98 replies to this topic

[AzianBrewer]

Use it to cook if you think it has slightly passed it shelf life.

[peter_nyc]

Okay... I finally got some pictures of the bottles I brought back from Japan. If anybody can tell me anything about any of them, I'd be really appreciative.






This last one is a nigori sake, I know that much!

[Hiroyuki]

Some info that I found on the Internet:
The first one is Mansaku no Hana, a daiginjo aged for two years or more, according to the brewery's website http://www.hinomaru-sake.com/ (Japanese only)
The second one is Oku no Matsu. The website of the brewery in English: http://www.okunomats...lish/index.html
The last one is Dassai, a sparkling(!) nigori zake
http://asahishuzo.ne...lish/index.html
Watch out when you open the bottle.

Sorry, I'm not a big fan of Japanese sake. Do you need any more infomation?

[buffy]

The annual sake festival will be held here in Hiroshima in a couple of weeks. Hiroshima is quite a large producer of sake and for about $10-15 you can try hundreds of different types of sake to your heart's content.....! A great festival!
Hiroshima Sake Festival

[Rebel Rose]

Last Saturday we made our first stab at homemade sushi, nigiri, and sashimi. We enjoyed ourselves immensely. Our first nigiri sushi--yellowtail with avocado, sugar snap pea, and wasabi:



And our basic setup of yellowtail surrounded by gathered-at-the-last-minute garnishes from the winter garden:



Unfortunately, the only sake we could find in this provincial, backwater, drought-ridden town was "Gekkeikan~The Finest Sake," from Folsom, California.

We pretty much stuck with the Jacob Toft 'Mary Jane' Chardonnay, Edna Valley! Completely dry, but with a citrusy, light profile that paired well with the light fare.



We've decided to do Sushi Saturday once a month. Where can I find some great sake online? I'm thinking the Pacific Northwest would be a great resource. I like my sake cold. Any suggestions?

PS. Pansies and dill are very nice on yellowtail sashimi with a citrusy chardonnay.

[KatieLoeb]

There's some good information and an online source HERE.

I just tasted a flight of 4 different sakes this evening and every single one was good. I'll try and find my little card with the names written on it to see if you can maybe locate them through Google by product name.

[His Nibs]

You can never go wrong with a good junmai daiginjo.
纯米大呤酿

or failing that, get it junmai (meaning made 100% of rice).

These usually taste great slighly chilled.

[His Nibs]

Americans tend to classify Sake as rice wine. Hmm, I remember seeing junmai daiginjo going for 20-80 USD at the japanese supermarts in san diego. So that's like 2000-8000 JPY.

I have tasted some nice ones at a resturant for USD 45 per 1800ml bottle.

Edit: they were of the ginjo variety and not the junmai daiginjo variety.

http://www.zeus-ec.n...ginjyou_02.html

Edited by His Nibs, 09 March 2006 - 01:44 AM.

[jsolomon]

I've never had any complaints about Momokawa Silver sake.

But, I've only had it in Nebraska, served to Nebraskans. Cold, please.

[Sneakeater]

My personal favorite sake is Wakatake.

I go out of my way to say this because it's such a refreshing change for me to have a personal favorite anything that's in the mid-price range rather than being ridiculously expensive.

[larrylee]

Hi Sneakeater. I don't mean to be argumentative but I believe Wakatake is a brand. Which of Wakatake's offerings do you like?

Masumi makes some really outstanding sakes ranging from junmais to yamahais and they are in NYC this week to do some promotions. I submitted a tasting event to the New York Calendar. Once the entry posts, I invite all to check it for the names of the sakes. They are all outstanding.

Other fine choices include Dewazakura Oka and selections from Koshi no kanbai, but the exact names fail me at the moment. I'll have to look them up.

Rebel Rose: Whereabouts in California are you? I recall seeing a fairly large selection of sakes at the Berkeley Bowl. Sho Chiku Bai's brewery is probably less than a mile away from that.

My personal favorite sake is Wakatake.

I go out of my way to say this because it's such a refreshing change for me to have a personal favorite anything that's in the mid-price range rather than being ridiculously expensive.

