Ryukyu Awamori, which was called kusu (old awamori) as nanbanshu, unique liquors and herb liquors from China and Korea such as kuwazake (rice wine with mulberry), rice wine with ginger, oseishu (rice wine with Japanese Solomon's seal), hatchinshu (Eight unique sake), chomeishu (Longevity sake), nindoshu (Lonicera sake), jioshu (Rehmannia root sake), ukogishu (Siberian Ginseng sake) and torinshu (black soybean sake), as well as wine from Europe were imported through overseas trade by powerful Daimyo (Japanese feudal lord) such as Nobunaga ODA, Masamune DATE, and Yoshishige OTOMO, and the trade with countries in South Seas mainly Spain and Portugal by Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI.
織田信長、伊達政宗、大友義鎮ほか有力大名の海外との通商、豊臣秀吉の南蛮貿易により南蛮酒として古酒（くーす）と称される琉球泡盛や、桑酒、生姜酒、黄精酒（おうせいしゅ）、八珍酒、長命酒、忍冬酒（にんどうしゅ）、地黄酒（じおうしゅ）、五加皮酒（うこぎしゅ）、豆淋酒（とうりんしゅ）などなどの中国・朝鮮の珍酒や薬草酒、さらにヨーロッパからのワインも入ってきた。