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May 03, 2024
 

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NIHONSHU 3

LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Oct 14, 2001
Nagano gives Niigata some stiff competition
Cold air blowing down from the Japan Alps. Clear water from rivers of melted snow. Fresh country air. Great rice. When it comes to the basic requirements for brewing good sake, Nagano Prefecture has them all covered.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
May 27, 2001
Worth jumping off the train for
With the proliferation of bars and restaurants serving decent nihonshu, there is no need to make a big deal out of searching for a "proper" sake pub. Dotted throughout the sprawling underground shopping areas that lie below many of the major stations in Japan are little sake havens. Take, for example, the easily accessible and oft-passed spots in Tokyo Station's immediate environs.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Apr 29, 2001
How Tiger got his game back in five easy sips
Recently Tiger Woods secured his place in golfing history by winning this past Masters tournament. But there's a secret to Woods' recent success that few know about: sake.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 15, 2001
Sake heaven, free on earth
Like wine, different sake have distinct flavor profiles -- some are light and fruity, while others are heavy and rich. Trying to distinguish between different sake in a kikizake (blind taste-testing), however, is harder than it sounds. At Sake Plaza in the Kasumigaseki district, you can put your taste buds to the test while enjoying a variety of nihonshu -- all for free.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Mar 22, 2001
What's in a number?
At the end of each Nihonshu column, a recommended sake is introduced to readers. Along with the name and grade, three "vital statistics" are also given. These numbers -- the nihonshu-do, the acidity and the seimai-buai -- are supposed to give a clue as to how the sake might taste.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Mar 8, 2001
Life after sake's zing has gone
Just like wine, sake has a very short life span once the bottle has been opened. In fact, like wine, sake should be consumed soon after opening to ensure that delicate fragrances and flavors remain intact. Although this varies from sake to sake, in most cases the more delicate and refined the flavor and fragrance of a sake, the sooner it goes downhill.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Feb 22, 2001
Heart and soul of sake in the breweries of Nara
Nara Prefecture can easily be considered the historical heartland of sake. Far more than any other prefecture, historically and culturally, Nara is an extremely significant sake-brewing locale.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Feb 8, 2001
Religion and health in the etymology of sake
Sake has not been around forever, and at one point in time, they had to come up with a name for this new stuff. Hooch, da good stuff, giggly juice . . . It is likely that the Japanese equivalents of these have all been used, but there must have been some point when the word "sake" itself came into being.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jan 25, 2001
Best time of year to savor the joys of heated sake
Warm sake. It's hard to think of anything more appealing on a cold winter evening. As we trudge through the depths of one of the coldest and snowiest winters Japan has seen in years, warming oneself from the core out with a glass or bottle of a well-chosen heated sake settles and soothes like nothing else.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jan 11, 2001
Warmth of Tsukushinoko hits close to home
Slipping under the green noren and entering Tsukushinoko is a trip. "How'd they fit this joint in here," you think. Incongruous with its surroundings, Tsukushinoko is a very small sake pub that sits in a large, very new building. But you'd never know it from the inside. Warm and cozy, it feels more akin to someone's home than anything else.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Dec 28, 2000
May you all live long and prosper -- kanpai!
Happy Holidays to all Japan Times readers.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Dec 14, 2000
As the mercury drops, new sake rises to the top
'Tis the season when almost everything around us is slowing down, gravitating toward hibernation. The sake world, however, is just gathering steam with the birth of the brewing season's first batch of sake.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Nov 23, 2000
The man who never forgets a sake
Haruo Matsuzaki raises the small glass to his nose, sniffs for but a couple of seconds, and takes in a small sip. Slurping in a bit of air, he scribbles for a few seconds into his ever-present tiny notebook, finally expelling the sake into the spittoon next to the table. On to the next.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Nov 9, 2000
More the merrier at Shinjuku's Zonbun
Shinjuku can be daunting, to say the least. Especially when you are in a group, looking for a place to hang and eat and drink. Where to begin looking can be as problematic as finding a place the whole group can fit. Add the prospect of everyone enjoying good sake, and you might as well throw in the o-shibori.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Oct 27, 2000
'Tis fall, and the brewers gather around their vats
In sync with the new colors and cooler weather of fall, the brewing season begins. Except for a few dozen brewing factories operated by the largest sake-brewing companies, sake is brewed in the colder months, generally from the end of October to the beginning of April. Larger brewers' facilities keep fermenting tanks cold all year round, but this is indeed the exception, not the rule.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Oct 12, 2000
A long, reflective sip of sake's craft and science
Sake's history goes back centuries and centuries, but just how many is a matter of debate. Regardless of the answer, over the last century or so gains in sake-brewing methods and technology have been exponential.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 28, 2000
Keeping it plain and simple for the serious sake drinker
Some of the best sake can be tasted these days at modern, shiny, artsy-craftsy sake pubs. These present some of the most lively and interesting environments in which to hang out with nihonshu. But sometimes, what we seek in a sake pub is more of an out-of-the-way feeling. Sometimes its anonymity that fits the bill; along with simplicity and unpretentiousness.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 14, 2000
Hatsu-nomikiri still a summer ritual for brewers
Sake breweries are usually fairly quiet in the summer. Except for the few large breweries where brewing continues all year, most places are dark and quiet and empty, as the brewers themselves have gone home for the summer. Traditionally, the kurabito (brewers) traveled great distances from their rural farmland homes to work at the kura (brewery), although today many places employ local people.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Aug 10, 2000
When you least expect distinction in Shimbashi . . .
It's always refreshing to come across a new sake pub, in particular one that breaks the mold of tradition and convention. It's even more refreshing to come upon one that defies all efforts at categorization, yet still satisfies in every way.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jul 27, 2000
For new sake sensations, seek out the 'brat pack'
After tasting sake for some time, we begin to search for sake we have not yet tried. Of course, we have our favorites, sake we can fall back on and drink any day of the week. And we already know about good, well-publicized sake, be they blue chips such as Kubota or powerful upstarts like Juyondai.
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