Umeshu is a Japanese liqueur made from green Japanese apricots, sugar and alcohol. It has a sour and sweet taste. We believe that during the rainy season, we tend to get sick more easily, but the liqueur helps keep us healthier. Even though I'm allergic to alcohol and I can't drink much of it, I make homemade umeshu for my family every year. It's a family tradition — when I was a kid, my mom used to make it.

You might have heard that Asians, especially Japanese people often have a low tolerance for alcohol. This is because over 50% of Japanese people have a weak ALDH2 enzyme, which helps clean up a bad substance called "acetaldehyde" that appears when we drink alcohol. That means drinking alcohol causes dizziness, headaches and sickness instead of pleasant feeling . I get sick easily, so I usually avoid drinking any kind of alcohol.

Nevertheless, I drink a little of my homemade umeshu every day to stay healthier over the rainy season. My favorite way to enjoy it is mixing the liqueur with carbonated water.

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