WAIN99 / MID-AUTUMN 2026

What will you pour on the night of the moon?

Mid-Autumn 2026 falls on Friday 25 September, and Taiwan has four days off from the 25th to the 28th. Japan's own moon-viewing night lands on the same date this year. The same moon, on both sides of the sea.

DAY 1

Start with plum.

The one to start with is Haruka, made once a year. Same fruit, three ways of making it. Line them up and let the evening decide.

Start with plum.
100 Year Plum Liqueur Haruka 2025

100 Year Plum Liqueur Haruka 2025

Meiri Shurui, Ibaraki / 720ml / 20%

A limited release made once a year, timed to the plum blossom season. A refined pear-like aroma with a fresh lift of acidity. The label pattern comes from the plum festival at Kairakuen in Mito.

Straight / on the rocks / with soda

Mitsutake Iyashi no Umeshu

Mitsutake Iyashi no Umeshu

Mitsutake Shuzojo, Saga / 720ml / 12%

Sweetness of plum liqueur with the body of junmai sake and the acidity of the fruit over it. At 12% it sits happily beside a meal.

On the rocks first, then with soda if you like

Nigori Umeshu Makai e no Izanai

Nigori Umeshu Makai e no Izanai

Mitsutake Shuzojo, Saga / 720ml / 14%

A cloudy style built on honkaku shochu, with honey. The plum flesh settles at the bottom. This one can stand up to grilled food.

Shake well, then on the rocks or with soda

DAY 2

Fruit under the moon.

Which fruit will you watch the moon with? All five together make a row of colours. Chill them well and put them in the middle of the table.

Fruit under the moon.

What to drink it with

In Taiwan, Mid-Autumn means barbecue, mooncakes and pomelo. With all three, the question is how to cut the richness. These are pairings actually written about in Taiwanese media and by people in the trade.

Barbecue

Plum and fruit liqueurs
A sip, then a bite. The fruit cuts the fat. Use a large ice cube and let it open up.
Dark beer
Roasted notes suit seared beef and pork. Drink it while it is properly cold.
Whisky (highball or rocks)
For meat in a heavy sauce. Add ice slowly and follow how it changes.
Sake
Grilled prawns and the sweetness of rice work together. Warm it to about 40°C for grilled vegetables; try sparkling sake with scallops and oysters.

Mooncake

Lotus seed and five-kernel (savoury)
Dry sake, or pu-erh and oolong tea. They pull back both the oil and the sugar.
Red bean and salted egg yolk
Sweeter sake. Or use bourbon's vanilla and caramel against the sweet-salty filling.
Snow skin mooncake
Something light and floral, so it does not cover the cold, delicate skin.

Pomelo

Yuzu liqueur
Citrus on citrus. Add ice and let the acidity line up.
Citrus gin with soda
Easy to make, and the bubbles take the grease with them. Good between rounds of barbecue.
White wine with pomelo juice
A sangria that keeps the pomelo's slight bitterness. It can be made with Taiwanese fruit.

Compiled from Taiwanese media and trade articles. Nothing here is a claim about health effects.

How to serve it as the nights cool

  • On the rocksOne large cube. As it melts the sweetness settles
  • With sodaAbout 1:3. Stir once only, so you keep the bubbles
  • Warmed to about 40°CAround 40°C — the temperature that sits beside grilled vegetables and stews
  • At room temperatureThe aroma opens most fully. Try the first glass cold and the second at room temperature
  • Well chilledThis is for the fruit liqueurs. The sweetness lightens and it works after the fat
  • Choose something sparklingFor scallops and oysters. The bubbles reset the palate

JAPAN / TSUKIMI

Japan's moon-viewing night is a quieter thing

If Taiwan's Mid-Autumn is barbecue and company, Japan's night is quieter: a stack of rice dumplings, a few stems of pampas grass, and the moon from the edge of the veranda. The grass is said to stand in for ears of rice. Taro is offered too, which is why the night is also called the taro moon.

This is the season for hiyaoroshi — sake pasteurised once in spring, rested in the brewery through the summer, and shipped in autumn without a second heating. Sake that has gained something over the summer is said to be akiagari. Serve it cold, at room temperature, or warmed to around 40°C.

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Please drink only if you are of legal drinking age where you live. Never drink and drive.

Photographs: full moon — Gregory H. Revera (CC BY-SA 3.0) / barbecue — Saimmx (CC0) / mooncakes — Fumikas Sagisavas (CC0) / pomelo — Dinkum (CC0) / moon-viewing setting — katorisi (CC BY 3.0)