Triple Threat Sake Tasting!

TRIPLE THREAT SAKE TASTING

At many of our previous sake tastings we’ve been very fortunate to host a visiting representative from the sake brewery whose sake we were pouring. In fact, quite a few times we’ve been lucky enough to have the President or Master Brewer of the sake brewery pour their sake at our shop.

Well this Saturday we’re going BIG, with not just one representative, but THREE different representatives from three different sake breweries all pouring their sake at our shop! It’s a TRIPLE THREAT sake tasting that you won’t want to miss!

Joining us this Saturday will be Mr. Enomoto, of Ichinokura Sake Brewery, Mr. Kato, Brewmaster (Toji) of Ohyama Sake Brewery and Mr. Fujii, President of Kamikokoro Sake Brewery. They’ll all be here this Saturday to pour their sake and answer your questions.

Oh and speaking of sake, we’ve got a great line up for you to taste. We’ll be sampling SEVEN different sake including two that are new to Hawaii, some high end Daiginjo, an extra dry signature sake, a mysteriously red bagged sake and two infused sake, one peach and the other ume.

Sounds like all the makings of a great get together! Please be sure to stop by and check it out!

Triple Threat Sake Tasting!
Saturday, April 19, 2014
5:00pm to 8:00pm

Ichinokura Shozanten
“Heavenly Pine Tree”
JUNMAI DAIGINJO

This high end daiginjo begins with the fruity aroma of apple, kiwi and a hint of spice and plants. Well balanced taste with fine acidity and fruity flavor. It doesn’t hurt that it also comes in a beautiful box.

Ichinokura Mukanasa Extra Dry
HONJOZO

Signature sake of Ichinokura and their best seller for 37 years, We’ve haven’t had the pleasure of sampling this extra dry sake so we’re looking forward to trying it for the first time with everyone this Saturday.

Ichinokura Himezen Ume
“Princess Plum”

New to the shop, this low alcohol yellow plum infused sake is pretty darn good! (Of course we had to pre-sample this before the official tasting.) It has a very elegant and refreshing aroma of plum and peach. Light on the palate with a refined mild flavor and a clean finish.

Ohyama Zuisho
JUNMAI DAIGINJO
** NEW TO HAWAII **

The sake gods are smiling down on us once again as we get to sample this next sake before it’s even available for sale in Hawaii. (Should arrive in May) It begins with a fruity aroma of apple, grapefruit, melon and cream, continuing with expansive savory and fruit flavors. Rich and viscous texture that finishes with a clean aftertaste.

Ohyama Fu-in
“Sealed Sake”
JUNMAI GINJO

Don’t let the mysterious red bag fool you, there’s a great bottle of sake hiding in there. This sake from Ohyama is made exclusively for our importer, and it begins with the fruity aroma of apple, pear and steamed rice. Very smooth, rich and expansive fruity flavor.

Ohyama Tomizu
Big Mountain “Classic”
TOKUBETSU JUNMAI

Not your typical junmai sake, this one from Ohyama begins with deep and complex aromas of fruits and grain. Thick and juicy flavor of fruits harmonized with matured savory flavor and crisp acidity.

Kamikokoro Momo
PREMIUM WHITE PEACH SAKE

White peach infused low alcohol sake. Our importer tells us that there is the equivalent of one whole white peach in each bottle. The sweet flavor of white peach is balanced with bamboo leaf, herb and plum flavors. Served chilled or on the rocks. (Because it uses white peach as opposed to yellow peach it is not overly sweet.)

So come meet the three representatives from Ichinokura, Ohyama and Kamikokoro this Saturday and sample a bunch of great sake, including some that are brand new to Hawaii. Should be a blast, hope to see you then!

Kanpai,
Malcolm & Nadine Leong
The Sake Shop

Triple Threat Sake Tasting!
Saturday, April 19, 2014
5:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Ichinokura Sake Brewery

Founded in 1973, Ichinokura Sake Brewery is located in the city of Osaki in Miyagi prefecture. Wait you say, they were only founded in 1973? Pshaw you say, they haven’t been around for that long.

While on the surface it may seem like Ichinokura has only been around for 30 years, their founding in 1973 was actually a merger of four existing sake breweries in Miyagi prefecture. Each of these four separate breweries already had established histories, some going back 300 years.

Ichinokura Workers

Ichinokura was founded with the purpose of brewing the best quality sake as well as promoting agriculture and revitalizing the region through the cooperation of the brewing industry.

Their name, Ichinokura or “Ace Brewery”, was chosen to express their desire to become the number one brewery by combining the original four breweries in to one.

Ichinokura Logo

Their logo, with its four separate yet connected sides, represent the four sake breweries who originally merged to become one.

Kato Kahachiro Sake Brewery

Founded in 1872 in Yamagata prefecture, Kato Kahachiro Sake Brewery is the proud maker of Ohyama sake. Ohyama, which means “Big Mountain”, was named after Ohyama-cho town, where Kato Kahachiro Sake Brewery is located.

The town of Ohyama in Tsuruoka city, has always been known as the top sake brewing district in Eastern Japan since the early Edo period, beginning in the 17th century.

Original Sake Brewing Machines

The brewery is notable for inventing original and innovative sake brewing machines. As an example, they invented an automatic mash mixing machine that can easily control duration, time, speed and strength for the first time in Japan.

Original Sake Brewing Machines
They also created an automatic fermentation machine with a natural convection system and a koji making machine which is easier to control that other machines. As a result of their efforts, it became possible to both stabilize the quality of their sake and to brew much more precisely.

Ohyama Sake Rice
Ohyama’s sake rice is grown in the Shonai field, surrounded by Mount Chokai, three mountains of Dewa and the Asahi Mountains. It is an area blessed with an abundance of clear water and fertile soil.

Kamikokoro Sake Brewery
Kamikokoro is a relatively young micro sake brewery that was founded in 1913 in Okayama prefecture, which is known as a famous peach producing area and the birthplace of the Momotaro legend (Peach Boy).

The second generation brewery owner (Matsusaburo) had a passion for sake brewing and established a branch shrine of the Kyoto Matsuo Shrine in Okayama prefecture.

The original Matsuo Shrine in Kyoto is where the god of sake is enshrined. Kamikokoro was named after the “Heart of the Gods” reflecting his philosophy “to brew sake with a pure body and heart”.

Sumimasen Deshita!
Our sincerest apologies to the Maegaki family of Kamoizumi. In our last tasting newsletter we inadvertently misspelled their name as “Maekake”. We had copied this spelling from a credible website that had also misspelled their name.

We’ve informed the other website of the error and they have made the correction as well. Thank you to Mr. Nakata, a friend of the Maegaki family for pointing out our mistake to us.