Welcome to the November Issue of America's sake-centric newsletter. In this Issue take the Bullet-Point-Train to get caught up on what's going on in the Japanese sake-brewing world, see what hot temps do to cool rice, get your X-mas gift giving brain on, and watch as Beau Timken becomes a "Pick-Up Artist."

In this issue:

• Sake Moment - Bullet Points From The Bullet Train Nation
• True Sake Update - Updated Website, 300ml Gift Sets, Ishobin Shipping
• Sake Spotlight - Yours Truly Looks At "The Pick-Up Artist"
• Sake Bummer - Big Heat Small Rice
• True Sake In The News - Pomona College Magazine
• New Store Arrivals - Urakasumi/Tsukinokatsura Hiyaoroshi & Kudoki Jozu
• Special Events - November 27th Kani Night
• "Ask Beau" - "What Were The Good Rice Years?"
• The SECRET WORD

As many of you know I have just returned from a two week "stint" in Japan - completely refreshed my sake batteries and loaded up on buckets of new information - information that I can only gather from the brewers themselves. I visited several breweries, worked in two of them, attended the Sake Samurai Ceremony in Kyoto, participated in several massive tastings - judged one of them where I set a personal recorded of 511 sakes tasted in one "standing" (you do no sit and taste) - spent time in Osaka, Kyoto, Yamagata, Kamakura, and Tokyo. Of course I hit a plethora of izakaya from one that specialized in octopus to one that served up some seriously yummy whale. (Sorry Green Peace) And stayed with a real actual Japanese family - not one played on TV - real Japanese people who didn't speak much English! Can you say foreign exchange adult?

Now I could spend countless Newsletters describing each and every awesome adventure, flavor, brew, brewery, brewery worker, restaurant, bar, National Government Tax Office, or liquor store, but instead I thought it would be much better in this fast-paced world to give a "bullet point" tour of my sake-soaked brain for time's sake - a yellow Clift-Notes version of my deepest passion. How cheap is that? Seriously I have too much to say and cannot wait for future months to spell it out - I need to dump now! For those who enjoy depth - I apologize! For those who enjoy speed - I pity you! For those who like depth and speed - I pray for you!

Herewith is one man's sponge that was recently soaked:

• So when does Sake Season start? Is there an official kick-off? Do breweries start brewing on the same day every year? And don't some breweries brew year around? The answers are many and they are all right for each and every particular brewery. For example one brewer always starts brewing on November 1st each year. When I asked why he said that was the day that his employees all were done with their other jobs and could start making sake. But breweries that have a dedicated work force might start when their rice is ready. And yet others pick days that just fit. It's all arbitrary, but it's all good because they are making sake right now and will continue to do so through March.

• I would say that 9 out 10 sake breweries paint their floors a deep dark green. Why? In Japan the colors white and green are considered "mellow" colors, and as one sake brewery owner said to me when I asked why his floor was painted green replied that "sake making is a high tension business and we use green to calm our kurabito (sake brewers) down. Another owner literally said "I like green, it makes me easy."

• In the sake-making world the number two expense for breweries each and every year - by far - is rice. Without a doubt brewing rice equates to the second largest expense on the books right behind worker's salaries. An informal poll - yes me asking ten different brewery owners (kuramotos) informally - found that expenses usually went 1) Salaries 2) Brewing Rice 3) Electricity/oil 4) Taxes 5) Bottles 6) Labels 7) Trucks 8) Shipping 9) Caps 10) Boxes in this general order. For a small brewery to crank out 150,000 bottles, caps, and labels for each product is a pricey proposition, but they do not want to skimp on the "look" and "representation" that their brews need to have in the very "packaging-centric" Japanese market place. One brewer in Yamaguchi uses odd shaped 720ml bottles so that they have the necks of 1.8L bottles. Why? Because this saves on bottling equipment and cap expenses as they are all the same!

