A sake drinker Ichibay reports events that occur in his daily life and coveys his casually conceived ideas, focusing especially on sake and sake-related items and events. He sometimes writes about his short trips in his country Japan or provides some Japanese cultural stuff related to kimono, local performing arts, etc.
The Stand-up BarSawanosuke was open at Sawanoien run by Ozawa Syuzou sake brewery limitedly on 10th and 11th of October.
By the way, my friend and I were to see takigi kagura (shinto music and dance performed under bonfire) at Mitake Shrine on October 11. And, Sawanoien is located near Sawai Station, which is one stop before Mitake Station, the station we were to get off the train. Then, what was the reason for passing Sawanoien without having some sips of sake there? Of course, we get off the train at Sawai Station.
Swanoien were attracting a lot of visitors as usual and there was a line of people in front of the kiosk where they were ordering soba noodle and other foods.
The Stand-up Bar Sawanosuke was selling "nama genshu and soda," non-pasteurized, non-diluted sake with carbonated water and ice. I tried one glass of it. A bit of citron juice had been added to this beverage. The flavor of citron mixed with briskness apparently deriving from live yeast was refreshing. With the addition of carbonated water, sake seemed to increase in its characteristic sweetness.
Before, I thought nama genshu should be drunk chilled without water or anything since I wanted to enjoy characteristic thick flavor of nama genshu. Now, I have changed my thought. Nama genshu and soda was actually nice.
(Nama genshu and soda priced at 350 yen)
(This is Sawabee, which has probably been created from the words "Sawanoi" and "beer.")
Located in Fussa, a city in the far-flung west of Tokyo, Tamura Syuzoujou sake brewery has been making sake for nearly 190 years since its establishment in 1822. This time, my friends and I visited this brewery and saw facilities in this brewery to learn how they are making sake. Sales Manager, Mr. Hirahara, showed us their brewery. It was a fruitful study to receive explanation about sake making process while actually seeing samples of different sake rice varieties, sake making facilities, bubbling fermenting mash, etc.
After leaving the west exit of JR Fussa Station, go westward along the main street for about 10 minutes, and you will reach the intersection on Okutama Kaido street. Take the right here. Okutama Kaido street around here runs alongside Tamagawajosui Water Supply Channel. Walk toward the upper stream for a while to reach a pedestrian overpass, and you will find a small bridge over the channel. Walk across this bridge, and you will see a red brick chimney ahead on your left. Farther proceed on your way ahead, and you will be walking along the black wall long extending along the road. On the premises behind the wall, whitewashed buildings with massive tiled roofs stand orderly in a line. Huge trees stand high and extend boughs as if they were guarding these buildings, and you hear birds chirping. Now, you are in front of the main gate of Tamura Syuzoujou. When we walked through the gate, we found a big cedar leaf ball hanging under the eaves of the building on your left. The ball was brownish, but it was soon to be replaced with a new green one when they would start the shipment of new brew. Placed on the right in front of the entrance of the building were three sake casks wrapped with rush mats with the brand name of "Kasen" on them. When we walked under the cedar ball and went into the building, we found on the right the base of the red brick chimney that we had seen from a distance.
Having the shape of an octagonal column, this chimney was built in the middle of the Meiji period (1868-1912) and once damaged by the Great Kanto Earthquake. Later it was restored but it is not used currently. Mr. Hirahara said that, according to an architecture specialist, they should preserve this chimney even if they would not use it because the bricks used in this chimney were laid in a distinctive way.
On the opposite side of the chimney was a rice-steaming room. Before entering the room, we were shown samples of sake rice varieties. Rice grains that had been milled down and had become whiter were packed in plastic bags, on each of which the name of rice and rice milling rate are indicated on a label.
There were Yamadanishiki, Nihonbare, Ginginga, Miyamanishiki, and Yamasake No. 4. I have ever heard of Yamasake No. 4. If I remember right, this rice has been developed in an agricultural high school in Yamagata prefecture. Tamura Syuzoujou experimentally used this rice and succeeded in making quite good sake in the last season. So, they decided to use this rice in full-fledged production. Now, we can anticipate seeing a new type of sake from Tamura Syuzouhou on shelves in this season.
Well, we then moved to the rice-steaming room. Shiny stainless-steel rice soaking tanks, also shiny horizontal continuous rice steamer, rice cooling device, and other facilities were in the room. Beside the rice steamer was an old caldron for steaming rice that was not used currently.
