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May Greetings to all readers,
As things warm up and the brewing season wraps up...
Sake is really heating up in Japan! Intentional bad pun notwithstanding, sake is seeing levels of popularity it has not enjoyed in decades.
Admittedly, it is far too soon to know if this wave will reach critical mass or not, but it sure feels good to see so much sake activity out and about.
The sheer number of tastings and groups of cooperating brewers are encouraging. And many of these are focused on consumers rather than the stodgy old trade tastings.
However, the statistics behind sake are still not so bright. Overall consumption, or at least shipping from breweries, remains on the decline, but that is because futsuu-shu and honjozo (the lowest two grades, yet 75% of the market) continue to decline. Junmai-shu and the four ginjo types continue to thrive and prosper and grow at a sustainable but not ridiculous pace. It is encouraging.
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Personally what is so enjoyable is the exposure to countless brands and products I have never had a chance to brush up against. Brewers all over the country are doing their best in this new environment, and even with “only” 1200 brewers, there are still “so many sake, so little time.” But to now be able to encounter sake I have heard of but not had a chance to taste, or have had a chance to taste once but not enjoy a session of, is honestly quite exciting.
And where ever you are, surely your sake market is pushing its erstwhile envelope, and more is available to you as well. By all means, avail yourself of this mini-boom and help fuel its momentum to its full-blown potential: Sake World Domination!
Enjoy the newsletter while sipping some world-domination sake.
John
Sake Today Issue #4 - now available!
Issue #4 of Sake Today has shipped, as those of you that are subscribers well know! If you have not yet subscribed, now is the time to do that. You can do that here, Like, now.
Like the first three issues, Issue #4 is chock-full of sake information on many levels with something for everyone interested in sake. Learn more about this issue’s content here. You can order issue #1, issue #2, issue #3, or all four in a package - and subscribe.
The digital version for your e-reader is ready for download too, and that includes iTunes. You can also view some content online as well. So check out sake-today.com now - and keep current on all things sake.
Look for issue #5 soon as well.
Sake Confidential - Now available
Sake Confidential is a beyond-the-basics guide to the sake world, and after a short introductory chapter on all things sake, it goes into depth on many topics not usually touched upon. It is a practical and concise yet complete guide to sake idiosyncrasies, misperceptions, and controversies presented in a conversational and informal tone. Easy to read and frank, it also includes sake recommendations tied into each of the topics presented.
Read a veritable cornucopia of reviews here a New York Times brief mention here, and order from your favorite bookseller here as well. Enjoy it!
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Jika-gumi: Directly to Bottle?
Really?
In last month’s newsletter, we spoke of the middle part of the pressing, and
its numerous names. In other words, when the rice solids that remain after fermentation are filtered away, via a press of one sort of another, the terms
nakagumi, nakadare and
nakadori all mean the same thing, and all refer to the middle part, which is what comes out after the rough first part but before the start of the tired final bits. In other words, the middle part is the best.
And there is no end to the list of vaguely defined and less than universally applied terminology in the sake world. It keeps things delicately balanced on that fine line of interesting and frustrating.
Another variation of sake worth knowing about is something called
jikagumi, which can be loosely but understandably translated as “directly from the press.” As might be clear from that English rendering,
jikagumi on a label means that the sake was bottled directly from the pressing apparatus.
While that pressing apparatus may have been a modern machine (good), a traditional
fune box press (better) or just drip-pressed (best), the sake in that bottle went directly there. This differs from the norm in that most sake is first sent to a big tank where it all sits for a spell. Further sediment will settle, and the sake in that one tank is all thereby guaranteed to be uniform in taste and aroma.
Furthermore, almost all kura will then blend the tanks of a given product brewed in that year to make sure that each bottle tastes the same. But jikagumi will render each bottle just a little bit different, at least in theory, since (supposedly) it was not blended with any other bottle.
So, not only is jikagumi sake not blended with others, it also should be
muroka (unfiltered, or at least, no charcoal or ceramic filtering),
genshu (undiluted) and
nama (unpasteurized). However, sake can be pasteurized in-bottle as well, so jikagumi can in fact be pasteurized by the time we get it.
Throw all that together and in a sake labelled jikagumi, we can count on having an unfiltered, undiluted sake that has not been blended with any other bottle or batch. This makes it appealing in that each bottle is unique in our time-space continuum, in our universe, and in our reality. Wow.
There are just a couple of problems with this: one, they are not allowed to legally do
that, and two, practically speaking it is not very realistic.
However, as the term is not legally defined, there is some leeway in the interpretation, and at the end of the day the point is to give us something
close to the above. Which is nice.