• I visited a government rice inspection station in Yamagata, where officials look at and grade the quality of your rice for both making sake and for selling it. To maintain quality standards every Junmai-class rice offering must be sampled and graded. The ranking is as follows (I apologize for the spelling I was writing as fast as I could when the rice inspector spewed out the categories) "Tokuju" Super Premium 1st Class - "Tokto" Premium 2nd Class - "Itto" 3rd Class - "Nitto" 4th Class - "Santo" 5th Class - and "Tougai" No Class. The process is pretty awesome. Basically you grow your brewing rice, harvest it, let it set a while and then bag it. Then you take the bags to the inspector and they do a set number of random inspections for how many bags you have brought. For example if you brought 150 bags of rice the inspector would take 20 random inspections from 20 different bags. If I recall 200 bags called for 30 inspections. They use a long knife looking instrument to puncture the bag and it fills with rice from deep within. Then they put a little patch on the hole. They take this sample and place it in trays - black and white - to look at the size, color, surface area etc. Then they compare this sample to a perfect sample that they keep in little pouches. So they look to compare it against what is deemed Tokuju quality rice to see how yours stacks up. A very cool process that does place a lot of power in a few people's hands.

• Guess which month is the largest tax month in the brewer's year? January - always! Because December is the number one selling month in all of the year in Japan. Brewers sell sake like crazy at year's end and it's not all for the January 1st New Years traditional sake toast. Just like in the US December represents the month with the most parties and drinking events. Basically it's a typical have a ball and pay the fiddler later scenario, and we all know the fiddler!

• If Bob Barker ever went to Japan to learn the price that was "right" in the brewing industry he would soon find out that a "typical" stainless steel tank for brewing Ginjo or Dai Ginjo sake (which is far smaller than a typical large scale tank) would ring up a cost of roughly $16,000 per tank. Yikes! Now think smaller and guess how much a typical "cap" costs for a 720ml bottle? How about 20 cents!

• File this one under Sake Fact Or Fiction. Guess what kurabito (brewers) are NOT eating for breakfast during the brewing season? They are not eating natto or fermented soybeans. You know that really slimy and stringy and hard as hell to eat brown stuff. Personally I love natto and was having breakfast with a brewery owner who informed me that this would be his "last natto of the year." I said what? And he replied that because of the very powerful bacteria and enzymes in fermented natto one should never eat the substance during sake making because it could drastically alter the process for the worse. Come on! How could it get transferred to the rice - the imagination boggles? So I had to ask another brewer who confirmed for certain that he always asks visitors if they had natto for breakfast. I said no way - you just ask them this to get out of taking guests on a tour during the brewing season. He laughed and said "no way" (parroting me) and said if somebody has eaten natto then they would not be allowed in that day. Fact or Fiction - you make the call.

• It's true; some breweries make sake for larger breweries. They produce and sell sake by the tank to these major breweries and need not worry about labels, bottles, packaging etc. This is the tradeoff for not letting their family name come proudly to the forefront. As a small brewery that has been making sake for hundreds of years using their name and their brand it became a difficult (and easy) choice to sell to the big boys. Gone were the hassles of trying to sell out each season's stock. When you have a major buyer basically you sell your entire product line each year, which is a comforting fact for a small brewery. Some breweries do both. They make their own brand and then sell sake by the tank to others. When speaking to these guys they are not that keen to say "yeah we sell our sake to so and so." Instead they say that we produce taxed and non-taxed sake. Taxed sake would be their brand and named brews and non-taxed sake would be the tanks sold to the big boys, who then have to pay the tax on the sake when it is sold. Thus taxed and non-taxed sake, which sounds better than our proud sake and the "stuff" that we sell for another name.

• There is old adage in the sake making industry that has been passed down for hundreds of years and it has to do with THE most important step in making sake: First Koji - Second Moto - Third Tsukuri (fermentation). What this means is that brewers feel that it is imperative to make good koji and that is THE most important step for making great sake - or even good sake. The second most important step would then be the yeast starter, which is followed by the third most important step, which is the actual fermentation. Ask any brewer and they all have differing points of view that are mostly founded in a mistake or screw-up of some significance in the past. I would say that the majority of the brewers would say that the koji is THE most important step, but I heard a great answer the other day from a brewer in Yamagata. This particular owner said that THE most important step is the actual steaming of the rice! He felt that his sakes drank better when they are steamed properly, and that is why he took great pride in his horizontal steaming system that is unlike the typical vertical koshiki or kettle/tub with holes in the bottom, which he said, gave un-even steams and heated the lower rice too much. Like all things in the brewing world this is debatable but I love that he has thought this THE most important step.

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Bong - Bong - Bong Yes that is the sound of the lone church bell sounding out the passing of an individual - gone forever - Rest In Peace. This so-called individual is of course the True Sake "Flash" website that has been so popular for years. Thank you for all of the compliments and attention for our efforts. Yes the site rocks! Yes it is cool! Yes it looks great! BUT it's in Flash and that has proven to be a big pain in the pancake. For as good as it looks - nobody can find it, because the search engines have a heard time finding information in the Flash realm. So after getting pounded on for years by my website peeps, we have decided to take the product back to HTML so that all of our great information and education can get out to the masses, where it belongs. I have also been encouraged to ask any and all if they would like to "link up" to True Sake to make things more "groovy." (And thank you if you decide to link us up to give us more search shwerve!)

