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April 29, 2024
 

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NIHONSHU

LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Mar 17, 2002
Favorites that come widely recommended
The information in this column usually covers the gamut of sake nomenclature, types and brewing methods, as well as culture, history and the occasional oddities. But beyond the single recommendation in each column, rarely does it address the question, "So, uh, what are the good sake? What should I be drinking?"
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Mar 3, 2002
With foam, brewers call it like they see it
Long before the days of thermometers, hydrometers and barometers, brewers relied entirely on their senses to gauge the progress of a fermenting tank of sake. They might not have known the scientific causes, but experience and intuition told them how to interpret what they saw, tasted and smelled.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Feb 17, 2002
Great sake only a hop, skip and a jump away
There are a plethora of pubs in Tokyo where you can enjoy good sake, but all too often we only read about those in the center of town. The truth, of course, is that there are plenty of great venues outside the Yamanote loop and beyond. Here are a few worth the short or midrange trip:
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Feb 3, 2002
Clearly making the grade isn't such an easy task
One of the biggest barriers to learning about sake is the terminology used to define the various grades. It is not a simple linguistic matter, as even the average Japanese person, more often than not, does not know specifically to what the terminology refers. These terms were not coined at once, nor do they reflect a carefully planned grading scheme, as was the case for wine. Rather, they emerged haphazardly and piecemeal in response to market changes.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jan 20, 2002
A heavenly match made in Tsukishima
Ajisen strikes you as special before you even walk in the door. Great care has been taken in creating the entrance itself -- a good sign of the good things to come.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jan 6, 2002
Uncorking the bubbly, Nihon-style
Happy New Year to all Japan Times readers. May 2002 be a year of health and prosperity for all.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Dec 23, 2001
An o-tososan a year keeps the doc away
It's a rare occasion or ceremony that does not include some sake in Japan, and that harbinger of renewal, New Year's Day, is no exception. Although sake figures prominently in o-shogatsu celebrations from morning to night, opening the year with a prayer for health in the form of drinking o-toso is perhaps the most interesting.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Dec 9, 2001
It used be the case for all kinds of sake
You don't hear much about the tanks used for brewing or storing sake. In many other beverages, the type, age and source of the wood used for the tanks often contributes a major component to the flavor. Although sake is now independent of these factors, this was not always the case.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Nov 25, 2001
Hey, that's a sake of a different color
When you think about it, the realm of sake flavor profiles and types can be perceived as, well, a bit narrow. From the sweetest to the driest, from the roughest to the cleanest, we are not exactly talking about major bandwidth.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Nov 11, 2001
How mold grew to be so unique
There are two things that make nihonshu unique among the world's alcoholic beverages. One is the process known as heiko fukuhakko, or multiple parallel fermentation. In short, this means that saccharification and fermentation take place simultaneously in the same vat, as opposed to sequentially, as in other fermented beverages. The other thing making sake unique is the use of koji.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Oct 28, 2001
Despite tech advances, mature sake still worth the wait
Finally things are beginning to cool down as we segue into autumn. As well as being the time of turning leaves, cooler breezes and better food, autumn is when sake brewed the previous season traditionally goes on sale. Two types of sake you may come across in your autumnal perusing are aki-agari and hiya-oroshi.
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
Sep 30, 2001
Kame no O dreamin'
Kame no O is a sake rice that has recently become popular with a number of brewers around the country. While it may not lead to the elegant, refined and lively fragrances and flavors derived from that most hallowed (yawn) of sake rices, Yamada Nishiki, Kame no O lends sake a definite character and solid, definable quality. Anyone who thinks rice is rice, and that sake rice lacks the romance, history and culture of wine grapes should have been at the Kame no O Summit last month in Amarume, Yamagata Prefecture.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 16, 2001
Technology improves the old grinding stone
Over the years, every step in the brewing process has been subject to a barrage of so-called technical advances. More often than not, though, these modern technologies are not as good as the traditional methods they replace.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 2, 2001
Standing out in the crowd: the joys of tachinomiya
Tachinomiya hold a special position among drinking establishments. There is something about standing while drinking that puts a whole new spin on the sake experience. What such places lack in serenity they more than make up for in value and fun.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Aug 19, 2001
The little brewery that wouldn't die
Since time immemorial sake has been brewed only in the winter. But in the last 40 years or so a handful of the nation's breweries pioneered shiki jozo (year-round brewing), cranking out sake in large, climate-controlled factories. For various reasons, only the largest breweries can pull this off. The giants -- and Horaitsuru, the smallest sake brewery in Japan.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Aug 5, 2001
The perfect shape for sake
The question of what vessel to use when drinking sake is an important one. Not only do the shape and size affect how flavor and fragrance are presented and emphasized, but the appearance and feel of a vessel also influences the overall experience.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jul 22, 2001
Gifts from the 'god of sake'
Throughout the history of sake brewing, there has been a handful of individuals who have had a huge impact on the craft in the form of technical developments or discoveries. One such benefactor of brewing was Professor Kin'ichi Noshiro of Kumamoto.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jul 8, 2001
When your number's up . . .
Although all that you will ever need to know about a sake is contained in one, intention-laden sip, sometimes the technical mumbo jumbo can be fun to study as well. The industry always seems to offer one more piece of information every few years, be it the amino acid level, the number of days the tank fermented, or something else. One such "something else" is kasu-buai.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jun 24, 2001
Juttoku covers all the bases
Juttoku comes close to being all things to all people. Although it has been around for 20 years, it doesn't attract too much attention, sitting quietly on the edge of the concrete jungle of Shinjuku.
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