Red Shiso
Red shiso (akajiso) is the red- to purple-leaved form of shiso, an aromatic herb in the mint family whose color comes from the anthocyanin pigment shisonin. It carries a more intense, complex aroma than green shiso and lends both fragrance and a vivid crimson hue to the drinks it flavors.
How red shiso is prepared
Red shiso is most often steeped or infused to produce vividly colored, fragrant drinks: sweet red shiso summer juices and cordials in Japan, infusions and syrups for low- and no-alcohol mixed drinks, and as a flavoring and coloring agent in fermented and plum-based beverages. The leaves are also used in modern fermented sparkling drinks for both aroma and color.
Steam Distillation
A distillation method where steam is passed through plant material to vaporize volatile aromatic compounds, which are then condensed back into liquid form.
In depth
Origins in China and the herb's early medicinal use
Red shiso is a colored form of the herb known in Chinese as zisu, a cultigen of Perilla frutescens that was cultivated in ancient China and described in medical texts by around 500 AD. From the start its uses straddled food and remedy: in Chinese tradition it was valued for dispelling cold and easing digestive complaints, and it was commonly served with fish and crab in the belief that it could counter the ill effects of seafood. These early medicinal and culinary roles laid the groundwork for the herb's later appearance in steeped and brewed preparations, where its strong aroma and warm, clove-like character translate readily into liquid form.[1]
Red shiso summer juice in Japan
Perilla reached Japan around the eighth or ninth century, and over time the red-leaved form, called akajiso, became firmly embedded in Japanese seasonal cooking and drinking. Its most direct beverage use is a sweet red juice made in the warmer months: when the leaves are steeped, they release a deep crimson color and a fragrant, faintly spiced aroma, and the resulting liquid is sweetened to make a refreshing summer drink. This non-alcoholic infusion remains the clearest traditional example of red shiso used purely as a beverage, prized as much for its vivid color as for its cooling, herbal taste.[1]
Red shiso, umeboshi, and ume-based drinks
Red shiso is inseparable from the making of umeboshi, the salted and pickled ume fruit, where the leaves are added to dye the fruit and its brine a bright red. The brining liquid that results, umezu, takes on shiso's color and fragrance, and this red, sharply sour and salty liquid is itself used as a seasoning. The connection extends into drinks: umeboshi are sometimes combined with shochu and hot water to make a warming, savory-sour beverage, and the broader family of ume preparations that share the kitchen with red shiso has fostered a tradition of tart, aromatic plum drinks in which the herb's color and scent often play a supporting role.[2]
Plum liqueurs and the wider ume drinking tradition
The same ume fruit that red shiso colors in pickling is also steeped in spirit and sugar to make umeshu, a sweet-and-sour Japanese plum liqueur whose recipes appear in the historical record some three centuries ago. While classic umeshu relies on the fruit itself, the herb sits within the same seasonal cycle of ume harvesting and preservation, and shiso-tinted, plum-forward flavors recur across the spectrum of ume beverages, from the liqueur itself to the lighter, mixed and soda-based serves built around it. Modern low- and no-alcohol versions of these plum drinks draw on red shiso to supply both the expected rosy color and an aromatic lift.[3]
Spread to the West and ornamental introduction
Red shiso traveled beyond Asia in the mid-nineteenth century, becoming available to gardeners in England around 1855 under the name Perilla nankinensis, after the city of Nanking, and reaching the United States shortly afterward. Its initial Western appeal was ornamental, driven by the striking red-purple foliage that earned it nicknames such as 'beefsteak plant.' Although it was first grown for show rather than for drinking, this introduction seeded the herb's later familiarity in Western kitchens and bars, where its color and fragrance would eventually be put to use in infusions, cordials, and craft beverages.[4]
Contemporary use in specialty and low-alcohol drinks
Today red shiso is increasingly cultivated outside Asia specifically for beverage work, including on dedicated herb fields in Europe, and it features prominently in modern fermented and sparkling specialty drinks where its anthocyanin color and complex, cinnamon-and-clove aroma stand out. The herb is steeped to make syrups, cordials, and infusions for no- and low-alcohol mixed drinks, and its distinctive perillaldehyde fragrance gives bartenders and producers a botanical that delivers both visual drama and depth of flavor. In this contemporary context, red shiso has moved from a pickling and seasoning ingredient toward a recognized flavoring in its own right for craft non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beverages.[1]
Part of Shiso