Plum Season!

In Japan, the rainy season is called 梅雨, which means "plum rain". The fact that plums happen to ripen during this time is the only thing good about rainy season. The rest is just wind and rain and awfulness.

This year, I decided to take advantage of the plum season, and make my very own 梅酒 (umeshu, or plum wine).

First I washed a kilo and a half of plums....

These are the things you need to just make regular plum wine: A jar to keep it in (I had a 4L and a 3L), rock sugar (the stuff to the left of the jar), and the stuff in the carton, which is already alcohol.

I chose to use different kinds of fruit other than just plums in mine. The first batch was mostly plums, but I also added raspberries and pineapple, and a little bit of vanilla vodka. I based my recipe off my favorite drink - a French Martini. If it works, it will be delicious.

The second batch was made using cherries, peaches, and grapes, but I did throw in my extra plums as well.

Here they are, sealed up and ready to hang out for 6 months or so and become some (hopefully) amazing liqueur.