So by all means please take a jog around the newish www.truesake.com website where we will try to produce a more fresh and fun sake portal to get the word out about nihonshu to all those who need to know!

Secondly, just in time for the Holiday Season (why did I cap that? Because it pays the bills my sake amigo!) we have added a really cool three-pack holder for 300ml bottles (and room for my book "Sake - A Modern Guide") so that you can mix and match your way to the best Holiday Gifts ever. Seriously, how fun is that? You can pick three amazing 300ml brews or two 500ml sakes (with or without my book - I am not mad!) and give them as the perfect looking present. And yes sake does make the perfect present. Think "Box-Set" and let your imagination go crazy. You can make an all cobalt blue bottle set! You can make a Dai Ginjo set. A Nigori set. A feminine set. A macho set. The choices are endless, but the result is always the same - a great present pure and simple.

Thirdly, we have introduced - at long last - the ishobin shipper! So now you may purchase your favorite 1.8L bottle and have it sent to those good states that allow free trade! These bottles are good for parties, but they are also very economical and most die hard drinkers (did I just write that?) swear by them, as they are more of a throwback in time bottle.

Lastly, and please hear this loud and well; things will get crazy in the store as we get closer to Christmas etc. Don't wait until the last minute to make orders. Plan in advance and you will be guaranteed the sakes that you want. And if you are thinking parties and such it may be worth it to order by the case! You do that for wine right? We ran out of some brews last year and most of the gift sets were gobbled up. Don't get caught in the last minute. Start ordering now or you will be sorry! The drinking sets are extremely popular at this time of the year - as they do make great gifts - and it is hard to get product from Japan at the last minute. So what we carry is what we have to sell. When it's gone it will be gone until next year.

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"Sake Spotlight" is a unique section within the Newsletter that takes a closer look at specific sakes that may be purchased at True Sake. I approach different professionals within the industry to give their perspectives and insights to the how, what and why's for very special sakes. These insiders are importers, brewers, authors, sake sommeliers, or just enthusiasts who will take your knowledge base a little further. What I like about this segment is that often my review is quite different than that of the guest professional's adding to the point that there is no right or wrong when discussing your opinion about sake.

Typically I do not "do" the Sake Spotlight. But I have just returned from a very atypical trip to Japan and brewed sake at a very atypical brewery so I couldn't resist shining a little light a cool kura.

I went to Yamagata to stay with my dear friend Masao Aisawa from the brewery Takenotsuyu (we sell four of his brews.) Ideally I wanted to brew with my pal, but he did not start his brewing season until November 1st. So instead of spending all of my time cleaning his brewery before the season commenced - yes I literally cleaned his floors and koji room etc - he offered to take me to Kudoki Jozu for two days of hands-on brewing. (An offer that I seized with much excitement and trepidation.) Why? Because Kudoki Jozu has a reputation for being a very "clean" operation, one that might feel burdened by hosting some hairy white boy.

Well suffice it to say the kuramoto Shunji Imai and his son Toshifumi Imai "Executive Director" made me feel like royalty - word about the sake freak in San Francisco had made its way to their beautiful brewery so they were pretty pleased to impart true sake knowledge on me.

For two days I sweated with father and son in their koji room making excellent Ginjo sake, and for two days I felt like a god! I will say here and now that this experience reminded me once again how labor intensive it is to make a bottle of sake. I often forget the trials and tribulations - the seconds that count - the temperatures that need to be perfect - the corners that can never be cut. It is hard as hell! Sure there are machines to ease the process, but god damn there is so much at play at any given minute or hour. (This is and was a good reminder for me as I again look and taste each bottle of sake in my newly rediscovered appreciation for this fact.)

I will write more about making sake Beau's way - tongue firmly planted in cheek - in a later Newsletter, but for now I would like to discuss this great brewery.

