Hon mirin ("true mirin")
is a sweet rice liquor made from just three things: glutinous rice, rice koji and shochu, a spirit distilled
from rice. It is about 14% alcohol, it is aged for months or years, and every bit of its sweetness
comes from the rice. In Japan it is sold, and taxed, as a liquor.
Outside Japan, almost every bottle labelled "mirin" is something else. Most are aji-mirin, a
syrup made to taste like mirin, or salted mirin, a brewed mirin with salt added so that it is
sold as a cooking ingredient rather than as alcohol. Even the Mikawa mirin that one US natural food shop sells,
from a brewery founded in 1910, lists sea salt among its ingredients.
This guide shows how to tell the three apart from the label, why the salt is there, which brewers make the real
thing, and how to get a bottle.
Quick Reference: Hon Mirin vs Mirin at a Glance
| Type | Ingredients to look for | Alcohol | Where you find it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hon mirin, traditional | Glutinous rice, rice koji, shochu. Nothing else | About 14% | Japan |
| Hon mirin, quick-brewed | Adds brewed alcohol and sugars (glucose syrup) | About 14% | Japan |
| Salted mirin (mirin-type seasoning) | Rice, koji, and salt | Varies, about 10–14% | US natural food stores, Amazon |
| Aji-mirin (mirin-style seasoning) | Corn syrup or glucose, water, flavourings | Under 1% | Most supermarkets |
1. What Is Hon Mirin? Three Ingredients, All From Rice
Hon mirin is made by mixing steamed glutinous rice and rice koji into shochu and leaving it to work. The koji
turns the starch in the rice into sugar, and the shochu keeps the mash from fermenting that sugar into more
alcohol. What comes out of the press is thick, golden and sweet, and it keeps getting deeper in colour as it
ages.
Sumiya Bunjiro Brewery in Hekinan, Aichi, which makes Sanshu Mikawa Mirin, describes the timeline: the mash
takes about three months to brew, and the mirin then ages for about two years. All three ingredients come
from rice, including the shochu, which the brewery distils itself. The result is about 14% alcohol, and the
brewery says it tastes good on its own.
What It Does in Cooking
Mirin brings a rounded sweetness that sugar does not, a glossy glaze on teriyaki and simmered fish, and an aroma from the koji. Because the sweetness is part of a brewed liquid, it goes into a sauce smoothly, without the sharp edge of sugar stirred into soy sauce. Equal parts soy sauce and mirin is a classic starting point for a Japanese sauce.
2. Why Japanese Hon Mirin? It Started as a Drink
Before it was a seasoning, mirin was something people drank. In the Edo period, a summer drink called yanagikage ("willow shade"), also known as hon-naoshi, was made by mixing mirin and shochu, reportedly one to one, and drinking it cool rather than warmed. It appears in the Edo-era encyclopedia of customs Morisada Manko and in the classic rakugo story Aona. Changes to the liquor tax later made it fade away, and today it is rarely drunk.
As Edo's soba and eel shops grew, mirin moved into the kitchen, paired with soy sauce. The breweries that kept making it the slow way are still in the same places:
Hekinan, Aichi: "The City of Brewing"
Hekinan, in the Mikawa region of Aichi, calls itself the city of brewing: mirin, soy sauce, vinegar and white soy sauce are all made there. Kokonoe Mirin has brewed mirin in Hekinan since 1772, and Sumiya Bunjiro Brewery since 1910. "Mikawa mirin" is mirin from this area.
Mino, Gifu: Mirin as a Nightcap
Inland, on the Hida River, Hakusen Shuzo was already a mirin shop in the late Edo period. It says hon mirin has been loved in the Mino area as a nightcap by people with a sweet tooth since Edo times.
3. Why the Mirin Sold in the US Has Salt in It
Real hon mirin is a 14% alcohol drink. To sell it like soy sauce, on an ordinary grocery shelf, it has to stop
being one. The usual way is salt. Under US federal rules, wine that has been made unfit to drink, for example
with salt, is treated as a cooking product rather than an alcoholic beverage.
The makers say so plainly. Eden Foods writes that its mirin "contains a small amount of added salt so that it
is not considered an alcohol." Kawashimaya answers "Is it drinkable as a liquor?" with "No." And Natural
Import, a North Carolina shop that credits its Mikawa mirin to Sumiya Bunjiro's brewmaster, lists
sea salt among the ingredients of its OG Mikawa Mirin (and, as of November 2026, shows it
out of stock until 2027).
Salted Mirin Is Still Brewed Mirin
A good salted mirin is brewed from rice and koji like the real thing and tastes close to it. You cannot drink it, and you need to cut back on the soy sauce or salt in a recipe a little. In Japan this kind of product is sold as a "fermented seasoning" (hakko chomiryo), not as hon mirin.
Aji-Mirin Is a Different Thing
Aji-mirin, the bottle on most supermarket shelves, is under 1% alcohol and gets its sweetness from corn syrup or glucose rather than from brewed rice. In Japan it is called mirin-fu chomiryo, "mirin-style seasoning." It sweetens, but it does not have the depth of brewed mirin.