Facilities of this brewery are relatively new and buildings are well constructed. We were shown fermentation tanks, which are hermetically sealed types and have the capacity of 10,000 litters for each. The upper floor from which they stir the mash with stirring rods are decently planked and looked to have been waxed. Such floors of old sake breweries are often humble and sometimes they creak when you walk on them. The floor of this brewery is steady and never creaks. The stirring rods, which are as long as five meters, are made of glass fiber.
In one of the fermentation tanks, ivory-white thick mash was bubbling. Enchanting sweet aroma like that of soda pop was rising up from the inside of the tank.
Although the facilities look latest or relatively new, the buildings in which these facilities are placed are old. The building in which fermentation tanks are placed was actually built in 1918. The roof of this building is tiled with hongawara (roof tiles usually used for shrines, temples, and other high-class architectures) and was built by miyadaiku (skillful carpenters specializing in shrine and temple buildings). This is a gorgeous building!
We were also shown the garden that is owned by the Tamura family. According to the book "Tokyo no Jizake" (Tokyo sake) written by Hiroyuki Koda. The Tamura family has a history of over 300 years, and family leaders were the headman of Fussa village. The garden is so old and a huge tree standing there is estimated to be as old as about 1,000 years. This tree is worth seeing. It is said that the boughs of the tree provided a good shade for brewery buildings in olden days keeping the building cool.
At the end of the study tour, we of course had sake sampling time happily. We tasted Tokubetu Honjozo Maboroshi-no-sake Kasen, Junmai Ginjo Namachozoshu, and a sample version of Junmai Ginjo Tamura. I specially liked Maboroshi-no-sake Kasen, which has richness and is modest in pomposity. According to Mr. Hirahara, a real sake lover tends to finally become to prefer honjoso type sake to ginjo type sake.
When we were walking inside the brewery, we saw the toji master brewer and other brewery workers working busily. As autumn gets far advanced toward winter now, new fermenting mash will be prepared one after another and they will get busier. I thank Mr. Hirahara for sparing time for us in this busy time.
When I compare two brands of sake one of which is namazake and the other is pasteurized sake, I prefer the former to the latter in most cases. I feel namazake and pasteurized sake are completely different products.
By the way, if one happens to come in an izakaya where they have only one type of sake and she or he orders it, the sake is, in many cases, inexpensive pasteurized sake such as futsushu (regular sake), I guess. I have no intention to say that futsushu is not good. However, I think it is difficult for many people to understand the virtue of futushu if they have not experienced many types of sake or they do not have a delicate palate.
So, if someone who has not drunk so much of sake before happening to drink such sake as futsushu at cheap izakaya, it is quite likely that she or he thinks "Maybe, I am not good at this."
However, when it comes to namazake, its refreshing fragrance and rich taste impresses you at the first moment when you take the very first sip. So, I would like those who believe they don't like sake to drink namazake as a trial. They may change their view on sake. If they judge sake to be not enjoyable after drinking only inexpensive futsushu, I feel chagrined.
I am thinking of the above lately. Anyway, today is the Japanese Sake Day. It seems that some breweries have started koji making and some have proceeded to fermentation process already. Liquor shops are selling akiagari (half-year aged sake) and hiayoroshi (half-year aged sake without pasteurization before shipment). Especially hiyaoroshi can be called half namazake since its pasteurization process before the shipment is skipped.
As autumn gets far advanced and it becomes cooler, it becomes easier to pass our days. We are blessed with delicious foods of autumn. Every food is really tasty in autumn. It may be the privilege of those who live in Japan to enjoy hiyaoroshi paired with nice foods in autumn.
Today's Sake Kure Junmai Muroka Hiyaoroshi (Nishioka Sake Brewery) Sake from Kochi prefecture. This hiyaoroshi has been aged in a cave in the headwaters area of the Shimanto River. It has been aged to mellowness while maintaining the characteristic flavor of namazake. In spite of the sake meter value of +9, it is fresh rather than dry.
Rice used: Tosanishiki (sake rice harvested in Kochi prefecture)
Located on the border between Yamanashi and Nagano prefectures and listed as a member of the 100 great mountains of Japan, Kimpu Mountain stands 2599 meters high above the sea level. My friends and I climbed this mountain last Sunday. It was an amazing mountain.
