Izumibashi(いずみ橋) tasting dinner at Ryu's

Last night, I went to Izumibashi sake tasting dinner at Ryu's. What a lucky I am that I could meet Mr. Hashiba from Izumibashi and taste their beautiful sake in Singapore !!! 

Izumibashi was founded in 1857 and Mr. Hashiba is the 6th generation of the family. They are one of a few breweries to make sake from growing rice at local fields, polish rice and brew sake at own brewery like "Domaine" of wine in France. They brew only Junmai-shu.

 

最近、マイブームの和食屋＆燗酒屋、柳'sで開催された酒蔵『いづみ橋』の利き酒会に行ってきました。

まさか、いずみ橋の橋場友一さんにシンガポールでお目にかかれるとは・・・・何とラッキーな。

 

Mr. Sakuma from Ryu's (left) and Mr. Hashiba from Izumibashi (right) in the left photo

I enjoyed a perfect marriage between wonderful dishes perfectly designed for kanzake (hot/warm sake) from Ryu's and Izumibashi Junmai-shu served by the professional of making warm/hot sake. Guess how difficult it is to warm sake at the right temperature without thermometer ? 

 

柳'sのおいしいお料理と、燗酒のプロにより適温に燗された「いずみ橋」の生酛・山廃とのマリアージュ。

何ともいえない至福の時でした。

 

1. 夏ヤゴ にごり酒～純米活性～　Nigori  Sparkling - Lively sparkling with umami taste from rice.

2. いづみ橋　生もと　山田錦  Kimoto Junmai (Yamada Nishiki) - Felt more smoother than Yamahai (4)

3. 秋とんぼ　山廃　雄町   Yamahai Junmai (Omachi) - Fantastic balance between acidity and umami 

4. 秋とんぼ　山廃　山田錦  Yamahai Junmai (Yamada Nishiki) - Stronger body than Kimoto (2)

5. いづみ橋　神力　生もと純米酒  Kimoto Junmai (Shinriki) - very refreshing and smooth flavour. felt less umami and clearer than Kimoto Yamada Nishiki (2).

 

 

Kanpai!!!

Oishii Japan 2015

Oishii Japan is ASEAN's largest dedicated Japanese F&B Showcase in Singapore and it was held on 22-24 Oct 2015 at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibision Centre in Singapore. This year, there were more than 300 exihibitors from Japan were participated in the show and exihibited lots of Japanese seafood, sake, vegetables/fruits, pickles, earthwares, meat etc.

 

My focus this time was to reunion to 2 shochu distilleries that I visited during the last Kagoshima trip on Jun-July 2015 and taste/learn shochu more because I can hardly have a chace to taste such a variety of shochu in Singapore. (Please refer what's SHOCHU if you don't know.)

 

Reunioned 2 distilleries;

• Yamamoto Shuzo distillery (Left) -> blog when I visited them will be uploaded shortly.
  • Tasted their signature brand of "Tekkan Kuro" and "Tekkan" to compair the difference between kuro koji (black mold) and shiro koji (white mold). It is usually told that shiro koji is lighter and sharp while kuro koji is richer and mellow flavor. Could I find the difference ? - When I taste with straight, not really. Mix with water - yes, I could feel that kuro koji is more mild and soft than shiro koji. This is a great experience to know it.
  • The brand are already in the market of Singapore, you will find them at Isetan or Meidiya.
• Jikuya Shuzo distillery (Right) -> please refer the previous blog here when I visited them.
  • As wrote in the blog, they are a small distillery and the brand has not arrived in Singapore yet.
  • They brought a few different types of shochu for the exihibition.
    • Shibi-no-tsuyu Sou: A very light and refreshing imo (sweet potato) shochu bottled in a stylish blue bottle (shown in the picture below). As It was specially designed to suit for summer, perfect shochu in Singapore, a tropical country and some of them may be released in Singapore soon.
    • Grape Liqueur: This is a liqueur made by mixing sweet popato shochu and grape juice. Surprisingly you don't feel any sweet potato flavour. It tastes like wine.
    • Satsuma Koukaden: Sweet potato shochu made from purple sweet potato. The gorgeous aroma with a natural sweetness from sweet potato, rich and mellow flavour.

