Tag: sake

Guest Posts · Sake Reviews

Guest Post: Kanpai Brewery Kumo Tokubetsu Junmai Nigori Review

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Kanpai Brewery tokubetsu nigori sake.

As the only affordable sake brewery currently operating in the UK, all eyes are indeed on Kanpai. Yet, the Peckham-based business have much more to recommend them than simple default.  Sake enthusiasts Lucy and Tom Wilson opened the trendy microbrewery in 2017, and quickly won the respect of other aficionados across the country, and most impressively of all, from industry operatives and experts back in Japan.

Covered several times already in Yamato Magazine (along with several gushing pieces in the national press), there’s no need for another extensive history here. It’s enough to say that all of the praise is deserved and that Kanpai are in no small part responsible for the ever-increasing interest in sake across Britain.

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Japanese Cuisine

Native Soil: How The Earth Affects The Flavour Of Sake

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Yamada Nishiki rice.

Sake production is a magical process that requires a great amount of skill, with the ingredients being a key factor in the finished product. Rice, water, yeast and koji are the main ingredients for brewing nihonshu. 

Another important factor to producing great sake is soil, yet it’s often overlooked. Soil imparts different nuances into sake, differentiating by region and rice varietal. Here’s why the earth should never be taken for granted when it comes to making sake.

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Japanese Cuisine · Pop Culture and Japan

Making The Case For Koshu Sake

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Embarking on a journey into the sake world means coming across a countless number of varietals.  From the type of rice used to the final flavour, there’s so much variation across the categories and a type of nihonshu that’s gained traction in recent years is koshu.

Known as aged sake, koshu can be recognised by its distinctive dark colouring and depth of flavour. Although there are no official rules for the category, sake must be aged for a minimum of three years to qualify as koshu. 

While considered a niche product today, there was a time where koshu was considered the cream of the crop, signifying its potential to rise to the top of the mountain again. The history of koshu is like the drink itself: intriguing, complex, full of contradictions.

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Guest Posts · Sake Reviews

Guest Post: Cody’s Junmai Daiginjo Review

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Cody's junmai daiginjo.

Watanabe Sake Brewery’s decision to take on Cody Brailsford as assistant-head brewer is famous throughout the world of nihonshu. The enthusiastic American rose through the ranks from apprentice to assistant head brewer, determined to share the joys of beautifully crafted Japanese sake with the Western world, presented in a way it could easily relate to.

The Hourai Cody’s Sake range has undeniably achieved that, its catchy names (see Cody’s Ninja Junmai) and trendy bottles stand out against a sometimes-impenetrable wall of kanji and tradition in sake lists. And whilst Cody is admittedly still a way off from his ultimate goal of having the US President drink his sake, it certainly doesn’t seem impossible, considering the ever-growing reputation of him and his produce.

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Flights Of Fantasy

Flights Of Fantasy: Kest Murrowson

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Japanese sake can be interpreted in many different ways and a perspective that I like to associate it with is fantasy. From the magical koji mould that’s vital to producing sake, to the heart and soul brewers put into their craftsmanship, there’s definitely a fantastical element to Japan’s national drink, which is where the inspiration for Flights Of Fantasy comes from.

The segment pairs sake with different fantasy characters, revealing their motivations and the stories behind the bottles. This edition of Flights Of Fantasy focuses on Kest Murrowson, a member of the main trio from Sebastien De Castell’s acclaimed The Greatcoats series.

A man of logic, stoicism and tremendous fighting ability, Kest’s sake flights feature drinks with hidden depths.

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Pop Culture and Japan

6 Amazing Facts About Awamori

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Japanese spirits are steadily increasing in popularity, with more consumers being willing to try new drinks and learn about the history of the beverages. Despite this, there is still a lack of awareness about what makes spirits like shochu and awamori unique, especially the latter. 

Awamori is generally lumped into the shochu category, but it stands alone with its own special history and importance. With that in mind, here are six amazing facts about awamori to demystify this ancient spirit.

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Pop Culture and Japan

Delving Into The 5 Main Styles Of Shochu

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In recent years, the spirits category has experienced great change, with vodka, whisky and gin having their time in the sun. In an age where consumers are becoming more open to trying new experiences, there’s an exciting opportunity for new spirits to move into the limelight and Japanese shochu is at the forefront of the conversation.

Japan’s national spirit is made from a wide range of starch-based starters that are combined with koji and water to produce distilled alcohol. Let’s take a look at the five most common styles of honkaku {single-distilled) shochu.

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Pop Culture and Japan

Crossovers And Collaborations: Rebranding Sake For A Western Audience

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When it comes to selling sake in the West, there’s a lot of debate about how best to present it to an audience who’re unfamiliar with it. From my own personal experience, I initially found it hard to categorise what sake is. The kanji symbols were intimidating, the brewing process was a mystery and the comparisons to wine left me feeling really confused!

To help make sake easier to understand, certain businesses have taken to working with breweries in Japan to rebrand their drinks and make them more accessible to a western audience. This phenomenon has become known as ‘white-labelled’ sake, in which a business will purchase the sake from a brewery and change it in some way. 

What’s important to consider is the method in which this is carried out. Transparent brands will clearly indicate who the producer is, while others may not be so forthcoming. It’s a tricky landscape to navigate. 

Let’s take a look at a few of the brands who’re repurposing nihonshu and putting the breweries they work with at the heart of the conversation. 

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Poetry

Can I?

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Can I?

I ask myself this everyday

Can I?

Be someone proud

Can I?

Be someone who goes to Japan

A dream within a dream

Living outside

An existential crisis

Can I?

Live with being me

A contradiction 

Up and down

Travel or no

Paralysed

Frozen inbetween

Can I?

Be a father

A man to lead generations

Children who look up

To the guy who was meant to lead the way

I don’t know

I’m drowning

In indecision

I’m shattered

Pick myself back together

Can I?

Survive the pandemic

Living alone

It’s scary

I feel the weight

Unknown shadows

On my shoulders

Can I?

Be the man

Inside my mind

Samurai 

Connection to culture

Can I?

Keep moving

Uncertainty

I cry

Can I?

Breathe

I’m suffocating

Can I?

Live with myself

Can I?

Not be drunk

Making excuses

Can I?

Listen to myself

Find the answer

Can I?

Bear the pain

Move beyond suicide

Can I?

Explore Hokkaido

Eat ramen in an izakaya

Drink sake in a brewery

Be the gaijn in Roppongi

Dance awkwardly to K-pop

Dive into Kyushu

Drinking shochu

Can I?

Lie on a beach in Okinawa

Speak of the habushu myth

In bars with old men

Still trying to get it up

Can I?

Sip awamori

See kame

Melded before me

Can I?

Accept the things

That can’t be controlled

I don’t know

I’m trying

Forgive me

I will

One day

I see the dawn

Rising

Can I?

I can

Completed

A dream

Reality

The life I’m living

At last

I’m here

Peace

I’m living

A feeling

Without fear

Amazing

Clear eyes

Blue skies

The future is bright 

Sake Reviews

Gozenshu 1859 Prototype Review: Sake With As Many Names As It Has Flavours

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Gozenshu 1859 prototype sake.

Sake brewing requires a tremendous amount of precision and dedication to craft a high-quality product. Breweries such as Gozenshu have built their reputation on creating sake that is as delicious as it is creative. The brand has no problem flexing its creative muscles and that’s exactly what Gozenshu did with the 1859 Prototype. 

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