Unfortunately, after we started climbing, it became misty as we got close to the summit. We could not see Mt. Fuji, Southern Japan Alps, Yatsugatake, and other mountains, which were supposed to be in our view. Nevertheless, walking on the trail in the coniferous woods studded with deciduous trees such as birches was merry and comfortable. This was nice woods bathing. Due to the high elevation, the deciduous leaves had already begun to turn yellowish or reddish, contrasting well with the dark green of the conifers. In addition, the ground in the woods covered with moss was beautiful.
The summit is above the timberline and we saw many stunted pine trees in its vicinity. I guess we can see many types of alpine flowers in summer.
Today's Drunkard I also drink sake even on a mountaintop!
I often hear that they discuss influence on the taste of sake by the shape of sake drinking vessels. So, I tasted the same sake with a wine glass and ordinary sake cup for comparison. I experienced difference in taste between the two different receptacles actually (see "Using a Wine Glass for Sake").
Then, what about the difference of material? Does the material of a drinking vessel affect the taste of sake? Let's see whether it does or not in an actual experiment.
This time, I used two cups that were somehow similar in shape but different in material. One was an earthenware cup, and the other, a porcelain cup. The earthenware cup was glazed only partly and looked porous in most parts, so I guessed it absorbs sake in itself. Minerals or some components contained in the material may affect the taste. The porcelain cup is a small sake tasting cup with indigo color circles in it.
Frankly, I couldn't discern the difference in taste or aroma.
This time, I drank the sake soon after I poured it into the cups. Maybe, waiting for drinking for a while may cause change in taste or aroma. Also, if I had drunk it at a room temperature, I might have been able to discern subtle difference in flavor. So, next time, I will pour some sake into these two cups and leave them for half a day at a room temperature.
Today's Sake Junmai Ginjo Yamahai Hiyaoroshi Yamazaru Muroka Genshu (Nagayama Shuzo) This sake does not exhibit the characteristic flavor of yamahai sake very much. However, it has richness resulting from its aging and its acid and roughness that remind me some type of fruit such as an apricot are refreshing.
Last Friday, I went to Tachikawa for drinking some sake alone. First, I visited my friend’s izakaya restaurant Marusan-Shoten. Unfortunately, the restaurant was full to capacity. The friend told me apologetically that they usually have many customers Fridays and on weekends. So, I went to another izakaya, Mamiana.
Mamiana has various sakes from different places in Japan. The restaurant chief is a great sake lover and he selects sake to offer at his restaurant every month by himself. This time, I had Naraman, Mogamigawa, and Kurumazaka. They were all nice.
And yesterday (Monday), I had a phone call from a drinking friend, and we agreed to meet at Tachikawa for some drink. We planned to go Marusan-Shoten. No problem this time. There were enough seats.
Marusan sells sake and foods at reasonable prices. The most inexpensive yakitori is offered at only 70 yen. Their sake is mostly served in tiny 180-ml bottles, which are easy to empty, and you can always enjoy fresh sake.
In spite of the fact that they had many tiny bottles to offer, we ordered a 720-ml bottle, which the restaurant chief had been keeping as a special menu. That was Horaisen “Roku” of Sekiya Brewery in Aichi prefecture. For sake drunkards, 180-ml bottle is too small.
This “Roku” is yamahai junmiai namazake, but does not exhibit that strong impression, which many yamahai sakes possess. Mild taste of this sake relaxes drinkers and keeps them drinking one cup after another. It was actually quite easy for two of us to finish this bottle.
Today's Drunkard Video taken last year. Kisa, the leader of our kimono club, enjoys beer wearing kimono and her favorite wig.
Lately, sake seems to be gaining in popularity in the United States. They are also holding sake tasting events in that country. When I browse the Internet and visit some Web sites depicting sake tasting event held here and there in the United States, I usually find they are using wine glasses for drinking sake.
This is probably because they don't have many sake cups. But, what I am curious about is how the use of wine glasses affects the taste of sake. So, I tried drinking sake from a wine glass. Also, I tried a sake cup for comparison.
In the photo on the left, I am using a wine glass for drinking sake. The glass is tilted and the brim of the glass almost covers my nose. In the right photo, tilting my face downward, I am slurping up the sake from a sake cup.
It seemed that use of the wine glass made the first aroma note more impressive while the sake cup helped enhance richness in taste. I sometimes hear the argument that the taste of sake depends on the sake drinking vessels. When I actually tried using the wine glass and sake cup this time, I could understand the difference.
Today's Drunkard Ichibay is drinking Sawanoi Risshun Hyaku-Goju-Nichi Jukuseishu (150-day aged sake that was pressed in the morning of February 4).
