Summer Sake Tasting!

SUMMER SAKE TASTING

Ahhh, summer in Hawaii. (cue the sound of ocean waves and sea gulls) There’s nothing quite like it. Blue skies, long sunny days and warm tropical breezes. The only thing missing now is some ice cold summer sake. Well guess what, we’ve got you covered!

Join us this Saturday for our annual Summer Sake Tasting at the shop. We’ve got three incredible seasonal sake for you to sample that are only available during this time of the year.

These particular sake are specially crafted for summer. They have a unique refreshing flavor that is easy to drink and perfect for the warm summer months of Hawaii.

So join us this Saturday for some great “once a year” summertime sake. Here’s the line up.

SUMMER SAKE TASTING & SALE
Saturday, August 2, 2014
5:00pm to 8:00pm 

DEWANOYUKI NAMA GENSHU
Tokubetsu Junmai Namazake
Brand new to Hawaii last year and a definite crowd pleaser, we proudly present to you Dewanoyuki Nama Genshu. This wonderful unpasteurized summer sake is rich and refreshing, and begins with fruity aromas of apple and other juicy fruit. Smooth, with a deep taste and thick viscous texture, this sake from Yamagata prefecture is starting to become a new favorite at the shop.
 

TSUKASABOTAN SENCHUHASSAKU REIKA NAMA
Tokubetsu Junmai Namazake

One of our all time favorites at the shop, this flavorful unpasteurized sake from Tsukasabotan will knock your socks off. One of the very few DRY unpasteurized sake, this tasty brew begins with the aroma of freshly picked juicy fruit. It has a crisp and refreshing acidity and ends dry with a nice spicy herbal finish. Due to it’s incredible popularity in Japan, our importer is not always able secure a batch for sale in the US. This year we are lucky once again to pick up a few cases for sale here in Hawaii.

OHYAMA NAMA
Tokubetsu Junmai Namazake
Ohyama Nama was the first seasonal sake we brought into the shop and we continue to bring it back every summer for sale. Light and smooth, it begins with a refreshing fruity aroma of peach, apple and orange. A medium dry sake with pleasant acidity, it is nicely balanced, mild in flavor and finishes clean.
So please join us this Saturday as we celebrate summer by sampling some great seasonal sake at the shop. Hope to see you there!

Kanpai,
Malcolm & Nadine Leong
The Sake Shop

SUMMER SAKE TASTING & SALE
Saturday, August 2, 2014
5:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Watarai Honten Sake Brewery
(Dewanoyuki)

Founded almost 400 years ago in 1620, Watarai Honten Sake Brewery (also known as Dewanoyuki) is located in Tsuruoka city, in the Northern prefecture of Yamagata Japan. The brewery is located in an area that was referred to as “Dewa no Kuni” during ancient times.

Watarai Honten continues to uphold a long standing tradition of family ownership that dates back for centuries. Their current President is the 17th President of the Watarai family lineage, and his eldest son (Toshihito Watarai) serves as the Brewmaster or Toji.

Brewery Worker
Watarai Honten produces award winning sake, once taking Gold for four consecutive years at the prestigious National New Sake Tasting Competition in Japan.

They still use many traditional methods of sake brewing including the washing of rice by hand instead of machine.  Rice quality can differ from year to year, and hand washing allows the Brewmaster to actually “feel” the quality of the rice.

Prime Minister’s “Sake” Writing
Sake tours of the brewery and a small sake museum are available year round. Some special items of interest in the museum are these papers, each with the kanji for the Japanese word “nishonshu” on them which means sake.

These papers acknowledge Watarai Honten’s wonderful sake, and have all been written and signed by Japanese Prime Ministers through out recent history. So if their sake is good enough for Japanese Prime Ministers, I’m sure it’s good enough for our awesome customers!

Old School Sake Bottle Pasteurization
A lot of the seasonal sake we bring in are referred to as “nama” sake or namazake.  What exactly is this?

Simply put, “nama” sake is sake that has not been pasteurized. As a general rule, most sake are pasteurized twice before leaving the brewery, but “nama” sake are not pasteurized at all. The word “nama” in this instance means “fresh” or “raw”.

Pasteurization and maturation have a way of smoothing out some of the flavors and rough edges in sake. Not so with unpasteurized sake. With namazake you will get a flavor profile that is young, green and brash along with much more robust aromas.

Because namazake has not been pasteurized there are still LIVE enzymes present. Keeping this sake cold is the only way to make sure these enzymes stay “asleep” and do not activate.

Namazake, especially seasonal varieties like the ones we’ll be sampling, are incredibly flavorful and really fun to drink. If you haven’t tried an unpasteurized sake before we highly recommend you stop by this Saturday for a taste.