Sake Education Council

Newsletter for the CSP & ASP Community

Volume 2, Newsletter 3 June 2012
sm barrels
Greetings to all SEC members,

I hope this finds you well. First of all, my apologies for the long silence. While I do intend to publish this monthly, a never-ending stream of things to do parades across my desk and mind continually, and I becomes hard to sit down and tap out the SEC newsletter.

The other side of that coin is that there is a handful of industry notes, anecdotes, and sundry things to report to everyone. So please do enjoy the longer-than-usual newsletter as the summer warms up (for most of us, anyhow).

Also: two important notices!
    If you are considering attending SPC II (the Advanced Sake Professional) course with SEC ASP testing please RSVP ASAP.
OK? All levity aside, I need to ascertain how many plan to attend and if need be create a plan B. The course will be held in the Tokyo area the week of February 11, 2013.
    On the final evening of SPC Chicago, i.e. the evening of Friday July 20, there will be a gathering of alumni and recent graduates to be held in Chicago. Again, I need a headcount sooner rather than later, so if you plan to attend, by all means please let me know as soon as you can. Details about the event are below.

Thanks in advance for your prompt attention to the above two issues.

Warm regards,
John
INDUSTRY NEWS

Strange Brews

Pouring over industry pubs (as in publications) I have come across a handful of miscreant sake variations of late. In fact, just recently I gave presentations in Boston and Chicago in which I described how these new varieties of sake, mostly flavored or carbonated, are getting a lot of attention. Yet I pointed out, and re-emphasize here, that in reality only a handful of brewers are making a small number of such products. These less than fully orthodox sake do not by any stretch of the imagination constitute trends in the sake world these days. Not yet, in any event.

Cold Ozeki

Ozeki, the fourth largest brewer, whose mainstay is One-cup products, has come out with something they call Cold Ozeki. The alcohol is but 7% and it is 40% less calories. Furthermore, it is sold in cans, the exact same size (350ml) as beer, chu-hi (shochu and fruit juice cocktails), and other RTD (ready to drink) products. One cannot help they are aiming for that market in their placement. But legally it is seishu (sake). Interestingly, it retails for \230, just a few yen less than a can of beer.

How does it taste? Not bad, actually. It tastes like very low impact sake. But Ozeki has always been strong on the research front, so they have done well to keep the umami and balance, as well as a mild, rice-like flavor, well enough intact. I would not likely buy a six-pack to work through on a Friday night, but I do think they have achieved a happy medium for what it is. Also, they are putting a lot of money and effort into both marketing and distribution of the product.

Yogurt Sake

Amidst the plum- and other fruit-flavors found in sake lately, Kamikokoro of Okayama Prefecture has started to produce a yogurt sake, i.e. sake mixed with yogurt. It is, of course, not legally sake. But the intended point is the “active culture” in yogurt and the healthy aspects of sake are supposed to combine into a tasty, healthy alternative. I have not yet had the chance to try it.

Kagoshima Makes Some Sake Now

Kagoshima Prefecture, the lone bastion of zero-sake production amongst Japan’s 47 prefectures, has now lost that distinction. Famous for its sweet-potato (Satsuma imo) shochu, if you order sake down there (Kagoshima is on Kyushu, the southernmost island) you get shochu. Literally. But now, even Kagoshima makes some sake.

The Hamada Shuzo group, who has three distilleries, planned in a sake-production section when they renewed one of their plants. Long ago, they made seishu (sake) but had stopped for decades, and this January started again at their Satsuma Kinzan Kura.

The End of Tax Breaks for Small Breweries?

“Special Clause” 87, a clause that gives small sake brewers a break in taxes, was supposed to end years ago, but it gets extended, and extended and extended again. Why? Because if it is eliminated, several hundred breweries might disappear overnight. Those tax breaks are the only think keeping some breweries going. While the reasons for that are many, varied, and need to be addresses, Special Clause 87 is due to be eliminated next March. Note too that these tax breaks have been decreasing in amount gradually over the past couple years.

However, the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers’ Association, the organization formerly known as the Japan Sake Producers’ Association, is lobbying the government to make SC87 (1) permanent and (2) retro-active to their former level of discount. While we can read things like this a lot, they do seem to be serious about it. This is interesting to me since the JSSMA has as its members all sake brewers (save a couple recalcitrant holdouts), and this tax break only applies to the small producers. Admittedly, that is 90% of the industry, so I guess it is not that odd. In any event, let us hope it is made permanent.

