Sip Somm 'SPRING NAMAZAKE' Flight - March 26th, 2021

It’s my favorite time of the year! The release of seasonal namazake! Namas are made in all four seasons, but the most exciting releases are in the Spring and Autumn. Some brands are year round, but these are brewed, bottled and shipped out late winter forgoing any pasteurization (most sake are pasteurized twice before release). They are limited quantities and refrigeration is a must, so supply and demand is a real thing! Spring namas are definitely the most sought after considering they are made to express the season itself with trees in bloom and warm sunlit days. It’s a welcome change after a long cold winter! Many spring namas have fruit forward flavor profiles with a hint of sweetness to bring out the amazing aromatics. I was so excited to taste through this year’s array of offerings. Some breweries I taste yearly and new ones occasionally pop up too.

The first sake of the flight is Sakai Shuzo’s Gokyo Arabashiri Junmai Nama Genshu from Yamaguchi, Japan. Arabashiri refers to the first pressing (sake is pressed in 3 sections) and you could liken this section to ‘free run’ in the wine world. No pressure is put on the sake for the arabashiri and it is very fresh. It also occasionally has a touch of spritz to it! Gokyo is one of my favorite spring namas hands down due to its ability to truly embody that freshness. The aromas this year were full of pineapple, bubblegum and citrus. There was less of a spritz than previous years and the alcohol sharpness stuck out a bit. I love to age Gokyo, so even though that’s not what the brewer intended, I prefer more softness to my arabashiri!

I usually buy two bottles yearly, one to open fresh and one to lay down. The richness of the sake develops over time and the flavors become more flavorful. It’s pretty amazing! It also seems counterintuitive to age a sake that is recommended to drink within 4 months of the bottling date and requires refrigeration. But if you age it at fridge temps unopened, you are perfectly safe (at least based on my sake industry friends experience as well as my own!). This sake is also a genshu with a 17.5% alcohol content, making it zesty and alive as well as it having a hot rawness that adds even more complexity to the brew. The price is $39 with an SMV +1 and 1.8 acidity.

Fukucho Junmai Ginjo Nama Genshu ‘Moon on the Water’ was raved about by the True Sake staff when I went to buy my yearly supply of spring nama! I was excited to find out what all the hype was about. The nose was very subtle, but the soft and well-integrated aromas with subdued alcohol content and medium + body was a match made in balance heaven. I got a bit of persimmon and savory tropical fruits on the palate, but this brew is all about drinkability.

This is high class sake if there ever was one! Miho Imada, toji and owner of Imada Shuzo Honten in Hiroshima was awarded one of the slots on BBC’s 100 Women of the Year for 2020. She is one of the most successful women master brewers in an industry that has only presently has about 30 women in the head role. She has also revitalized a lesser known sake rice called Hattanso, created her own hybrid yeast starters and has used white koji to create more acidity in her sparkling junmai called Fukucho Seaside. It’s 2021, so what better way to support women than to enjoy a bottle or two of Fukucho!

(This bottle is $46, but may be sold out for the year. Contact True Sake for more info).

Last but not least is a sake that hasn’t been imported for the past 6 years but is back in action! Kamikokoro Toukagen ‘Heart of God’ Tokubetsu Junmai Nama Genshu from Okayama. It was $39 and was in high demand, so unfortunately it is already sold out!

This sake had virtually no nose at first. I had to let it sit for a bit before it started expressing itself. Once it did, I realized it had the scent of water itself… the kind of aroma that can accumulate in a vessel if the water has distinct minerality. Slowly, more aromas arose. White cherries and poppyseed came into play, which was exciting. The sake is the sweetest of the three with an SMV of -8, making it slightly off-dry. The sake is made with yeast derived from Okayama white peaches! I didn’t get peach aromas outright, but the cherry notes seemed to represent the fruity esters. This is a fun brewery with a mascot known as Yoshimi Yoneno. She’s a cute piece of milled rice and adorns some of their merchandise. Check out this cool brewery when their products are back in stock!

