized citrus. The result is a cocktail that stops serious drinkers mid-sentence."
The Flavour Map
Three dimensions of a Japanese sour unlike anything else.
Related to mint and basil. The herb Japanese chefs use to make sashimi transcendent. Never in a cocktail pouch before MXTology put it there.
Unmistakable shiso first. Tart yuzu cuts through. Longer and cleaner than any sour you've had. A cocktail that earns its second sip.
Chilled coupe. No garnish needed — the shiso is its own visual interest. Or on the rocks with a single ice sphere for a slower, more meditative experience.
Inside The Pouch
Four ingredients. Zero compromises.
Japanese cocktail culture is built on precision. We borrowed that philosophy for everything inside this pouch.
Cold-pressed to preserve the volatile aromatics that heat would destroy. Not extract. The actual leaf, captured at its peak.
The citrus Japan kept for itself. Floral, tart, complex. More interesting than lemon, more unusual than lime. Nothing else does what yuzu does.
Chosen specifically to stay invisible. The shiso is the star. The vodka is the frame. Any presence and it would compete.
Barely there, perfectly balanced. Just enough sweetness to round the yuzu and let the shiso breathe. The touch that makes everything else make sense.
The Activatable Cocktails™ Ritual
Open. Close. Shake. Experience.
Four steps. The precision of a Japanese cocktail bar in the palm of your hand.
Chill the pouch thoroughly. A cold Shiso Sour is a different drink to a warm one. Patience here is rewarded in the glass.
Open the pouch — it expands, pulling in fresh air. Re-seal. The cold-pressed shiso aromatics prepare to bloom.
Shake firmly for 5 seconds. The shiso integrates with the yuzu. The honey rounds everything out. This is your precise Japanese bartender moment.
Strain into a chilled coupe. Optional: float a single fresh shiso leaf on the surface. The aroma rises. You pause. That pause is the point.
Why It Hit Different
The cocktail nobody dared make. Until now.
The cocktail no-one else dared make.
- Cold-pressed shiso — not artificial herb flavouring or extract
- Real yuzu — Japan's prized citrus, not lemon substitute
- The only shiso cocktail pouch in Australia
- 10.6% ABV — sophisticated and genuinely sessionable
- Conversation-starting guaranteed at every serve
AS SEEN ON · Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars Australia
"You've given people their most precious resource back — their time. It's bloody brilliant."
— Gordon Ramsay · Food Stars Australia
STOCK UP
THE COCKTAIL THAT MAKES EVERY GUEST ASK "WHAT IS THIS?"
ALSO IN THE CABINET
You're going to want the rest.
The Fine Print, Made Friendly
Questions Shiso Sour converts actually ask.
What does shiso taste like?
Shiso (Perilla frutescens) is genuinely hard to describe because it tastes like nothing else — which is exactly why it makes such an interesting cocktail ingredient. The closest comparison is somewhere between mint and basil, with a slight anise or cinnamon note that neither of those herbs has. Japanese cuisine uses it extensively because it can sit alongside delicate fish, rich sauces, and everything in between. In this cocktail, it provides an herbaceous backbone that the yuzu and honey build around. First sip stops most people mid-conversation.
What's yuzu?
Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit — smaller than a lemon, with a flavour that's floral, tart, and complex in a way that Western citrus simply isn't. Japan has historically kept most of its yuzu production, which is why it's only recently become known outside Asia. It's used extensively in Japanese haute cuisine, sake production, and — now — in the cocktail worth talking about. Real yuzu juice, not yuzu flavouring, makes a categorically different drink.
How strong is the Shiso Sour?
10.6% ABV. Approximately 1.1 standard drinks per 130ml pouch. The lowest ABV in the MXTology range — and deliberately so. This is a cocktail built for long contemplative sessions, dinner party aperitifs, and occasions where the conversation is the point and you want the drink to stay interesting without the pace accelerating. Sessionable and sophisticated at the same time.
Who is this cocktail for?
Wine sommeliers. Serious cocktail drinkers who are bored of the same rotation. People who eat at Japanese restaurants and have been disappointed by the cocktail list. Anyone who values herbaceous, complex flavour over sweetness. Guests you want to impress without explaining why. People who will ask you where you found this. Basically: curious drinkers with good taste who haven't met shiso yet.
What's an Activatable Cocktail™?
Open the pouch and it expands, drawing in fresh air. Re-seal. Shake for 5 seconds. The cold-pressed shiso aromatics bloom, the yuzu brightens, and the honey integrates — giving you the result of a precise Japanese bartender's technique without the bartender. Our patented pouch technology preserves the volatile shiso compounds that would degrade in any other format. The result is a cocktail that tastes genuinely fresh because, using our technology, it actually is.
LAST CALL
The cocktail that makes you stop and think.
$14 a pouch. Cold-pressed shiso. Real yuzu. Free shipping over $150. The cocktail nobody else is making, in your fridge by the weekend.
AUD · Per pouch · 1.1 standard drinks · 10.6% ABV
"Bloody brilliant."
— Gordon Ramsay · Food Stars Australia