Legally, when a brewer makes a sake, they press it (filter out the rice solids), and then they must send the sake to one tank, and weigh it. Concurrently they weigh the
kasu (lees), or the rice solids remaining from the pressing process. The weight of the sake and the weight of the kasu are recorded – and their sum must equal the weight of the
moromi (fermenting mash). Once this has been done and officially recorded, the brewer can bottle the sake, but not before. The point is, of course, to make sure that no sake slips through the tax-cracks.
So from that point of view, jikagumi is not legal. However, thanks to the vagueness of things in Japan, some tax authorities may allow a brewer to bottle it directly, and count the number of bottles multiplied by the volume of each. It
should be the same thing, right? Indeed. And surely that is how some places are handling it. Prolly.
Also, practically speaking, it is very labor intensive and a huge hassle to hold one bottle after another under a funnel gathering sake dripping from the press. We are talking like 2500 bottles for an average sized tank of premium sake, one after another. One. After. Another. Sure, the whole batch need not be done that way, and only a few bottles could be labelled as such. But still: it’s “hassle city.”
And in fact, when sake is pressed, it is first allowed to gather in a small holding tank called a
kame, and as the
kame is filled it is repeatedly pumped to a larger tank. So in truth, something called jikagumi would not even be allowed to gather in the
kame. To not do this would call for changes and tweaks that would drastically affect the flow of things.
Yes, it can be done. But it has legal and practical limitations. But yes, it is being done, at least based on the fact that sake labelled jikagumi are out there.
However – and this is important – the term is not legally regulated. So in truth a brewery does not have to it by any set of rules at all. Just because jikagumi is written on the label does not legally mean that anything had to happen or not happen. Trust that no one is trying to fool us here, but rather that some leeway of execution exists.
But knowing what jikagumi is (sake bottled directly from the press), and also knowing what it should not be (legally or practically doable), we are left with what the term actually implies.
And that is this: a unique sake to which as little as possible has been done between brewing and bottling. Therein lies its goodness, and its appeal.
In truth, sticking to strict definitions will not serve us here. (They rarely do in the sake world, but I digress.) The spirit of things is what is important.
There was, a few years ago, a spate of jikagumi sake. I recall seeing lots of them during seasonal tastings, usually from smaller brewers with a willingness to experiment and create more appealing sake. But then, I noted that less and less of them were visible.
Upon inquiry, it was as I expected, and as readers might infer from the above. In other words, because the term was not likely to be exactly as it was suggesting, and because there were potential legalities involved, some of the brewers using the term began to steer clear of it, opting for instead other appealing marketing terms. So as quickly as it appeared, it is fading from lexicons a bit. Yes, there are jikagumi sake out there, and yes, they are potentially special and wonderful. But they will not likely constitute a trend with any momentum.
So a sake with jikagumi on the label might not really be so; but it will be as close to that as was legally and practically possible. Enjoy it for what it is.
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Sake Kasu
As long as we are talking about pressing sake, the time is right to talk about sake kasu.
Should you frequent sake retailers with anything resembling a good selection of sake, you will often find for sale bags of sake kasu: beige chunks and chips of something resembling cheese or tofu. Sometimes, the unmistakable fragrance of sake wafts up from the clear plastic bag as it sits on the counter.
What is sake kasu? In short, sake lees. What the heck are lees? In short, dregs. What the heck are they dregs of? In short, the brewing process.
After a tank of the white fermenting mash called moromi has run its course-- anywhere from 18 to 32 days --what remains is a white mixture of sake and the solids that did not or could not be fermented. This must now be pressed to separate the slightly amber sake from these suspended solids.
There are several methods of pressing, but all accomplish the same thing: the fermenting mash is filtered, and the sake is squeezed out, leaving a compressed form of the solids, or lees, behind. This caked stuff is kasu.
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When sake is pressed by machine, the kasu comes out in nice, tightly pressed, square pancakes. Usually this kasu is drier, having been manhandled by the high pressure of the pressing machine. Sake pressed in the older methods, using a big wooden box called a fune, in which the lid gets cranked down on moromi that has been poured to small canvas bags laid neatly inside the fune, will yield sake kasu that is more chunky, broken up, and formless.
Also, some sake is pressed with more pressure applied to the moromi than other sake. Sometimes the brewers want every last drop, at the expense of flavor, and other times sake is treated more gently, to maintain fine lines and subtle facets. The difference is quite noticeable in the sake. It is also apparent in the firmness of the kasu. In fact, a sake brewer will always inspect the kasu, since so much about how the fermentation proceeded is revealed in it. How the starch in the dissolved - or did not dissolve - is one piece of critical information a brewer can derive from the kasu.
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Certainly sake kasu is easier to find in the winter, but these days, sake retailers in Japan and Japanese groceries the world-round carry kasu for consumers. In fact, brewers can barely keep it from flying out the door. Sake kasu has long been used in Japanese cuisine, and imparts a unique flavor and touch. It is commonly used in miso soup (often with salmon or pork as well), and is also outstanding as a marinade for grilled fish.