Make sure to grab yourself some spring nama while they still last, bring it to the park, enjoy the shade of some cherry blossoms in perfect bloom while you enjoy the essence of Japan itself in liquid form! Kanpai!

Sip Somm 'SWEET SAKE' Flight - February 1-5, 2021

Yamamoto Honke ‘Yuzu Omoi’ from Fushimi Kyoto and Takachiyo 59 Junmai Nama Red Sake Yeast

Sake #1: Yuzu Omoi by Yamamoto Honke in Fushimi, Kyoto was the first sweet sake to be featured this week. It is the best yuzu infused sake available in the US market and I was excited to share it on video! The SMV is -70, so it is very sweet. But it also has an acidity reading of 11 (most sakes fall between 1-2), which balances out the intensity of the sugar and makes the yuzu pop. Think of a sweet lemonade on a hot summer’s day! On their website, they recommend heating it up in the winter, which was a new concept to me. I had only ever enjoyed this sake super cold to almost freezing. When I experimented with heating, I got it to tobikirikan (133F) and the first thing I noticed was the pungent citrus smelling steam coming off the top. On the palate, the sake became a bit less sweet and the acidity was intensified. I am happy to know I can enjoy Yuzu Omoi freezing cold in the summer, as well as pipping hot in the winter!

Sake #2: The next sake is a semi-sweet Junmai Nama with a pale red color. It’s called 59 Takachiyo ‘Red Sake Yeast’ from Minamiuonuma, Niigata. The yeast is a mutation of kyokai kobo #10, where a compound develops inside the yeast cells which then oxidizes and changes the color of the sake. Pretty cool! There were aromas of vanilla bean, steamed rice and papaya on the nose, with some peaches on the palate. This is an interesting sake, but it lacks complexity and dimension. It is also unpasteurized, which I didn’t even notice while tasting it. The semi-sweet character with some elevated acidity (not as high as the yuzu-shu) was what stood out the most. I was hoping for a more fulfilling experience, as this sake costs $47 for a 500ml bottle!

Four of the 7 kitkats featured in my video! From the left… Masuda Shuzoten Masuizumi Karakuchi Sake KitKat, Niizawa Sake Brewery Yogurt-Shu KitKat from Niigata, Hamakawa Shoten Yuzu-shu KitKat from Kochi and Heiwa Shuzo Umeshu KitKat from Wakayama.

Secret Video: Sweet sake week ended with a surprise video. The theme was… sake KITKATS! While doing some research, I realized that since the first sake kitkat was released in 2016, there have been six more styles and 5 of them are brewery specific! The original sake kitkat seems to no longer be produced. It’s a sad fact, because that was my favorite of them all! It had a white chocolate coating, with sake flavor between the wafers with some banana notes. Oh well! The new basic sake kitkat comes from a brewery called Masuda Shuzoten from Toyama Prefecture. They use sake from their Masuizumi brand and it is actually karakuchi, which means it’s a dry sake. The kitkat was still sweet, but the sake taste was more severe. Next up was Niizawa Sake Brewery’s yogurt-shu. This one smelled like mozzarella, tasted like sweet fresh cream and then got very tangy, bitter and acidic. I think they were trying to replicate that authentic yogurt flavor. Not my favorite, but very complex and I think it could grow on me! The remainder of the kitkats were yuzu-shu from Hamakawa Shoten in Kochi, ume-shu by Heiwa Shuzo in Wakayama and a Daiginjo style kitkat by Sakura Masamune in Hyogo. One of the six was not brewery specific, and that was the Sakura Sake kitkat made for hanami, aka cherry blossom viewing season. I threw in a ‘sparkling wine with strawberries’ kitkat which was probably my least favorite of all. I think it’s nearly impossible to replicate the flavor of sparkling wine in a candy, so this was kind of a fail. It had pleasing strawberry aromas, but the wine part just tastes weird and off. Check out the video here: Sake KitKats!

