Straight
With no ice or water, it’s possible to fully experience the distinct flavors and characteristics of any kind of shochu. Serving shochu straight works well with all varieties of Honkaku shochu--especially sweet potato (imo), rice (kome), buckwheat (soba), barley (mugi), and brown sugar (kokuto).
When serving shochu straight, it can be done at a variety of temperatures. Room temperature is most common, and is often recommended for more savory shochus, such as aged shochu.
Another option is to serve the shochu chilled. Chilling the shochu produces a thicker consistency and a more concentrated flavor. This serving style is often favored by rice (kome) shochu drinkers, as well as sake drinkers, who enjoy the resemblance of chilled shochu to sake (Nihon-shu).
The final option for straight shochu is to serve it warm. To properly serve warm straight shochu, a small pot called a kuro joka is required for heating.
Traditionally, a kuro joka is used to heat shochu that has first been blended with water,but using it to heat straight shochu is not entirely unheard of.
The key to heating a kuro joka is to do it slowly, doing it too quickly tarnishes the flavor and results in a shochu that is unsuitable to drink. For this reason, a kuro joka is heated using a small charcoal fueled grill known as a konro.