Kamenoi Shuzo (the brewery's name) was founded in 1875 in Yamagata Prefecture. Mr. Imai is a fifth generation owner and his son Toshifumi represents the sixth. A promotional handout that they gave me states that their "Theme" is "All Ginjo-shu, Focusing on Yeast Number 10." A pretty cool and bold statement that basically states that we don't mess around with a vast array of products rather we focus on doing a small segment very well and very controlled as we limit the use of our resources. They sell roughly 130,000 1.8L bottles per season and roughly 80% of their product is "Junmai variety" meaning they don't add much brewer's alcohol to their product line.

Ten years ago the Imai family rebuilt the majority of their kura. The emphasis was creating a state of the art low-temperature storage facility to enable further quality control over their product. These guys take "neat-freaks" to a totally new level. It is truly the cleanest and most refined brewery that I have been in. I heard the words cleanliness and order a lot over those two days - and to think the dirty hairy American chimp was digging his bug infested fingers into their pure divine rice.

Again they specialize in Kobo #10 or as they say "Ogawa No. 10" that "yields sake with a relatively low acidity, both soft and elegant in flavor and aroma." For me this yeast always has an apple-like aroma and typically produces velvety flavors. They use ten different rice varietals but the workhorse is Miyamanishiki. Kudoki Jozu also uses Yamadanishiki, Omachi, Kame no O and their very own rice specimen called Mirai, which they and only they cultivated and use in production.

On the food front the local cuisine is superb, as they possess an abundance of amazing fruits and veggies and the best offerings from the Sea of Japan. This area is like a surf and turf dream come true, and the sakes of this region really compliment these amazing flavors. At two different drinking events a majority of the guests brought their own food offerings from killer vegetables/pickles etc to fresh and smoked fish dishes. I was pretty impressed!

I have purposely waited to speak about the "brand" called Kudoki Jozu. Why? Because the translated name is outstanding and very intentional. I had a 30-minute discussion about the origins and intent of this name and I am still a bit unclear. There are two ways to name this brew, as I understood it. One had to do with impeccable loyalty! The second had to do with a term that we all know and love - The Pick Up Artist - as in the smooth guy that makes good with the ladies. Both mean a lot. They are incredibly loyal to the making of sake and are equally loyal to their customers. And secondly they feel that their brews have a quality that makes an incredible impression. I asked quite frankly "Do you mean that you make sake that chicks like?" and Shunji laughed and said no, rather we make sakes that captivate.

If you take a look at this month's "New Store Arrivals" you will see my review for the only product available in the US - the Junmai Ginjo. Currently we are offering this sake only in the 300ml bottle and 1.8L on account of the fact that the 720ml and inventories are old - over two years old. And yes I told Mr. Imai this and he said that he would "look into it" with creased eyebrows. Eventually we will carry the 720ml size. I mention this however because I personally purchase and enjoy this older version of the brew. (Remember my motto - I drink bad sake so you don't have to! This is typically true of other older or damaged brews, but I really like the flavor of Kudoki Jozu in an "off" state.) Miwa - the store's manager - and I were talking about selling the older brew to those who would want to explore sake in a differing condition. This would be considered a No-No in the sake selling industry, but we are not like that at True Sake. I believe that sake that is made well will drink well under most conditions. We like proving that point all of the time! So if you would be interested in trying sakes that we have identified as being "good" in other states of condition please send us an email with the words "Sake Explorers Club" (I just made that up) in the Subject Line to our info @ truesake.com email address. And we will consider the merits of offering certain brews that should be off of the radar.

For this review, as I am gushing about this brewery, I will mention two brews that Mr. Imai gave to me to try in Yamagata. Sadly, they are not available here in the US. But if you find yourself in Japan, by all means grab a bottle or ten. The first was a 720ml black frosted bottle of Dai Ginjo, and the second was a proprietary offering that will knock your socks off. (This 300ml bottle is in the photo with no label and a hanging tag that says Frozen Sake Concentrate in Japanese - hand written by Mr. Imai.)

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Kudoki Jozu Dai Ginjo "Pick-Up Artist" From Yamagata Prefecture. Dai Ginjo. Yamadanishiki 35%. KA10. SMV: +3 Acidity:1.0 The nose on this Dai Ginjo is filled with blueberry, mineral, green apple, and peach elements. Wow! What an expansive sake filled with layers of vibrant and full-bodied fruit tones on a fat and juicy fluid rush. Huge attitude is supported by tremendous guts as this brew does not drink sweet, rather it has a hint of crispness, which is odd considering the thickness. Round and full with a disappearing acidity play this ghost leaves your mouth "slimed" in the best sense. WORD: Expansive WINE: Bordeaux/French Chardonnay BEER: Huge Belgians FOODS: Shellfish, pate, caviar, great breads.