 

Other shochu distilleries from Kyushu area in Japan I met in the exihibition.

 

(Pictures - Left side from top to bottom)

Ikinokura Distillery Co., Ltd (Nagasaki Prefecture) - They are located in a small island called Iki. Iki island is the birthplace of mugi(barley) shochu in Japan. The brand "Ikinoshima" has toasty/mellow aroma with a rich taste. I love it!!!

 

Kyoya Distiller & Brewer Co., Ltd (Miyazaki Prefecture) - Picture with their signature brand of Kameshizuku(甕雫) and  jasmine tea liqueur. Kameshizuku was a very smooth, light and soft sweet popato shochu bottled in a jar earthware. It was great!!!  The flavour of jasmine tea liquer was the one for real jasmine tea itself, made by mixing shochu and jasmine tea.

 

SENGETSU Shuzo (Kumamoto Prefecture) - They produce shochu made from rice, which flavour is a bit simillar to sake. A rice shochu made in the area is specially called Kuma Shochu. This time, Singaporean really loved their red-shiso (Japanese herb) liqueur (pink box in the picture).  

 

(Pictures - Right side from top to bottom)

SATSUMA Shuzo (Kagoshima Prefecture) - One of the leading sweet potato shochu maker in Japan. Their brand "Satsuma Shiranami" is my regular banshaku shochu at home. I tasted 3 sweet potato shochus with different type of koji mold, yellow koji, white koji, and black koji. I could identify the different flovour of yellow koji while white and black koji were identical... They recommend to try it by mixing with hot water. I will definitely try it again!!

 

Kitaya (Fukuoka Prefecture) - They produce shochu as well as sake. They makes a variety of shochu such as rice, barley, sweet potatos and liquer. Singaporean also likes their KOIZORA - Umeshu (plum liquer).

 

Sanwa Shurui Co., Ltd (Oita Prefecture) - All shochu fan may know their brand "Iichiko", a leading brand of mugi (barley) shochu. This was the first time for me to know and taste Iichiko sweet potato shochu called "Iichiko Kogane no Imo", which I thought is good to drink by mixing with hot water due to the strong/musculine flavour.

 

 

 

 

A shochu seminar was held on 23rd Oct at ABC cooking school after the exhibition. 100+ participants were seriously learn what shochu is and enjoyed the tastings with food pairing. I am looking forward to the day that shochu becomes as popular as wine or sake in Singapore.

 Kampai!!!

Banshaku (晩酌)

“Banshaku(晩酌)” is Japanese word which means drinking alcohole at home from evening to night time such as dinner time, or a habit of drinking sake at these time.

My father of 75 years old  has had “banshaku” every night for more than 50 years. He seldom goes out for drinking or dinner because he really enjoy his own “banshaku” with his favorite sake (in this case, sake means alcoholic beverages in general) and small meals that are specially prepared to match with sake. I do remember that his “banshaku” meals looked very yummy and I alway wished I could eat it when I was a child. As he is getting old, he can’t drink a lot now, but I can still see him enjoy the habit. “Banshaku” is a great food culture in Japan and my sweet family memories. 

 

With that, I also like "Banshaku". My "Banshaku" is drink sake (in this case, sake means alcoholic beverages in general) with dinner in weekdays, so I usually chose the best sake which is matching today's dinner. 

 

My today’s banshaku. Imo shochu mixed with hot water and deep-fried chicken with flavored leek source. The fregrant sauce is well matching to Imo shochu’s toasty sweet-potate flavor. Kanpai!

 

 

 

Kabuki performance in Singapore - シンガポールで歌舞伎鑑賞

Do you know Kabuki (歌舞伎)? It is a traditional Japanese form of dance drama with roots tracing back to the Edo Period (the 17th century). It is recognized as one of Japan's three major classical dance drama along with noh and bunraku, and has been named as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

 

Kabuki actors are all male even for female roles. They wear elaborately designed costumes with eye-catching make-up and outlandish wigs, and arguably most importantly, the exaggerated actions performed by the actors. An old-fashioned form of Japanese is tipically used for the performance, which is difficult even for Japanese people like me to fully understand.

