Deepening sake obsession
May 21st, 2008 by Q
During my last trip to Hanamaki I went with my father-in-law to a welcome home party for a local toji, or sake master. Itagaki-san (板垣 博司） is a farmer in Iwate during the warm months and spends his winters in Gifu prefecture as the toji of Hourai, an internationally acclaimed (award-winning) sake. This party is something that happens every year at the end of April, and this was the third time I’d attended. Six different types of nihonshu were passed around, all daiginjo this year. (Daiginjo is a highly refined type where at least 50% of the rice has been milled away before being used.) The etiquette at the sake party (nomikai) is such that every time someone greets you they bring a pitcher of sake to pour you a glass. Of course you can’t mix two different types, so you have to quickly finish what you were drinking to receive more. Repeat this about 30 times as you are greeted by various people and you’ve got a room full of very drunk men. To my credit I managed to maintain my ability to taste properly and despite the room’s refusal to hold still I was able to correctly identify what I was drinking the whole night.
This fueled my budding interest in sake and during the two weeks I spent up north my father-in-law and I drank what could arguably be called “too much” sake. (We sort of had an enabling effect on each other – when we get together we both drink far more than we otherwise would.)
Back in Tokyo, at my wife’s suggestion, I’ve started a sake journal of sorts. I guess it’s standard practice for sake lovers to take the sake label off a bottle after finishing it, and to paste it into one’s sake journal. I’ve just started doing this, and it is a great deal of fun.
I’ve got three bottles of nihonshu in the fridge at the moment. (Yes, my wife gives me hell about hogging too much space in there.)
1. Marushin Masamune (Ginjo Karakuchi – Akabane, Tokyo)
Not terribly impressive. I bought it because it’s local. The kura is bicycling distance from where I live. For being called “karakuchi” it tastes somewhat sweet to me, almost tart. Aftertaste lingers a bit. Not bad, not great. (After buying it I heard that there is no toji, or sake master, that makes it. The process is mostly computerized…)
2. Nenohimatsu (Junmai Ginjo – Aichi)
I like this better than the above. It’s classified umakuchi. Goes down smoothly without much initial heat. Aromatic. I like it, but not enthusiastically.
3. Hourai – Kuramoto no Kakushizake (Gifu) – pictured above
This is the only one that is a 1.8l isshobin. (The two above are 720ml bottles.) I am really loving this limited edition Hourai. It has a full body on the initial taste, but it vanishes quickly from your palate, leaving no aftertaste. It’s dry, but not so clear like Niigata sakes (Hakkaizan, Koshi no Kanbai, etc.). Having this around the house is what makes me feel like an alcoholic. I can’t seem to pass a night without having at least one glass. It goes well with fried fish, but is splendid on its own. The more I drink, the more I love it. They made 3000 bottles (all 1.8l) of this Kuramoto no Kakushizake, and I may try to buy one more before they all sell out.
Here is a link if you’re interested:
http://www.sake-hourai.co.jp/sake_toku02.html
You can buy all of these on Rakuten, which is where I get my nihonshu when I’m in Tokyo.
All very inspiring. I’ve been trying to get into sake, but always feel a little lost at the store. I tend to just give up and get what I know I like (but am getting tired of: Kubota Senjyu), one with a label that interests me (not the best way to select a sake, or just one from the karakuchi section. And I always promptly forget what I bought last time. I think I’ll try a sake journal myself, although it sounds like the type of thing I’ll abandon pretty quickly out of laziness.
Back in Kanazawa there were a few “one-shot” standing-only sake bars that let you sample from a very large assortment of local brews. A lot of fun, but most of my friends there didn’t like sake. And kind of a lonely place to hit on your own.
If you find a sake that doesn’t wake you up at 7 in the morning with a little miner burrowing through your forehead, let me know!
Kubota is good stuff, but yeah, it’s no fun to stick with the same thing all the time. I know what you mean with the labels. When I go to the local liquor store in Tokyo I somehow gravitate toward the bottle with the most appealing label in the general type that I’m looking for. (Up until recently I have stuck mostly with drier varieties of ginjo or junmai ginjo.) Now I mostly buy online (at some places on rakuten you get free shipping with orders of 2500 yen or more) though.
Yeah, I love “nomiya” based around nihonshu (and shochu for that matter), but I don’t get out at night much these days. (My wallet thanks me for that.)
I have a theory about the headaches people get from sake. I think it only happens when you drink cheap sake, which I’ve heard is still made with rice-conserving techniques developed during World War II and uses numerous chemical additives. I never get hangovers even when I go a bit overboard, as long as it’s decent sake. (If you wanted to err on the side of caution, you could stick with junmai, which has no added alcohol.) Beware the one-cup!
I do have a recommendation:
“Jikuu” (慈空） Jikuu is a junmai ginjo made by Sakuragao, who is a member of the “Nanbu Toji” in Iwate Prefecture. I loved this on first taste, and I’d like to think most people would. The only way you can buy Jikuu online, however, is as a Father’s Day gift bottle with a custom family photo on it…. Maybe that’s not a bad thing. You can order it here:
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/mori/10000599/
(Let me know if you are actually interested in ordering it but don’t have a rakuten account – I’d be happy to help.)
I’d like to recommend another sake made by Sakuragao, this one a daiginjo called “Nanbu no Shizuku.” It has a delicate, really elegant flavor, and isn’t too pricey for a daiginjo (1500yen for a 720ml bottle). Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be sold outside Hanamaki, Iwate!!! It’s really frustrating because the local sake that I love when I’m up north is all but unavailable in most cases outside of the region. If I want to give some to friends I have to lug a few bottles back with me (which I sometimes do…). Oh well…
Hey there, Q. Nice blog! Thanks for stopping by mine.
So you’ve started a sake journal? Good for you. If only I could be that disciplined…Hourai makes good stuff, but I haven’t tried that limited ed you talk about here. Thanks for the recs, though!
I did a write up over on my blog about this same sake. Nice blog.