4. How to Read a Mirin Label
Turn the bottle over and read the ingredients. The front of the bottle will say "mirin" whatever is inside.
Only Glutinous Rice, Rice Koji and Shochu: Traditional Hon Mirin
In Japanese: もち米・米こうじ・本格焼酎 (or 米焼酎, rice shochu), with 本みりん on the front. Some brewers call it junmai hon mirin, "pure rice hon mirin." This is the one this guide is about.
Brewed Alcohol and Sugars Added: Quick-Brewed Hon Mirin
If the list adds 醸造アルコール (brewed alcohol) and 糖類 (sugars), it is still legally hon mirin, but it was made faster with help from outside. Sumiya Bunjiro's two years of ageing compare with the 40 to 60 days often cited for industrial mirin. It is fine for everyday cooking, but it is not the bottle to buy as a treat.
Salt in the List: Salted Mirin
Salt, sea salt, 食塩. Brewed, but not drinkable. In Japan the label will say 発酵調味料 (fermented seasoning).
Corn Syrup or Glucose First: Aji-Mirin
Corn syrup, glucose, water, and alcohol under 1%. In Japanese, みりん風調味料.
5. 3 Hon Mirin Brewers Worth Knowing, and How to Get a Bottle
All three make traditional hon mirin from glutinous rice, rice koji and shochu. All three are easiest to buy in Japan.
Sumiya Bunjiro Brewery: Sanshu Mikawa Mirin
The bottle to start with. Sumiya Bunjiro has made mirin in Hekinan since 1910 and follows the Mikawa saying "one sho of rice for one sho of mirin": a full measure of rice in every bottle. It mills its own rice, makes its own koji and distils its own rice shochu, then brews for about three months and ages the mirin for about two years. There is also an organic version, Organic Sanshu Mirin. On the brewery's own online shop in Japan, a 300 ml bottle of Sanshu Mikawa Mirin costs ¥957.
- Brewed in
- Hekinan, Aichi (since 1910)
- Ingredients
- Glutinous rice, rice koji, rice shochu
- Best for
- Teriyaki, simmered dishes, and tasting on its own
Hakusen Shuzo: Fukuraijun, Aged About Three Years
Hakusen Shuzo makes its koji by hand, with the koji room watched around the clock, and presses its mirin slowly in a traditional fune vat press using cloth bags. Fukuraijun is brewed for about 90 days from domestic glutinous rice, rice koji and rice shochu, and its best-known bottle is aged for about three years until it turns amber. The brewery suggests it for noodle dipping sauce and simmered dishes, and in batters for pancakes and dorayaki.
- Brewed in
- Kawabe, Gifu (a mirin shop since the late Edo period)
- Ingredients
- Glutinous rice, rice koji, rice shochu
- Best for
- Noodle sauces, and anyone curious about long-aged mirin
Kokonoe Mirin: Kokonoe Sakura, Since 1772
Kokonoe has brewed mirin in Hekinan since 1772. Its flagship hon mirin, Kokonoe Sakura, is made from domestic glutinous rice, rice koji and shochu by a method the brewery dates to its founding. It also makes Kabayaki Taisho, a long-aged mirin made for the glaze on grilled eel, and a Nikiri Mirin with the alcohol already cooked off. In Hekinan it runs a shop and a restaurant, and offers guided tours with its mirin museum by reservation.
- Brewed in
- Hekinan, Aichi (since 1772)
- Ingredients
- Glutinous rice, rice koji, shochu
- Best for
- A brewery visit on a trip to Aichi
How to Get a Bottle
Buy it in Japan. Hon mirin is easy to find in Japanese supermarkets and department store food halls, and the three brewers above sell through their own online shops in Japan. We found no overseas shipping on any of them. Because hon mirin is about 14% alcohol, pack it in checked luggage and check your country's allowance for bringing alcohol home.
From the US, Sanshu Mikawa Mirin and Fukuraijun do appear on Amazon.com, but only from resellers, at around $80 for 500 ml as of November 2026, about ten times their price in Japan. If you cannot wait for a trip, a salted mirin from Japan is the closer everyday option.
6. Bonus: 3 Salted Mirins You Can Buy in the US
These are not hon mirin. They are brewed in Japan from rice and koji like hon mirin, with salt added so they can be sold as seasoning. They are the closest thing to the real taste you can order at a normal price in the US. Cut the soy sauce or salt in your recipe a little when you use them.
Kawashimaya Mirin: Hon Mirin Method, Then Salt
Glutinous rice, rice, rice koji and sea salt, with Japanese rice throughout and no added sugar. Kawashimaya says it is brewed by the hon mirin method and then salted, and it keeps 13.5 to 14.4% alcohol, which cooks off with heat.
Kawashimaya Mirin (with Sea Salt), 500 ml
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Ohsawa Organic Genuine Mirin: Fermented Nine Months
Organic sweet rice, distilled rice spirit, organic rice koji and sea salt, fermented for nine months. There is no sugar in the list; the sweetness comes from the rice.