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67-bgSFJiKc

 

Today, I enjoyed ”Kabuki” perforemance by Ebizo Ichikawa XI, scion of Japan’s oldest kabuki family, in Singapore.  

He played 3 dramas, "Uwanari 嫐(うわなり)"、" and "Mimasu Kuruwa no Kasauri  三升曲輪傘売（みますくるわのかさうり）" and the other.  While the latter is a brand new piece createdspecially for the Singaporean performance, Uwanari has not been performed in a hundred years, andits debut on the 17th October in Singapore marks a significant moment in kabuki history. 

Although I worried if I could understand, but all stories were very easy to understand even for foreigners who don't understand Japanese.

Jikon tasting (而今 飲み比べ)

昨晩、知人の送別会で訪れたひもの屋さんになんと而今が３種もある！！！ことを発見。人知れず一人二次会して比較試飲してみました。而今は三重県の名張市にある１８１８年創業の老舗の蔵、木屋正（きやしょう）酒造が醸す酒で、日本では非常に人気が高く、入荷してもすぐに売り切れてしまうため、なかなかお目にかかれないお酒です。基本的に吟醸造りながら、 程よいうまみと香りとバランスがよく、しかも余韻がきれいで後を残さない切れのあるお酒です。シンガポールで３種並行テイスティングができるとは、またとない幸運でした。

 

Last night, I visited Himonoya Singapore for a farewell party of my Japanese friend who is going back to Japan. Surprisingly, I found 3 types of "Jikon" there and decided to stay there after the party to taste them by myself. Jikon was produced by Kiyasho brewery which is a small brewery in Mie Prefecture fonded in 1818. It is so popular in Japan that it is sold out very quickly and thus the chances to taste them are quite limited. It is basically made by Ginjo-Zukuri (production method of Ginjo)  and well balanced between aroma and umami flavour with clear and crisp aftertaste. 

It ws really lucky for me to have a parallel tasting of Jikon in Singapore. 

 

Kanpai!!

 

（Left to right)

1. 而今　特別純米 (Jikon Tokubetu Junmai)　―　爽やかで控えめな香り。注いだあと室温くらいになるまで待っていると、旨味が増しおいしくなってきた。非常にコスパの高い味わい。A bit weak but clear aroma. Umami flavour is increased after waiting for a while until it became nearlly room temperature. High cost performance.
2. 而今 純米吟醸 雄町 火入れ (Jikon Junmai Ginjo Omachi Hiire) ―　果実のような甘味・酸味とふくよかな旨みのバランスがよく、とても柔らかな味わい。The balance between sweetness/sourness and umami is very well. Very smooth taste.
3. 而今　純米大吟醸 (Jikon Junmai Daiginjo) ―　とても華やかな香り、スムーズな口当たり、柔らかな味わい、後味は比較的すっきりしている。Very gorgeous aroma, smooth texture, round flavour with relatively crisp after taste.

Mussels x Junmai-shu

(English follows Japanese)

 

ムール貝のビール蒸しに純米酒をあわせてみました。おサレ居酒屋のシェフの日本酒仲間から教えていただいたレシピとマリアージュです。高野酒造（新潟県）越路吹雪 純米酒と共に。ムール貝と純米酒の相性、サイコー！！！かなりいけます。

 

高野酒造（新潟県）越路吹雪 純米酒
まろやかな米の旨みと後味のキレの良い純米酒。常温で。

 

An experiment of sake food pairing. Mussels steamed with bouillon and beer. I got the idea and recipe from one of my sake friend who runs izakaya (Japanese tapas bar) in Tokyo.  I usually pair a steamed mussels with white wine, but it was surprisingly good matching with Junmai-shu. The biteness from beer and umami from bouillon/mussels perfectly go well with sake. Try it.

 

Echigo Fubuki Junmai-shu : Takano Brewery (Niigata Prefecture)

A mild sake with a mellow flavour from rice itself and sharp aftertaste. Enjoy with a room temperature.

