25 Best Tried and True Japanese Black Vinegars in 2022 (Sakamoto Brewing, Melodian, and More)

Black vinegar is aged and fermented vinegar. It's popular in cooking, especially in China, but today we're looking at kurosu with a focus on ones you can drink. In Japan, kurosu (the Japanese word for "black vinegar") is made primarily from raw brown rice or semi-polished white rice, sometimes with barley malt added.

Black vinegar is full of amino acids and citric acid. Citric acid works by converting fat into energy, helping to prevent it from accumulating in your body!

Amino acids activate the enzyme lipase and support fat-burning. It works more efficiently when consumed anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour before exercise.

The acetic acid in black vinegar can help those suffering from hyperglycemia and hypertension if one half ounce (15ml) is consumed daily.

A study by the Japanese Society of Clinical Nutrition found that consuming a half ounce of black vinegar containing 750mg of acetic acid after a meal reduced blood sugar 89% more than not drinking it.

According to the Japan Health and Nutrition Food Association, when this same amount of black vinegar was given to patients with high blood pressure for 10 weeks, their blood pressure showed a measurable drop.

So with all that in mind, we picked out some of the most popular products and taste-tested them to see which were the best for drinking. Then, based on our tests, we ranked the top 25 Japanese black vinegars available online.

We used a radar chart to describe the characteristics of each vinegar and score it. Here's an example. From the top, clockwise, the categories are:

• acidity
• sweetness
• bitterness
• astringency
  

Japanese prices for some of the products are given, but they've been converted into US dollars to make it easy for you.

And why they didn't quite make it.

This shiso vinegar from Marui has a powerful scent and flavor. It's more like shiso juice than black vinegar. It also has apple and ume sour plum extracts. If you like shiso, you'll enjoy it.

Apple Black Vinegar from Japan Natural Fermentation wasn't bad, but just kind of had a weak flavor. If you want to drink it undiluted, it has a subtle sweetness and light taste, like flavored water, that you might enjoy.

Aeon's TopValu brand Pure Brown Rice Black Vinegar has a sharp, crisp sourness that really says "vinegar." It's not hard to drink, and stimulated our appetites. But some may find it too strong.

Kisaichi Brewing's Black Vinegar is made with unpolished brown rice. The sourness is rather spicy. Using it in American or Chinese cuisine would bring out its strength.

Kagoshima Black Vinegar from Sakamoto Brewing is made from steamed rice and rice bran using care that has been passed down for 200 years. It would be good mixed with sugar or used on vinegared rice for sushi.

Fujisco's Oishii Black Vinegar contains black garlic and energy-providing ingredients such as coenzyme-Q10 and carnitine. It has a strong smell and could be used in place of sake vinegar.

Marushige's Brown Rice Black Vinegar is additive-free, using only brown rice and rice bran, and aged for one year. It was more astringent than sour. We think it would pair well with boiled or fried foods.

Mizkan's Pure Brown Rice Black Vinegar is incredibly sour, even though it's supposed to be drinkable. We'd rather pair it with pork and fried foods.

Brown Rice Black Vinegar from Japan Health System has such a strong flavor it could overpower most other seasonings. If you want to highlight black vinegar as the star in your dish, it would work well.

Shobun Organic Brown Rice Black Vinegar from Osawa Japan uses a 300-year old recipe that maybe doesn't suit modern palates. Its sourness might be a good choice for dishes requiring a strong vinegar taste.

Marui's Black Vinegar Honey Straight is undiluted and blended with honey and apples. But after diluting it, it tasted like water, and when we tried it more concentrated, a lot of people said it was an acquired taste and a bit harsh.

Pure Brown Rice Black Vinegar from Orihiro is a bit alcoholic, very sour, bitter, and astringent. If you want your healthy vinegar to taste like medicine, give it a whirl.

Five of our staff members did a blind taste test on all the vinegars to decide which was the most delicious. We diluted the products according to the manufacturer's recommendations. This time, we were focusing on vinegar for drinking, not cooking.

The fruity, flavored vinegars were easier to drink than those which really screamed "I'm vinegar!" Among them, those which were subtly sweet and well-balanced ranked high.

Our top choice, Yakult's vinegar, was fresh and sour, a little sweet, and highly enjoyable. At the bottom of the pack, some of the vinegars were bitter, astringent, and definitely acquired tastes. Aged black vinegars were hard to stomach unless they were blended with fruits.

We have two points for you to think about when choosing the right black vinegar.

Some vinegars are concentrated, so you can add water or another liquid yourself, and others are diluted so you can drink them right from the bottle. Here's how they're different.

These are the most versatile and the lowest cost in the long run. You can mix them with sparkling water or alcohol or use them in cooking. They tend to cost about half as much per drink as the pre-diluted types.

Not all of them are suited for cooking, however. If they contain honey or fruit those may interfere with the flavor of your dish, so check our rankings for recommend cooking vinegars.

These are easy to prepare and easy to drink. Many are blended with brown sugar or honey, and some come in individual drink boxes with straws.

Some also contain ingredients and supplements for health, such as polyphenols, oligosaccharides, or calcium. They can help to provide beneficial bacteria for gut health, too.

Most of these are made with semi-polished white rice, but the brown rice ones are better for dieters. Although all black vinegar contains amino acids for fat-burning, brown rice vinegars contain more. If you're drinking it for weight control or loss, choose brown rice.

Just because something is good for you doesn't mean that it's okay to overindulge. Most manufacturers recommend a daily dose of one half to one ounce (15-30ml) so use that as a rough guide.

Drinking too much black vinegar can lead to nasty side effects like abdominal pain and diarrhea. It may also cause discomfort if you drink it on an empty stomach, so if you're worried about that, have it after a meal.

Hot or cold, these drinks are sure to satisfy while keeping you healthy in body and mind!

Author: Ryuichi Ohira/Translation: Susan Lucier-Ogawa/Photos: Kazuya Ota, Yasuhiro Shimoya

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