This Year's National New Sake Awards For the 2011-2012 Brewing Season

For those that do not subscribe to or read my regular Sake World email newsletter, you can read my report on the Zenkoku Shinshu Kampyoukai here:
http://visitor.benchmarkemail.com/c/v?e=1A63D7&c=8993&l=1A5AD67&email=TwaW%2F5tt%2BTKauMDido1J7g%3D%3D&relid=C6EC15A

Above and beyond that write-up, anyone that has taken the CSP course here in Japan the past few year would have visited Eikun. This outstanding brewery was gunning for the 15th (that’s one-five!) consecutive gold medal in a row, but they had to settle for silver. Still they are tied for the record at 14, and in fact the company that has 14, Kamotsuru of Hiroshima, accomplished that across three different kura, whereas all of Eikun’s golds come from one single brewery. Impressive! But we all wanted to see them get that fifteenth.

Also, Tamagawa from Kyoto, brewed by the inimitable Philip Harper, won a gold as well. It is his (their) second in the few years he has worked there. Congratulations to Tamagawa!

We're From the Government; We're Here to Help

The below is reprinted from my regular newsletter, but includes a paragraph at the end with new information.

It’s Official Now: The Government is Behind Sake!

Yeppir! Things are bound to get better from now on! The Japanese government is now officially behind sake, moving toward support of improving the market for sake both domestically and overseas.In mid-April, the Mr. Motohisa Furukawa, State Minister for National Policy, designated sake as Japan’s “National Alcoholic Beverage.” What this means is that sake has hereby moved into the realm of official government policy. It is at least on the radar. Rock and Roll!

For the record, the full statement also reflected that not just sake, but also its distilled cousin, Japan’s other indigenous beverage, shochu, are both to be designated as National Alcoholic Beverages.The action was taken in part to boost the overseas market for sake, and also to “encourage the revitalization of local economies concerned and the expanding demand for rice.” The minister stated, "Sake is part of the Japanese culture of taking pride in high-quality rice and water. I'm confident it can develop into an export industry capable of penetrating the global market."

In terms of actual activities that might improve overseas sales, the government will address a range of things, such as enhancement of brand images and improvement of product designs. In addition, it will support information-gathering efforts by producers for their marketing campaigns abroad.

Interestingly, however, the government receives no alcoholic beverage tax when sake is exported. Nor any consumption tax. Zero. The big goose egg. Yet they are going out of their way to put efforts into its overseas promotion. Why?Two reasons, at least as far as I can see. One, rice. Regardless of where Japan-brewed sake is consumed, the rice that goes into it is Japan-grown rice. (Actually, there is a drop-in-the-bucket of exceptions, as always in the sake world...) So sake consumed anywhere will help Japan’s agricultural situation, at least potentially. And reason number two: even though less than two percent of all sake made in Japan is exported, it is thought and hoped that if sake becomes even more truly appreciated overseas, the local market too will look at it anew, for the incredibly diverse and deep world and connoisseur beverage that it is.

Why does the local market not do that now? Image; plain and simple Sake is not seen as fashionable, or sexy, but rather just plain ole’ sake. Folks here in Japan have simply been too close to it for too long to see it as special.

Hopefully, that will begin to change. Wherever we are, let us all do our part. And trust the government when they say, “we have come to help.” 'Cuz this time, it’s official!

Addendum as of June 27:

Originally I was ambivalent about the above, in spite of my positive wording, since the study group and project had “no concrete plan and no budget.” It is kind of hard to make any real progress under those conditions.

However, the mere fact that the government, and a cabinet minister at that, went out of their way to make this official statement has created quite a positive set of ripples, if not downright waves, in the industry. There has been a good dollop of media attention, in the form of articles, interviews and such, that seems to be drawing attention to sake. It may be my imagination, but I seem to see sake popping up where it was not previously found. Small 300ml bottles of premium sake are sitting in the refrigerated shelves of train station kiosks and other conspicuous spots.

In truth, it is indeed too early to get all hot and agitated about this, as that sake may just sit on those shelves forever, and the media may go and find the next big thing. But if the movement has any momentum at all, we may be in for a market shift for the better. As always, only time will tell.