 

 

Sake Day in 2015

1st October is considered as the beginning of Sake brewing season.

Wishing a great brew for the year, it is called the Day of Sake or Day of Kanpai (= toast).
This year, about 50 F&B outlets in Singapore conducted Kanpai on the day.

I joined a kanpai event at Lewin Terrace hosted by Sake Samurai “Mariko Kiyonaga” and Sake brewery owners from Nishinoseki Shuzo and Ichishima Shuzo.

The main attraction in the event was "Kanpai" performed at the same time with the event venue in Japan connecting by Skype and 8 French finger food with pairing of 8 kinds of SAKE.

Personally, I was very excited to meet Mariko Kiyonaga san. She is a charming lady with a full of passion for sake. Kanpai!!

 

Photo

• Top left:  with Mr. Ichishima (Ichishima Brewery)
• Top right: Sake #3 and #4
• Centre: with Mariko Kiyonaga san wearing kimono
• Bottom left: Sake #5 and #6 
• Bottom right: Mr.  (Kayashima Brewery)

 

List:

Ishichima Sake Brewery (Niigata Prefecture)

1. Silk Delux Junmai - Creamy stew (white cremy source)

2. Tokubetsu Honjozo - Penne with tomato source

3. Junmai Daiginjo - Snapper carpacio

4. Karen Plum - Cheeze cake

 

Kayashima Sake Brewery (Oita Prefecture)

5. Hana Nigori - Japanese style braised vegetables

6. Tokubetsu Junmai Tezukuri - Beancurd with sesami based source

7. Junmai Daiginjo Fukurodori Shizuku - Snapper carpacio

8. Daiginjo Hizoshu - Foie Gras

柳's (Ryu's)

A few weeks ago, I went to 柳's (Ryu's) at Capital Piazza in City Hall.

It is a newly open Japanese restaurant with a cozy sake bar counter made by a single plate of Japanese cypress. Their specialty/signature is "Kanzake", which means "warm" or "hot" sake.

 

Although drinking sake with cold or chilled temperature is very popular in Singapore as people likes it, one of the main character of sake is its wide range of serving temperatures. However, from the point of an operation in a bar or restaurant, it is not so easy to serve sake with a right temperature, especially right "kanzake" temperature because the "kanzake" temperature varies between 30 - 60 degrees celsius depending on the types of sake and it's difficult to keep the same temperature.

 

A majority of sake imported by them are good to drink with warm temperature, and Sakuma-san, Ryu's master, will serve you a perfect "warm" or "hot" sake. Of course, you can drink them with cold as well depending on your palate.

The food is also great. The assorted appetizer (like afternoon tea set) is the best match with sake!!

 

3 kinds of sake tasting set - Sakuma-san perfectly warm up one by one and It was served by a different temperature.  I finally found the place where I can enjoy my favorite "kanzake" with a decent Japanese food here in Singapore.

 

Kanpai!!

Sake Night Party at the Japanese Association Singapore

I was invted Sake Nithg Party at the Japanese Association Singapore as MC and Kikisake-shi in the evening on 23 Sep 2015. Approximately 100 particitants enjoyed 5 sake tastiings with meals, excuted to win quiz about (as the winner got Kaetsu Junmai daiginjo) , and chatting.

 

 

 

Tasting sake list (photo from left to right)

1. Chobit Kanpai（ちょびっと乾杯）: Shizuoka Prefecture

Made by rice and rice koji. Sparkling Japanese Sake with a low alcohol percentage of 6%, sweet and very subtle corbonation. Appropriate for aperitif and the first sake for toast.

 

2. Junmai Dai Ginjo "Yoichi Densho"（純米大吟醸　与一伝承）: Tochigi Prefecture

Seimai buai (Percentage of remaining rice after polishing) : 38%

Yamada Nishiki sake rice

Fruity rich aroma and rice flavoured smooh texture. Sharp and crisp aftertaste.

 

3. Tokugawa Ieyasu Daiginjo（大吟醸　徳川家康） - Aichi Prefecture

Seimai buai (Percentage of remaining rice after polishing) : 40%

Excellent balance and harmony between rich sweet fruity flavour and deep heat. 9 times gold medalist of New Sake Award recognizing excellent.