[KatieLoeb]

The four I had tried in the flight were as follows (with their desriptions):

Hakushika Chokara - dry and crisp

Miyanoyuki - light fruity taste with moderately dry finish

Ozeki Yamadanishiki - smooth and refreshing flavor and matches well with a variety of dishes

Okagura - medium dry with a nice balance of sweetness and rich body

These were all quite delicious but I seem to recall the Ozeki being a particular favorite of mine and philadining's that evening.

[Sneakeater]

Hi Sneakeater. I don't mean to be argumentative but I believe Wakatake is a brand. Which of Wakatake's offerings do you like?

Ooops. Sorry. Onikoroshi. (Hope I spelled that right.)

[larrylee]

Sorry for the multiple posts.

Nishida Denshu is one of my all time favorites. Well rounded flavor, good with sushi or by drinking alone. I was devastated when my local favorite sushi bar stopped carrying it.

I'd also recommend the Dewazakura Dewasansan and the Dewasansan Nama Genshu.

I like a wide range of sakes, but I stay away from taru (cedar) aged sakes and ones that are too dry (Yuki No Bosha, Hakuryu) or too sweet (Kamoizumi KomeKome, which almost tastes like pineapple to me). I like daiginjos but I generally prefer junmais because of their stronger flavor profiles that tend more towards rice flavor than floral or fruit notes.

Rebel Rose,
You might try calling True Saketo see if they'll ship to you. I tried viewing their web page but... I have to upgrade my Flash plugin first. :-\

[lambretta76]

Are there any good sites out there for sake etiquette? I know theres the pouring of others' drinks based on seniority/status, but is there anything else involved besides a hearty kampai! ? For instance, is there anything that should be said when receiving a pour of sake from the owner of the establishment? Any specific way to drink from a masu? My wife is going to un upscale sake tasting and doesn't want to embarass herself.

[Hiroyuki]

Are there any good sites out there for sake etiquette?

Not that I know of. Besides, is there such a thing as sake etiguette?

I know theres the pouring of others' drinks based on seniority/status,

Yeah, that's quite popular, but is that based on seniority/status?

but is there anything else involved besides a hearty kampai! ? For instance, is there anything that should be said when receiving a pour of sake from the owner of the establishment?

A simple "(aa) doumo" ((oh) thanks) should be fine. You can also say:
Doumo arigatou.
Arigatou.
Arigatou gozaimasu.
Doumo arigatou gozaimasu.

Any specific way to drink from a masu? My wife is going to un upscale sake tasting and doesn't want to embarass herself.

According to one site, you hold a masu with your four fingers, and only your thumb on the rim, you put your lips on one corner, and sip sake. An interesting way to drink sake from a masu is to place some salt near the corner and sip sake with it. That's they way how a tsuu (connoiseur) drinks sake, and I wouldn't recommend it unless you are really a tsuu.

[glossyp]

We were fortunate to get seats at the counter for a kaiseki dinner which will be prepared by Masahara Seiya who defeated Morimoto 4-0 in Battle Angler Fish on the original Iron Chef series. The better half wants sake (but neither of us are very knowledgeable) and I was hoping for a sparkling wine or possibly a dry rose. We have no idea what the menu will be but since it is summer we expect ingredients representative of the season. Any and all suggestions will be deeply appreciated. Domo arigato!

[budrichard]

Sake has evolved in the last few years. Sake's have been brewed that are kept cold in storage and meant to be drunk cold rather than heated. I find them very refreshing with Jpanese food especially Sashimi. The type that we really like is the ones with rice lees in the bottle. The lees give a very smooth mouth feel. What i would actually do is to tell your server that you would like the servers to match the type of Sake to the course being served. I would'nt have a different type with each course because you may not be able to stand at the end of your meal! -Dick

[LindaJ]

I would agree with the cold sake. There's absolutely nothing like it with traditional light Japanese fare. Good cold sake is smooth and smells heavenly, like flowers and fruit. I save the hot stuff for winter now.

