With Father’s Day just around the corner, we thought it was the perfect time for a Shochu Tasting at the shop. Now we don’t do shochu tastings very often (I think the last time was in 2010?) so you should really stop by for a taste if you have some time. To make things even more fun, Yoshi from World Sake Imports will be here to do the pouring!
We’ll be sampling FOUR different shochu, each with it’s only distinct style and flavor. One of them (Satoh) is a restaurant only shochu that is normally not available for retail sale. To make things even more interesting, Yoshi plans to prepare all of the shochu in several different ways including chilled, warm and room temperature.
To finish things off this Saturday we also plan to taste one sake as well, Tedorigawa Kinka Daiginjo Namazake. It’s unusual to see a Daiginjo level namazake, and this one is incredibly smooth. As an added treat we plan to do a “comparison” of the Tedorigawa Kinka just like we did with Masumi Arabashiri at the last tasting. An older bottle will be poured alongside a newer bottle for you to compare. Should be fun like the last time, hope you can make it!
COMPLIMENTARY
SHOCHU TASTING & SALE
Saturday, June 9, 2012
2:00pm to 7:30pm
Here is the lineup for Saturday.
IKI SHOCHU
Barley Shochu / Nagasaki Prefecture
Calling this shochu “mild and smooth” does not do it justice. For anyone who feels that shochu is too strong for them, this is the shochu to try this Saturday. Pleasingly mild and aromatic with the evocative flavor of ripe pear and cinnamon. Terrifically popular in Japan, where it is credited with defining a new shochu style for contemporary tastes.
TOYONAGA SHOCHU
“Land of Plenty”
Rice Shochu / Kumamoto Prefecture
A classic rice shochu from the Kyushu heartland crafted using 100% Yamadanishiki rice. Exceptionally smooth and mellow, Toyonaga has a sweet meadowland flavor reminiscent of speyside single malts. Nadine likes to compare it to a “pumped up” ginjo sake and it’s one of our favorites.
YAMA NO MORI SHOCHU
“Mountain Guardian”
Barley & Rice Shochu / Nagasaki Prefecture
Made from 1/3 rice and 2/3 barley, this shochu possess exceptional clarity and refinement. It is distilled on Iki Island, where barley shochu originated over 400 years ago. We often recommend this to our “real” shochu drinkers because of it’s delicious full bodied shochu flavor.
SATOH SHOCHU
Sweet Potato Shochu / Kagoshima Prefecture
**NORMALLY NOT FOR RETAIL SALE**
Satoh’s other worldly flavor and aroma derive from the Koganesengan Sweet Potato, grown only in Kagoshima prefecture. It’s smoothness and graceful well-knit texture are unique. This shochu is normally not available for retail sale and is usually only found in restaurants.
TEDORIGAWA KINKA
“Gold Blossom”
Daiginjo
Full, clean taste, with a nice balance of sweetness and acidity overlaying a delicate frutiness. Like plum blossoms at Winter’s end, Kinka is vivid and poised in the elegant Kanazawa style. One of the few Daiginjo level namazake that you’ll find, and this Saturday we’ll be sampling both a newer and older bottle side by side.
So please join us this Saturday for our SHOCHU TASTING. Again, many of you who think you don’t like shochu may be surprised to find out how tasty and easy to drink a high quality shochu can be. Hope to see you then!
Kanpai,
Malcolm & Nadine Leong
The Sake Shop
COMPLIMENTARY
SHOCHU TASTING & SALE
Saturday, June 9, 2012
2:00 pm to 7:30 pm
What is Shochu?
OK, so you’ve finally begun to get a handle on sake and all it’s quirks and nuances, and now you’re asking yourself what the heck is “shochu”?
Unlike sake which is brewed like a beer, shochu is a distilled beverage. Basically that means after an initial fermentation process like sake, shochu is “heated” and refined, resulting in a beverage with a much higher alcohol level and different flavor profile.
More like a vodka than a sake, shochu usually has an alcohol content around 25 to 30% compared to sake’s average 15 to 16%. It can be made using rice, but it can also be made from other items such as barley and sweet potato.
It can be consumed “neat” at room temperature, chilled with ice or even mixed with some warm water. It also does well mixed with fruit juices and even oolong tea. My personal favorite is on the rocks with a slice of cucumber. For some strange reason the cucumber makes it taste even smoother.
Map Courtesy of Wikitravel
Kagoshima prefecture is located on the Southern tip of Kyushu, Japan. It is known for it’s sweet potato and it’s sweet potato shochu or “imo-jochu”.
Being this far South, Kagoshima’s weather is warm and humid. This is not condusive to making good sake, but works just fine for making good shochu. In fact, Kagoshima is the only prefecture in all of Japan that does not brew any sake.
Kagoshima is thought of as the traditional home of shochu. The very first written mention of the word “shochu” in Japan’s history comes from Kagoshima.
In 1559 a carpenter who was doing some work on Koriyama Hachiman Shrine in Oguchi City, scribbled what could be called “graffiti” on a wooden part of the roof. Here’s what he wrote.
“The head priest of the shrine was so stingy that he didn’t offer me shochu at all!”
We’ll be sampling Satoh Shochu from Kagoshima this Saturday. It is a very popular brand in Japan and is usually a restaurant only shochu here in Hawaii due to it’s limited availability. Be sure to try some.
WE NEED YOUR HELP! The Sake Shop has entered into a Social Media Contest. For those of you who are already using Twitter, Facebook and/or Linkedin, you know what Social Media is.
The goal of this contest is to get the most online votes along with the most new followers on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. The contest ends locally on June 18th and then the local Hawaii winners will compete against the winners from other states.
We’d really like to win, so we’re humbly asking for your vote and for you to follow us on Twiter, Facebook and Linkedin if you aren’t doing so already.
To make it easier for you we’ve set up links below for you to click on.
VOTE for us here,
FOLLOW us on Twitter,
LIKE us on Facebook and;
CONNECT with our company page on Linkedin.
Remember, the contest ends on June 18th so there isn’t much time. We would really appreciate your vote and having you follow, like and connect with us on the different social media platforms.
Finally, we would really appreciate it if you would spread the word to your friends and family about voting for us and following us online.
Thank you so much for you support,
Malcolm & Nadine