 

4. Junmai - KIRAI（喜来　純米酒）: Tokushima Prefecture

Seimai buai (Percentage of remaining rice after polishing) : 50%

Ginnosato rice (New type of sake rice)

Rich and fullness taste and flzvour, well matching with meals. High cost performance.

 

5.  Junmai Ginjo - Mangetsu（満月）: Ishikawa Prefecture

Seimai buai (Percentage of remaining rice after polishing) : Koujimai 50%, Kakemai 60%

Gohyakumanngoku rice

Genuine aroma and dry, subtle taste.  Good with meal wiith subtle taste.

Spoonful Festival

I conducted a short introductory sake and shochu course at Spoonful Festival on 12 Sep 2015. Spoonful is a mobile cooking event company which just had 1 year anniversary. It was really a short session of 30min, but the participants enjoyed 3 different types of Japanese alcohol beverages in such a short period!!!

 

 Tasting List (Left to right of the picture) :

1. Gensen Umeshu Yoshinogawa (Plum Liqueur)

Brewery: Yoshinogawa Niigata Prefecture（northern central of Japan）

Alcohol: 13%

Ingredient: Sake, Plum

It was a sake based plum liqueur (Ume-shu). A very rich and a bit of aging aroma. Refreshing and mild taste with a sharp and crisp aftertaste.

 

2. Kakutama Imo (sweet potato) shochu 

Brewery: Satasouji Shoten Kagoshima Prefecture (Kyushu, southern part of Japan)

Alcohol: 25%

Ingredient: Sweet potato, Rice koji

A bit weak/mild in aroma and slightly light taste in Imo shochu. Easier to drink for Imo shochu beginners. It can be enjoy with "On the rock".

 

3. Hideyoshi “Akinota” Junmai Ginjo

Brewery: Suzuki Shuzouten Akita Prefecture(Northern part of Japan)

Alcohol: 16%

Seimaibuai (A percentage of rice remaining after polishing): 50%

Lovely junmai ginjo with a gorgeous aroma, smooth taste.

Moriizo Shuzo (森伊蔵)

Date of visit: 3 Jul 2015 - Day 7 of Kagoshima trip (photo only)

 

If you are shochu lovers, you may have heard about shochu 3M. It stands for the initial letters of 3 premium shochu distillery, Moriizo, Mao, Murai.

Moriizo is a very famous shochu brand which all shochu lovers would know and want to try at least once in a life. It is called a premium shochu, not only because of the gourgeous fruity aroma and refreshing round flavor but also the unavairability and the premium price in the market. Only the way to get it with a listed price is to participate in a monthly ballot organized by the distillery, but what I know is it's very difficult to even participate in it because of the busy phone lines. 

 

In fact, I have tried Moriizo long time ago at the time it was not so difficult to get before they are called 3M or phantom. In my memory, it was great but not that great to get it with a premium price for me....

 

Anyway, as it was located in Tarumizu City of Kagoshima prefecture and on the way to the airport from where I stayed, I decided to drop by though I knew they don't allow to view the distillery or sell anything there. 

 

It was a cozy shop with many Moriizo bottles for display only and they gave me a leaflet telling how to participatein the ballot. The distillery was located behind the shop, so I walked down to take photo. The door of the distillery was open a bit, but it was closed as soon as I took the photo (bottom left). This was my 5 min experience at Moriizo.

 

I actually participated in the ballot for Jul cycle after went back to Tokyo and will see how the result. 

 Website: http://www.moriizou.jp/

Nakamura (なかむら)

Date of visit: 3 Jul 2015 - Day7 of Kagoshima trip (photo only)

 

This was the last distillary I visited in this trip. Although I was rushing to the airport, I decided to drop them by for a photo as they were located 15min to the airport.  

 

Nakamura Shuzojo is a small distillery. Their focus is to make shochu by a traditional method with a traditional tools instead of moving to mass-production. Especially,  they prepare koji (rice mold) with 100% handmade in an old koji-muro (the room to make koji) made of stone. Imagine how hard work it is ? I assume the process is similar to Yoshinaga Shuzo I visited in the Day5. "Nakamura" and "Gyokuro" are their shochu brand. I will try them in Tokyo later.