[glossyp]

Thank you for the suggestions. The restaurant just obtained their liquor license so we have to byob, thus the inquiry here. The good news is we made our way to a local Japanese market and, by good fortune, their sake expert was in the store. He asked a funny question: did we want to impress the chef or enjoy what we drank? We told him we really didn't think it would be appropriate to try and impress the chef and we probably couldn't afford to do that anyway! He sent us off with a bottle of Suishin "Tenjomukyu" (on sale for $28.99) which should be served cold and invited us to a sake tasting on the morrow. There is plenty to learn and lots of sake to try.

[montrachet]

Pick up a bottle of Kubota "Senjyu" at Tamura's in Kaimuki for under $20 and drink it at ambient temp just like the fishermen in Niigata do with their fresh caught bounty.

[JohnL]

My understanding of the definitions is: Sake is not wine. It is actually closer to beer.
(wine can only be made from fruit)
I am curious if I am technically correct in this?

Is this a Eurocentric definition (the EU)?
or are the Japanese in agreement?

In the end --no big deal-sake is a wonderful beverage.

[sk_ward]

I was looking at some recipes on Yahoo Japan and I saw a couple that had "À¶¼ò" (seishu?) as an ingredient. Is this a special type of sake?

Edited by sk_ward, 28 September 2006 - 06:33 AM.

[smallworld]

I was looking at some recipes on Yahoo Japan and I saw a couple that had "À¶¼ò" (seishu?) as an ingredient.  Is this a special type of sake?

No, seishu is just another word for sake. I'm not sure, but I get the impression that when a recipe calls for "seishu" instead of "sake", it means you should use a proper drinking sake (rather than cheap cooking sake).

[Hiroyuki]

Seishu (清酒) is synonymous with nihon shu (日本酒) and sake (酒), but sake can mean any alcoholic drink besides seishu.
Cooking sake is ryouri shu (料理酒) or chouri shu (調理酒).
The greatest difference between seishu and cooking sake is that the latter usually contains salt so it doesn't fall under the sake category under Japan's Liqour Tax Law. I checked the cooking sake in the kitchen and found it contains 2.3% salt.

[Hiroyuki]

I live in a snowy region in Niigata prefecture, Japan. There are two sake breweries in the former Shiozawa town (now part of a city). One is Aoki Shuzo. A famous brand of the brewery is Kakurei:

Most sake produced in Niigata prefecture are described as tanrei karakuchi (light and dry), but this particular brewery aims at making sake that keep umami inherent to sake intact.
Head office:

Factory:

An employee of the brewery is an acquaintance of mine. The other day, I asked him if I could visit the brewery, take photos, and post them to eGullet, and he replied yes. So, I think I'll visit the brewery soon.
By the way, the sake of the brewery are available at Sushi Samba and Megu in New York, according to the brewery.

[AzianBrewer]

Is the writing indicating "No Sugar Added" on the label?

[Hiroyuki]

Thanks everyone for their replies.
Peter Green: OK, I'll ask them.
AzianBrewer: You're right. No sugar added (mu tou ka in Japanse) in the brewing process. The resulting sake is refreshing, aromatic, and crispy. It's good whether chilled, at room temperature, or hot. It's relatively cheap (1.8-liter bottle: 1,694 yen including 5% consumption tax). It's a great "table sake" here in the snowy region and loved by the locals. When I give a bottle of sake to someone as a gift, however, I usually select Kakurei Honjozo.
The brewery does make other types of sake, including daiginjo and junmai daiginjo:
http://www.kakurei.co.jp/syohin.htm
Daniel Rogov: Thanks for your comments. I browsed through the Beverages and Libations section and came to a conclusion that this forum would be the most appropriate. (I thought about posting it in the Adventures in Eating Forum too. )

[Hiroyuki]

This is the mother water of Aoki Shuzo's sake:

The board says that the soft water is ideal for tanrei umakuchi (light and tasty) that the brewery aims at.

If you have any questions for the brewery, feel free to post. I will convey them to the brewery.
I'm planning to visit it next week.

[AzianBrewer]

This is the mother water of Aoki Shuzo's sake:

The board says that the soft water is ideal for tanrei umakuchi (light and tasty) that the brewery aims at.

If you have any questions for the brewery, feel free to post.  I will convey them to the brewery.
I'm planning to visit it next week.

What kind of rice and koji do they used for there brews????