Ohsawa Organic Genuine Mirin (with Sea Salt)
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Eden Mirin, Ajino-haha: California Rice, Brewed in Japan
Water, rice, sea salt and koji. Eden has it made in Japan from organic brown rice grown by Lundberg Family Farms in California: the rice mash ferments for two months, salt is added with more rice and koji, and it ferments for three more. It is the lightest of the three, at under 10% alcohol, and the easiest on the wallet.
Eden Mirin, Ajino-haha (with Sea Salt)
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7. How to Use Hon Mirin
Instead of Sugar
In simmered dishes or dashimaki tamago (rolled omelette), try mirin only, no sugar. The sweetness comes out rounder and less forward. A simple start: equal parts soy sauce and mirin, simmered with whatever you are cooking.
Nikiri Mirin, for Dishes You Don't Cook
For dressings, dipping sauce for sashimi or anything served raw, cook off the alcohol first. Bring the mirin to a boil in a small pan and let it bubble for a minute or so, then cool it. That is nikiri mirin. Kawashimaya gives the same method for its salted mirin: 100 ml at a boil for 1 to 1½ minutes.
Over Vanilla Ice Cream
A spoonful of nikiri hon mirin over vanilla ice cream tastes a little like a rum syrup. Use the real thing for this; salted mirin is not meant for desserts eaten as is.
As a Drink: Mirin Soda, or Yanagikage
Only traditional hon mirin is meant to be drunk. Top it with soda water and a squeeze of lemon, or try the Edo way: mix it with shochu, roughly one to one, and drink it chilled. Never drink salted mirin or aji-mirin.
8. Real Experience: Switching to Mikawa Mirin Meant Using Less Sugar
I used to cook with whatever mirin-style seasoning was on sale at the supermarket.
I followed recipes to the letter but the results never matched restaurant cooking — so I kept adding sugar and mentsuyu to compensate.
Then I switched to Sanshu Mikawa Mirin, and the first thing I made changed everything.
A batch of nikujaga (meat and potato stew) seasoned with mirin and soy sauce alone — the flavor was perfect on the first try, nothing else needed.
The bottle costs around ¥1,000 (roughly $7), which initially felt steep. But a small amount goes a long way, and I stopped buying sugar entirely, so the actual cost difference is smaller than it looks.
More than anything: I started feeling confident about my cooking. That alone made it worth it.
9. Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between hon mirin and mirin?
Hon mirin is the real, brewed rice liquor: glutinous rice, rice koji and shochu, about 14% alcohol.
"Mirin" on its own can mean anything sold under the name.
Outside Japan that is usually aji-mirin (syrup, under 1% alcohol) or salted mirin (brewed, with salt so it is
not sold as alcohol). Read the ingredients: see How to Read a Mirin Label.
Can you drink mirin straight?
Traditional hon mirin, yes. Salted mirin and aji-mirin, no.
Hon mirin was a drink before it was a seasoning, and Sumiya Bunjiro says its mirin tastes good on its own. It
is about 14% alcohol, so treat it like a dessert wine. Salted mirin is made unfit to drink on purpose.
What is nikiri mirin?
Mirin that has been boiled briefly to cook off the alcohol.
Use it in anything that is not cooked, such as dressings and dipping sauces. Boil it in a small pan for about a
minute and let it cool. Kokonoe also sells a ready-made Nikiri Mirin with 0% alcohol.
Should hon mirin be refrigerated?
No. Keep it in a cool, dark cupboard.
In the fridge, the sugars can form white crystals. They are not a problem: warm the bottle gently and they
dissolve. Aji-mirin, which has almost no alcohol, is a different case; follow its label.
How long does mirin last after opening?
Go by the date on the bottle and by how it looks and smells.
The alcohol helps hon mirin keep well, but air slowly changes it once opened, and the colour deepens. If it turns
cloudy, or smells sour or odd, throw it out.
Is salted mirin a good substitute?
Yes, for cooking, as long as it is brewed from rice and koji.
It brings the same glaze and much of the same depth. Reduce the soy sauce or salt in the recipe slightly, and
don't use it in drinks or uncooked desserts. See the three we found on Amazon.
How is mirin different from cooking sake?
Sake is for umami and for taking the edge off fish and meat smells. Mirin is for sweetness and
gloss.
Many simmered dishes and teriyaki recipes use both. If a recipe calls for sake and you only have mirin, you
will end up with a sweeter dish, so cut the sugar elsewhere.
Final Thoughts: Read the Label, and Bring a Bottle Home
Hon mirin is a rice liquor that Japan learned to cook with. Glutinous rice, koji and shochu, a few months in
the tank and a year or two in the bottle, and you get a sweetness that sugar cannot copy.
Outside Japan, the word "mirin" on the front tells you nothing. Turn the bottle over. Three rice ingredients
mean the real thing. Salt means a brewed mirin made for the grocery aisle. Corn syrup means a sweetener.
If you are going to Japan, put a bottle of Mikawa mirin or Fukuraijun on your list. Until then, a salted mirin
brewed in Japan will get your teriyaki most of the way there.
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