When it comes to sake, I consider myself something of a traditionalist. If anything, my tastes veer toward the masculine: I tend to favor ricey, muscular styles like kimoto and yamahai over a delicate daiginjō. Funny, then, that I should find myself enjoying a girly new sake at March's FoodEx exhibition in Tokyo. The sake, called Hime Kokochi Shuwarin, was slightly cloudy, fizzy and sweet, with a puckering tartness in the finish. At only 3 percent alcohol — as opposed to the 15 to 16 percent found in regular brews — it was about as strong as a beer.
It came as no surprise that the product was "made for women," as the promotional materials suggested. The attractively curved 240-ml bottles, baby blue and imprinted with a kitschy-cute motif of a mermaid swimming amid a sea of pastel-hued bubbles, look as though they have been lifted directly from Barbie's Dreamhouse. Sure, it isn't "serious" sake, but I could imagine having a glass as an apertif on a Sunday afternoon — maybe before brunch.
Ironically, the Hime Kokochi series, which also includes a milky-white amakuchi (very sweet) sake, is produced by Suehiro Shuzo in Fukushima Prefecture, a brewery renowned for its line of bold, full-bodied sake.