Sip Somm 'NAMAZAKE' Flight - January 18-22, 2021

(from the left) Akishika Shuzo ‘Super Dry’ Okarakuchi Junmai Muroka Nama Genshu, Yucho Shuzo’s Kaze no Mori ‘Wind of the Woods’ Junmai Muroka Nama Genshu, Takenotsuyu Shuzo’s Hakurosuishu Junmai Ginjo Muroka Nama Genshu. What a lineup! : )

Sake #1: Our second full week of Sip Somm videos started with the glorious Okarakuchi ‘Super Dry’ Junmai Muroka Nama Genshu by Akishika Shuzo from Osaka Prefecture. It is brewed with locally grown Yamada Nishiki, from contracted farmers that do not use any additives or chemical pesticides. The sake is unpasteurized (nama) which means live enzymes, microorganisms and some yeast still exist in the bottle and have not been subdued by heating. The brewery does not charcoal filter (muroka) and this sake is not diluted with brewing water (genshu), leaving the alcohol content at 18%. The Sake Meter Value (SMV or Nihonshu-do) clocks in at an epic +18! That is a super dry sake for sure! The flavor profile on this brew is so singular and unforgettable. Aromas of fresh dough, cacao nibs and vanilla frosting exhilarate the senses then combine with the crazy dry and acidic palate, that has those same flavors with a touch of sea salt. This sake is the ultimate food pairing partner! It can go with very flavorful, spicy, salty and even sweet dishes. Almost everyone says to never pair a dry beverage with a sweet dessert, but in this case I beg to differ!

Sake #2: Next up… Kaze no Mori ‘Wind of the Woods’ by Yucho Shuzo. This brewery is located in Nara Prefecture and utilizes locally grown rice and fresh brewing water. Their brand Takacho is made using the bodaimoto yeast starter sourced from Shoryakuji Temple where the technique originated. Very few breweries receive this moto, so quantities of Takacho sake are extremely limited. That’s where the brand Kaze no Mori steps in and provides a more modern and innovative take on sake production. This sake is a Junmai, with a 60% milling rate and only kome-koji, rice, yeast and water used during brewing. It is muroka, so it hasn’t been charcoal filtered and is considered nama genshu, just like Sake #1. One major difference is the SMV. This one is +2.5, so it’s still in the dry realm but it is much less dry than the previous. The acidity level is also lower at 1.8, so the viscosity as well as the perceived sweetness is a bit higher. That is a plus, because this sake is rich in tropical fruit and pear aromas, which continue onto the palate with flavors of fruit cocktail, papaya and light umami. It is medium bodied and has a quintessential spritz (some Co2 left after pressing). This brand is a cult classic and is sought after in Japan and beyond!

Sake #3: The last sake of the flight is truly one of my top 5 favorite sakes EVER! This nama is available year-round (as are all of these, while supplies last!) and hails from Yamagata Prefecture in Tohoku. It is a blend of Dewasansan and Miyamanishiki rice varieties. They use a blend of local yeast strains and are very proud of their soft water which flows down from the three Dewa mountains which surround the brewery. The SMV is +1 and acidity 1.4, so automatically there is more of a plump texture and perceived sweetness here. It is not like drinking a -3 sake where there is obvious sugar existing, more of just an essence of sweet, kind of like a light powdered sugar that gives life to the rest of the flavor profile. On the nose, there are candied cherries, lemon rind and fresh peach. On the palate, all of those flavors are present plus some orchard fruits and black sesame. I love the umami aspect and how the sake finishes dry. All of that power and intensity, but your palate is refreshed by the end and not weighed down. I could drink this sake all day! If you would like to try these cool brews, check out truesake.com for current availability. Kanpai!

Sip Somm: A New Tasting Channel for Wine & Sake

Hello Readers!

I know it has been eons since my last blog post, but I promise to keep the content flowing on my website from this day forward!

I am happy to announce the arrival of my new wine and sake tasting channel on Youtube! Guided tastings will be posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I will reveal the bottles a few days in advance with some advice on where they can be purchased (so you can taste along!)

Please follow me on Instagram at SipSommKJ and subscribe to my channel Sip Somm to be notified when new videos post! Cheers and Kanpai!