shōchū made from sake lees
A type of shōchū distilled from the lees left over from sake production. A traditional, legitimate product.
low-quality moonshine; hooch
Refers to cheap, often illicitly produced spirits, especially common in the post-WWII period. Carries a strong nuance of poor quality and rough taste.
Kasutori is a type of shōchū made by distilling sake lees.
After the war, low-quality moonshine circulated and harmed many people's health.
密造酒 means illegally produced alcohol in general. 粕取り in sense 2 is a specific type of such moonshine, often associated with the post-war era.
shōchū made from sake lees
Standard kanji spelling.
Katakana spelling, often used in product names or for emphasis.
Rarely used kanji form; 糟 is a variant of 粕.
From 粕 (kasu, 'lees, dregs') + 取り (tori, 'taking, extracting'). Literally 'lees-taking', referring to the process of distilling alcohol from sake lees.