Kuramoto US Sake Tasting

This next tasting promises to be a GREAT ONE with a variety of interesting sake being offered from one of our Importers, Kuramoto US.  Mixing it up a little this time, we’ll be tasting SIX incredible sake including a YUZUinfused sake and a SPICY UMESHU (ume plum wine). Talk about something different, the spicy umeshu has become so popular that we’re constantly sold out, and everyone agrees that the Yuzu infused sake is incredibly refreshing and goes down like ice cold lemonade on a hot day!

It is our pleasure once again to host Ms. Hiromi Iuchi from Kuramoto US for this tasting. Some of you may remember Ms. Iuchi from January of this year when she stopped by and poured some of the other great sake that her company brings into the US. Ms. Ikkuko Shimizu, Sake Sommelier, will also be joining us to give you some information about the sake we’ll be sampling  and answer any sake questions you may have.

KURAMOTO U.S.
COMPLIMENTARY SAKE TASTING AND SALE
Saturday, August 18, 2012
4:00pm to 8:00pm

DENSHIN RIN
“Air of the Brewery”
Junmai Daiginjo

From Ippongi Kubo Honten in Fukui prefecture, we bring you Denshin Rin Junmai Daiginjo, being offered for the very first time in the shop.  This elegant sake is crafted from a very rare type of rice called Koshinoshizuku.  Only 1,000 bales of this rice are harvested each year and none of it ever leaves Fukui prefecture.    

SHOIN
Junmai Ginjo

From down South in Yamaguchi prefecture we bring you Shoin. Blossoming bouquet of violets and lilacs with a fruity aroma of granny smith apples.  This sake has a graceful richness and medium dry finish.

ASABIRAKI SUIJIN
“God of Water”
Junmai (Super Dry)

From our friends at Asabiraki in Iwate prefecture we bring you Suijin, which we will be selling for the first time in the shop.  Suijin translates to “God of Water”. It’s full of taste with a powerful flavor of rice and a pleasant sharpness befitting a very dry sake of high caliber.

SHICHIDA
Junmai

This amazing junmai sake from Saga prefecture won GOLD at this years Joy of Sake event. The aroma is a calm synthesis of honey and green apples that contain a refined acidity to wrap up the palate. An elegant medium dry sake.
  

YUZU OMOI
Yuzu Infused Sake
Junmai

We sell a ton of this sake at the shop, as the yuzu flavor and lower alcohol content (7%) makes this go down like an ice cold lemonade on a hot day. A refreshing aroma of citrus fruit within the yuzu extends comfortably on to the palate. The junmai sake compliments soft acidity that plays against the sweetness of the yuzu.

GINKOUBAI HANNYA TOU
Chili Pepper Infused Sake

Very popular item in the shop, we’ve been selling so much that we’ve only got about 30 bottles available for sale at this weeks tasting and the distributor is out of stock until next month. This wonderful umeshu starts off sweet and finishes “fiery” with a nice heat and tickle on the back of your throat.

Hope you can join us this Saturday at the shop for what should be a very interesting tasting!

Kanpai,
Malcolm & Nadine Leong
The Sake Shop

KURAMOTO US
COMPLIMENTARY SAKE TASTING AND SALE
Saturday, August 18, 2012
4:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Ginkoubai Hannya Tou

First and foremost, we will always be a sake shop, offering our customers a great selection of premium sake for sale.

However, over the past few years we’ve begun to add a few select non-standard items to our inventory, like the spicy ume plum wine called Ginkoubai Hannya Tou that we’ll be sampling this Saturday.

This stuff is an incredible play on opposites, beginning with a wonderful thick sweetness and ending with a pleasant fiery burn. Nadine and I simply love this stuff as an aperitif or something to sip on after dinner.

The maker of this wonderful concoction is Ippongi Kubo Honten, the same sake brewery that produces Denshin. (We’re sampling Denshin Junmai Daiginjo this Saturday as well.)

Hannya Mask
The company has branded their umeshu with the Hannya Mask, which is used to denote a jealous female demon.  They’ve also got a great story to go with it and here it is.

“A long time ago, there was a very beautiful girl who was married to a rich man in the royal family. For a time they were happy together. But one day she discovered her beloved husband had betrayed her, and was cheating on her with many women.

In life sometimes fire comes after sweetness, just like this sake. Are you brave enough to face the fire?”

Tenzan Sake Brewery
Shichida Junmai is one of the sake we’ll be trying this Saturday and it comes from Tenzan Brewery. Located in Saga prefecture and originally a producer of flour and noodles, in 1875 the Shichida family decided to take a chance and began crafting sake instead.

Tenzan Brewery is located in the town of Ogi, which is also known as the “Little Kyoto of Kyushu”.  It is an area blessed with natural beauty and pure water perfect for making great sake.

The waters that flow in the Gion river comes from the nearby Tenzan mountains.  It is the same water source that the brewery uses for their sake and has been named one of the top 100 purest spring waters in Japan.

Tenzan Sake Brewery Fireflies
The town is also famous for being one of the best places to view fireflies, and the Gion river which flows right past the brewery is especially known for this.  It is the extremely pure water that attracts the fireflies.

Jun Goto, Tenzan Master Brewer
Jun Goto is Tenzan Brewery’s toji or master brewer.  He is very young for a toji and his youth and forward thinking is reflected in the sake that he makes.

Going against the industry standard of using highly polished rice to make good ginjo grade sake, Mr. Goto uses the least polished rice possible instead.

Using less polished rice make brewing premium sake more difficult, as it tends to produce more “off” flavors. More of the fat and proteins are present from the outer part of the rice grain which causes this.

Nevertheless, Mr. Goto has been successful in creating clean flavored sake this way with plenty of richness and rice flavor.  As a testament to his skill, his Shichida Junmai that we’ll be tasting this Saturday recently won Gold at this year’s Joy of Sake event.

Yuzu Fruit
One of the sake we’ll be sampling this Saturday is an infused sake called Yuzu Omoi.  It is a junmai sake that has been infused with the Japanese citrus fruit called Yuzu.

So what is Yuzu?  Yuzu is a citrus fruit that can be found through out Asia and has a unique flavor similar to but not exactly the same as a lemon or orange.

Believed to come originally from China, Yuzu is rarely eaten as a fruit, and instead it’s rind is often used much like a lemon rind would be when flavoring food.