One of my more exciting outings this year has been to the Annual Sake Tasting and Lecture led by John Gautner at the Japan Society in New York City. Eleven brewers came from Japan to show off 32 labels of the highest quality sake available. The Japan Society is one of my top five favorite places in NYC and has been for years. The space is gorgeous and the programs offered are worth checking out. Lots of theater, film, language classes and business/cooking/zen buddhist lectures. But this blog is not about the Japan Society! It's about Sake!!
Here is John Gautner, one of the only English & Japanese speaking Sake experts in the world. Known as the "Sake Evangelist" and/or "Sake Samurai."
All the featured sake brewers come up to the stage to take a well deserved bow!
Love the 70's Japanese Zen chic architecture… by Junzo Yoshimura. (He is also known for his creation the Shofuso Japanese House & Garden in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia).
The ultimate party space, lecture hall, art gallery… and many other things! Sake tastings! Halloween Oni and Obake parties!
I wasn't sad about not being served food once I tried this sweet and salty cracker mix with wasabi peas. (The Japanese do snacks best!)
Seimaibuai or "rice milling" is the degree in which the rice husk, proteins and fats are polished off before brewing.
The process of creating sake is similar to a mixture of wine & beer, with a few unique steps all its own. In beer there are the 3 M's... Milling, Malting and Mashing. In sake production, we have our seimaibuai or "milling" step. Malting does not exist to extract sugars from rice as it does with barley due to the lack of germination. In short, malting does not work for a grain such a rice, so sake brewers use a seemingly magical fungus, Aspergillus Oryzae to break down the dense carbohydrates. This fungus is more commonly known as "Kōji." Kōji, like yeasts in beer, impart most of the aromatic flavors in this special beverage. It gives sake the flavorful allure of banana bread, papaya, cucumber, honeydew, citrus and more. Kōji is also used in the production of Shōchū, which is a distilled spirit (made from barley or sweet potato) with a higher alcohol content than sake (around 25%) but with very similar aromatics. Kōji is what prepares sake rice for brewing by making them into fermentable sugars. Go Kōji!
Specific types of rice and water will determine the style and flavor which will result in the final product. The percentage of excess outer layers of sake rice milled away also determine how pure and flavorful it will be, and how many imperfections or impurities will exist. The levels are as follows:
Junmai Daiginjo/Daiginjo: 50% or less remaining rice. (Only 3% of all sake made)
Junmai Ginjo/Ginjo: 50-60% remaining rice. (Only 4% of all sake made)
Honjozo: 70% or less remaining rice.
Junmai: No milling requirement.
Futsu (“Table Sake”): Also no milling requirement. (74% of all sake made!) This is probably what your drinking served hot at your local Japanese restaurant.
Featured Sake #1: Fukucho Junmai-shu "Forgotten Fortune," by Imada Sake Brewing Co. (Hiroshima Prefecture). For this sake, I wrote in my notes: Full, yet soft and textured, with a smooth overall mouthfeel. Noticeable flavors of light papaya and creamy umami. My 3rd favorite of all 32 sake labels (yes, I tried them all!)
Now that we know a bit about sake production, I can mention this very unusual heirloom rice varietal produced by Imada Sake Brewing Co. after more than 100 years of disappearance. The "Forgotten Fortune" refers to the heirloom varietal of sake rice called Hattanso. It is native to Hiroshima and discovered in 1875. This rice had an important impact on the original style and flavor of sake brewed in Hiroshima and gave the region their excellent reputation. Through Imada's kind revival, we can all enjoy this historic rice varietal and all it has to offer the sake world and its consumers!
The Hattanso rice are the taller rows of rice on the far left. On the right is Hattan Nishiki which was developed based on Hattanso's character, but with more efficient and easier cultivation. The result was the disappearance of Hattanso until Imada took it back under its wings.
Featured Sake #2: "Dassai 39" Junmai Daiginjo by Asahi Sake Brewing Co. (Yamaguchi Prefecture). This sake's rice has been milled down to 39% of its original size! This was my ultimate favorite of the entire tasting and my notes were: "THE BEST! Favorite! So fruity! Peaches, plums and complex floral aromas!"
Featured Sake #3: Happo Nihonshu "HOUHOU SHU" by Marumoto Sake Brewing Co., Ltd. (Okayama Prefecture). A sparkling sake lower in alcohol and much different from the average sake. Alcohol is 8% and the bubbles are attained by a second fermentation in the bottle. This was my guilty pleasure!! This is a beverage I can drink a ton of without a second thought! My notes: "So awesome! Tastes like milky ice cream! Rose hips, hibiscus and strawberries! Like a more acidic strawberry Dannon yogurt." I was shocked that a beverage like this even exists. It combines the best of all worlds.. bubbles, berries, cream, flowers and alcohol! (Not to mention the beautiful, girly pink bottles!)
I <3 Sake... and lack of spit cups. :D !
This was an awesome time! If any of you are interested in really jumping into sake culture, subscribe to the first ever sake magazine published in English! It's called Sake Today and the 2nd issue is coming out soon! Or go visit Sakaya in the East Village, NYC. I intend on doing both very soon. Mata ne!