Next time, I will officially visit them during the production season.

 

Kura website:  http://nakamurashuzoujo.com/ 

MAO (魔王)

Date of visit: 2 Jul 2015 - Day 6 in Kagoshima trip

 

MAO is a famous brand which is a part of 3M in premium shochu made by the distillery called Shiratama Jyozo (白玉醸造合名会社) . Other than MAO, they have "Shiratama no tsuyu(白玉の露)", regular sweet potate shochu, which is more popular to locals.

 

This is the main event of Day 6 of my Kagoshima trip because Shiratama Jyozo does not usually accept the visitor. My uncle living in Kagoshima made an effort and created the opportunity for me.

 

Shiratama Jyozo is located in Kinkocho, a small seaside town in Kimotsukigun of Kagoshima prefecture, about an hour drive from Tarumizu city where I stayed. Mr. Tamari, the president of Shiratama Jyozo welcomed us and brought us to a tour of the distillery where they just installed a new machine.

Surprisingly, the distillery was modern than expected and well machinized.

 

Accoding to Mr. Tamari, he, about 20 years ago, concerned about the future of the shochu because young people are away shochu, and launched MAO which has a very light flavor with no tipical strong sweet potate aroma when you drink on the rock. It was successful in the market and MAO became one of unavairable shochu in the market. With their strong advantage and focus on the product planning and developement, they also have a strong brand of barley shochu named "Genroin(元老院)" aging in oak barrel just like whisky, rice shochu blended with sweet potate shochu named "Tenchu(天誅)" and plum shochu liqueur. I thought he had a good foresight, a right concentlation and selection.

 

Kojika Shuzo (小鹿酒造)

Date of visit:  3 Jul 2015 - Day 7 in Kagoshima trip

 

Kojika Shuzo is based in Kanoya City in Ōsumi Peninsula side of Kagoshima prefecture.

After about an hour nice seaside and rural drive from Tarumizu City, my mother's home town where I stayed, I found a big factory in the middle of plain field.

 

Kojika Shuzo was established in 1971 as a co-operative partnership of small shochu distillars in Kanoya region.  "Kojika", the company name as well as the brand, means "small dear", which represents that young owners of shochu distillars in the region gather and co-operate.  

They also established Kojima Agricultuaral Association with local fermers to ensure the stable supply and quality of sweet potato from cultivation all the way to shochu production.

 

My school friend introduced Mr. Kodama working for Kojika to me, so I could have a chance to visit him.

Mr. Mizukami brought me to a factory tour followed by Mr. Kodama's welcoming me and providing an introduction of the campany. During the tour, I was always surprised by the size as well as modernized and macinarized factory (see some in the pictures). Believe me it is really "factory" than "shochu kura". There are many buildings and factories with big automated machines for the production generating 8,400kl of shochu a year. I was always impressed and It was off production season and very quiet, but all machines are full operation during the season. Wow! 

 

In fact, I have visited some big shochu distillars which do have factory tipe of facilities during the trip.

Those big shochu manufacturers have many types of shochu factories from mass production to handmade and usually organize a tour for a tipical "shochu kura" for handmade type of premium shochu making. Thus, this is the biggest factory I ever saw and I was very impressed by the scale.

 

Special thanks to Mr. Kojima and Mr. Mizukami for guiding me in the distillery!!

 

Top: Sweet potate washing machine  

Center: Automated koji mold making machine, Mr. Kodama(right) and Mr. Mizukami(left), potstill

Bottom: Stainless steel tanks

 

Kojika Shuzo website: http://www.shochu-kojika.jp/en/

Jikuya Shuzo (軸屋酒造)

Date of visit: 29 Jul 2015 - Day3 of Kagoshima trip

 

Jikuya Shuzo Distillery, founded on 1910, is housed in a small building at the foot of Mt Shibi(summit 1066m) in the north part of Kagoshima prefecture, about 90min driving from Kagoshima City. It is a small pretty village in the mountains with sweet potate and rice fields everywhere.