Not all sake kasu in the industry is used for cooking, by the way. Some is used as livestock feed, and some is actually recycled and distilled to make something called
kasu-dori shochu, or shochu made from kasu.
Sake kasu is relatively rich in protein, with 100 grams having as much as 70 grams of beef, as well as being full of vitamins B1, B2 and B6. Also, the carbohydrate content too is fairly high. Not bad for the dregs of the sake brewing process.
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 Announcements and Events
Sake Professional Course in Florida, August 17-19
Thanks to everyone's support and the current popularity of sake, the Sake Professional Course in Las Vegas, June 1-3, is full. The next Sake Professional Course is scheduled for
Miami Beach Florida, August 17-19, at the Shelborne Wyndham Grand Hotel, within which sits the South Beach Morimoto Restaurant. This is the first Sake Professional Course to be held in this part of the country and promises to be a particularly enjoyable running of the course.
More information is available here, and testimonials from graduates can be perused here as well. The three-day course wraps up with Sake Education Council supported testing for the Certified Sake Professional (CSP) certification. If you are interested in making a reservation, or if you have any questions not answered via the link above, by all means please feel free to contact me.
Following that, the next one is tentatively scheduled for the fall in the northeast part of the US. If you are interested, feel free to send me an email to that purport now; I will keep track of your interest!
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Sake Education Council Website
Please take a moment to check out the website for the Sake Education Council, the organization behind the Certified Sake Professional and Advanced Sake Professional certifications. We plan to grow steadily, strongly and continually, and we will need the support of all those that love sake to do so. Follow us through the "usual suspects" of social media.
Don't forget the archives!
Older editions of this newsletter are archived here.
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Sake Education Central
Sake's Hidden Stories and The Sake Notebook are now available for the Kindle, Nook and iBooks!
The Sake Notebook is now available for the Kindle as well as the Nook. And now, it is available for iBooks on iTunes as well!
Sake's Hidden Stories too is now availabe on the Kindle as well as the Nook. And now, it is available for iBooks on iTunes as well!
Both are
less expensive than their original pdf version too. Now is your chance to learn more about sake from your phone or tablet! Check 'em out!
Sake Dictionary App for the iPhone, iPod and iPad
"For 99 cents, this app ROCKS!!"
-a satisfied customer
There you are, perusing a menu, or standing in front of a shelf of great sake, or perhaps reading a sake newsletter… and up pops one of those hairy, pesky sake terms in Japanese. You know you have heard it many times, but dammit, you just cannot remember what it means now…
No problem! Just whip out your iPhone or iPod and fire up your trusty old version of
The Sake Dictionary. In a matter of seconds, you’ll be amongst the cognoscenti once again. But… if only you could pronounce it properly. Now that would really rock!
Done! Just tap on the term and you will hear a clear example of how to pronounce the term in Japanese. Repeat it a couple of times and the term is yours for eternity, to toss about and impress your mates.
What’s more, it’s
less!
Less than what it cost before, much less. Like less than one-seventh less. For a limited time only, the audio-enhanced version of The Sake Dictionary iPhone app is available for a mere $0.99.
The Sake Dictionary is a concise little package of all the terms you might ever come across when dealing with sake. Almost 200 of them - including sake grades, rice variety names, seasonal sake terms, special varieties, rare types, post-brewing processing words and the myriad terms used in sake production - many of which are not even familiar to the average Japanese person on the street - are listed up here with concise, useful and clear definitions and the written Japanese version as well. And now, with the new audio component, you can listen and learn just how to pronounce those terms properly.
Start to toss around Japanese sake terms like you were raised knowing them! Gain a level of familiarity hitherto unimaginable! Avoid frustrating paralysis when faced with a sake-related purchase!
Get your copy of The Sake Dictionary now and never be confused by sake terms - or how to pronounce them - again.
Get it here: http://itunes.com/apps/sakedictionary
(Note if you have already purchased it, this upgrade to the audio version is free. Just go to iTunes and get it!)
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"those not present please raise your hand," but for future reference, should you spontaneously stop receiving this newsletter, please go here and sign up again. Should that not work, please go to www.sake-world.com.
Email newsletter services are very careful not to be considered spam enablers, but the problem is that often very valid email addresses come back bounced as invalid. It is an unavoidable problem. So if you or someone you know is not getting this, or stop(s) receiving it inexplicably, please do take a moment to double check that you are still subscribed.
Sincere apologies for the hassle, mixed with gratitude for reading this newsletter. |
I hope you have found the above information helpful and entertaining. For more information about all things sake, please check out www.sake-world.com. Until next month, warm regards, and enjoy your sake.
Questions and comments should be directed to John Gauntner, at this
email address.
All material Copyright, John Gauntner & Sake World Inc.
Regards,
John Gauntner
Sake World, Inc.
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