Recent Statistics

Statistics for sake, like for everything else, can be deceiving and hard to understand. Take sake shipments, fr’instance, the most readily available stats for the sake industry. There are CY, FY and BY stats, which represent calendar year (January to December) , fiscal year (May to March) and Brewing Year (July to June) stats. Then there is year-on-year for each month, and year to date for each one of these one-year periods. While they all serve a purpose, it is sometimes hard to get a feel for what is actually happening.

Then, there is relativity, or relevance of the data. In other words, I just read that the overall alcohol consumption in Japan, of all alcoholic beverages combined, has dropped ten percent in the last ten years. They call it “alcohol-banare,” or people moving away from drinking alcohol. So with that as a backdrop, if sake drops but three percent (as an example) it is doing better than the average. (In truth, over these ten years, it has shrunk much more than that. My only point is that other data needs to be taken into consideration as well.)

Still, let us look at some data. In short, for the first time in 16 years, shipments for CY 2011 were up over the previous year, albeit a scant amount, less than two percent. Still, we will take what we can get. And January through March numbers were up over the same month a year ago. April, however, was down about 4% over April 2011, but remember people were drinking a LOT of sake, especially Tohoku sake, in April 2011 in a show of support for Tohoku in the days just after the earthquake and tsunami. And, finally, YTD consumption for January to April 2012 is up a bit over the year before.

As such, when all the statistical dust settles, sake seems as though it may have scraped the bottom and begun to turn around. Keep posted for more information!
IN THIS ISSUE

INDUSTRY NEWS

FUTURE COURSES

MEMBER NEWS

FUTURE COURSES

CSP Chicago

The Sake Professional Course, with SEC-sponsored CSP (Certified Sake Professional) testing scheduled for July 18 to 20 has checked in full. There will be between 60 and 65 attendees. Thanks to all SEC members that spread the good word.

CSP San Francisco

The next Sake Professional Course, with SEC-sponsored CSP (Certified Sake Professional) testing has been scheduled for San Francisco, October 24 to 26 (Wednesday to Friday). I am now taking reservations for that course. The venue will be The Bentley Reserve, a refurbished old bank in the financial district, which is the same place at which the course was held two years ago. Those interested can make a reservation by sending me an email, and more can be learned at www.sake-world.com. By all means, please convey this to anyone you think may be remotely interested!

ASP Japan 2013

The ASP course (aka Level II) to be held in Japan in 2013 is currently scheduled for the week of February 11, 2013. As I would like to get a feel for how many plan to attend as early as I can, if you think that you might want to attend that course, while I realize it is a full eight months in the future, please send me an email to that purport. It will not constitute a commitment on your part! I just want to get a feel for how many might be interested.

The cost of the Level II course is expected to be \150,000, and we have a half-year to hope the exchange rate will cooperate. That fee includes instruction, materials and evening meals. Transportation to, from and within Japan, hotel and non-evening meals are not included in the tuition.

Learn more and read about the schedule in great detail here:
http://www.sake-world.com/html/lii.html

MEMBER NEWS

SEC Member Get Together

Friday, July 20, 2012

Union Sushi and Barbeque Bar

Chicago

Following the conclusion of the SPC Chicago course, on the evening of Friday, July 20, from 5:30 to 8:30, there will be an informal party-like get together at Union Sushi and Barbeque Bar in Chicago. You can learn more about this fabulous place here: http://www.eatatunion.com/

Owner Mike and chef Chow both took the SPC course in Portland a couple of years ago. The cost for the evening will $50, which includes a range of appetizers, beer and sake. Because we NEED A HEADCOUNT if you want to attend, please send me an email (sakeguy@gol.com) as soon as reasonably possible. Hope to see you there! Note, SEC directors Sally Mohr and Paul Tanguay will be in attendance as well.

In Closing,

We hope you are well, where ever you are, and enjoying sake in some capacity.
By all means, all CSP and ASP readers are encouraged to submit content for the SEC newsletter. Don’t be shy!

If you are no longer involved with sake, God forbid, or for any other reason you prefer to not receive this email, then please let us know.

Sake Education Council

CONTACT DETAILS

Sake Education Council

johngauntner@sakeeducationcouncil.org

paultanguay@sakeeducationcouncil.org

sallymohr@sakeeducationcouncil.org

jonathandriver@sakeeducationcouncil.org

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