 

Mr. Jikuya (left in centre picture) and his staff welcomed me and guided the distillery. 

 

The first impression for shochugura (distillery) was pretty and cosy as you can see in the picture (right above). However, I knew later that the inside of kura was suprisingly well designed, compact and efficient .  

As it was an off-production season, the distillery was very quiet and no machines were working, but they explained the details of production process and equipment. I asked the guy what was the most difficult process and his answer was koji production. It was not really difficult, but very sensitive and tough for him because a temperature control is very crutial. It requires to keep it consistently about 35 degree Celsius throughout the 48 hour of koji production.

 

During the off-production season,  cleaning is an important work. People working for distillery clean all equipments and distillery from corner to corner perfectly every day before a new production season starts on September. Thus, the inside of distillery was very clean and tidy as seen in the pictures. 

 

 

Left Top: Koji Muro for rice koji production, Left bottom: Potteries for the first fermentation

Centre: Pot still

Right top: Kai for mixing moromi (fermented mash), Right bottom: Stainless pot 

There is a nice and cosy tasting roomr in the kura (distillery) and you will enjoy tasting their signature shochus at the end of the tour.

 

"Shibi no Tsuyu" is their regural brand. This shochu is made by koganesengan potatoes produced in Kagoshima Prefecture, balances sweetness and mellownes very well. My favorite is to try it oyuwari (mix with hot water) for a good at the sweet and dry notes. (I tasted it after I went back to the city.)

 

It was shame that I could not taste the shochu there because I drove a car. The problem is it's really difficult to travel a countryside without a car... 

 

Kampai!!

Murao (村尾)

Date of visit: 29 Jun 2015 - Day3 of Kagoshima trip (photo only)

 

After visiting Jikuya Shuzo, I found Murao Shuzo, one of 3M, is nearlly on the way to the next visit. Ok, let's enjoy a rural drive towards Murao. They were located in the middled of the fields and very pretty distillery with many trees. As I didn't have an appointment, I introduced myself coming from Singapore and asked a guy if I could take photos. He was a bit surprised, but readilly accepted to take photos. As it's off production season, the kura was very quiet, clean and tidy, waiting for the season. When I saw jar pots buried under the ground (right photo), I was really impressed because it was the pot that you will see on the label of the bottle together with the brand.

 

It is said that Mr.Murao is in charge of all the process of making "Murao" from materials procurement, fermentation, distillation to shipment by himself. Therefore the production volume is limited, and it is natural that it rarely get in the market.  

 

"Murao" is so popular, but "Satsumachaya" is the regular and main brand that locals love.

 

Yamatozakura Shuzo (大和桜酒造)

Date of visit: 28 Jun 2015 - Day2 of Kagoshima trip (photo only)

 

I found a small distillery just in front of Denbee-gura and it was Yamatozakura Shuzo. Unfortunately, they were close on Sunday, thus I took a photo. 

 

Although I have not known it before, it is said that Yamatozakura is one of the smallest family owned distillery in Kagoshima and try unique initiatives such as accepting internship from USA. Wow, how innovative are they? Interesting. Let's visit them next time!!!

 

Tenguzakura (天狗櫻)

Date of visit: 28 Jun 2015 - Day2 of Kagoshima trip (photo only)

 

"Tenguzakura" is a brand of Shiraishi Shuzo (白石酒造) located in Ichiki of Kagoshima.

 

Although I knew the distillery was closed on Sunday, but I just wanted to drop by to take a photo because I just had "Tenguzakura" on a previous night and I liked it sooooo much. It had a very pleasant natural sweetness and rich flavor from sweet potato.

 

It was a small and pretty distillery and there was "Tengu" on the wall (bottom left) !!! "Tengu", the name and logo of the brand,  is a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion and are also considered a type of Shinto god (kami) or yōkai (supernatural beings). Wasn't it pretty ???

 

A little story about taste navigator...

I, as a taste navigator for you, would like to share my perspectives on sake, nihonshu, shochu, kura(manufacturer), culture, event, Japan etc through my blog. Hopefully, it helps you to find your sake!