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Kudoki Jozu "Concentrated Junmai Dai Ginjo" It's not often that a head brewer/owner of a brewery will give somebody an un-labeled bottle of sake and say "here take it and enjoy." Take what? Basically I was given a bit of sake modern- history with a handwritten tag that said "Frozen Sake Concentrate." (A truly a unique brew in the sake brewing industry that is made by concentrating the final product.) This process uses a machine that freezes the water in the finished sake to remove roughly 30% of the 80% total water in a completed brew. The machine can produce 8 X 1.8L per day, and there are only four of these machines in Japan. The point of this special brew is to raise the alcohol content without losing flavor and feel. After this sake was fermented and completed the sake had these measurements: SMV: +1 Alc: 17.5% Acidity: 1.5 and Amino Acids: 1.1 Then Mr. Imai used the "machine" to achieve the measurements: SMV: +5 Alc: 22% Acidity: 1.7 and Amino Acids: 1.5 Basically a sake that has been dried! The nose was immense with loads of grape and blueberry elements. Talk about a vast and chewy sake! This beast had a smooth front with large impact. Deep and loaded with grape tones there was a definite "appearance" of booze. Bold and brash, but still very velvety and very elegant. The depth was tantalizing and the overall drinking experience was complex and frisky. WORD: Deep WINE: Beaujolais BEER: Stouts FOODS: Anything edible!

My adventure at Kamenoi Shuzo was highlighted by the fact that Mr. Imai not only owns the brewery, but he is the toji as well. He is the man! And as he said to me, it was up to an owner of a kura to spot trends and see how and what sakes customers like, and it was up to a toji to focus on making great sake. When you are both, essentially you are ahead of the game. There is a growing trend in the brewing world to be both owner and toji, and Mr. Imai has been doing this for a very long time. (He is pretty humble, but he did say that he made "one mistake once" which resulted in a blown batch of sake. I asked if he ever made the mistake again and he looked at me as if I were crazy). I think that the flavor and feel of his brews are a testament to this approach. Good people - Good sake.

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This month's "Sake Bummer" focuses in on a climate issue that has affected several brewing regions in Japan. (No I will not get into the "Global Warming Hot Potato Game" because most brewers call this an event that happens once in a while and not a trend.)

As I was sitting across the dinner table from one of the more important sake brewery owners in Japan he received a phone call. (They always take calls during brewing season.) Answering his cell, I noticed that a look of frustration crossed his face when he heard the voice on the other end of the line. Several umm's and hmmm's later he hung up and informed me that they had "run out" of brewing rice for this brewing year.

"Run out"? I asked what this meant. And he informed me that in his region of Japan they have had a very hot summer, which kept the brewing rice from growing full and fat. In fact it made the rice the opposite, tight, hard and thin with a very small "shinpaku" (The airy starchy part of the inside of each grain of brewing rice that is very important for the introduction with koji mold). Thus the yields of good brewing rice in this area were lower than usual this year, and the result was that he blew through his supply faster than normal. (I asked about obtaining more rice from elsewhere, and he said that it would be expensive and the quality may be inferior and it would have to be rice that worked with his yeasts. In other words a hard match that was doable, but still a pain.)

I spoke to other owners of kuras in this prefecture and they told me the summer was indeed hot but their rice rebounded because the temperatures came down later in the rice's lifecycle and balanced things out. They did acknowledge the elevated temperatures, but stated that in most instances the rice would take care of itself. Not so for my friend's supply. He would later confide in me that his rice supply has suffered for the past three years, and that this has taken its toll on the quality of his brews. (Something that we have noticed to a degree.) But, as he would later say, this happens every once in a while, and it is up to his toji - head brewer - to work harder to make their "style and quality" of sake.

We wish him and his brewers the best of luck!

For more on this topic please see the "Ask Beau" section at the end of this Newsletter.

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Yes, it is true! I may look like a human, but alas I am merely a small little bird called a Sagehen. Well to be exact a Pomona Sagehen. 20 years ago next year I will celebrate my 20th Anniversary from a small liberal arts college in Claremont California, where our mascot was a little chirpy bird. Pomona is one of five small universities that make up the Claremont College system. I did drink a little hot crappy sake my senior year of course - after I turned 21 years-old of course - in a grungy sushi restaurant of course! But it is safe to say that my higher sake education came later in life. Herewith is a small article about True Sake with a pre-working-out-again photo!

Sake for the sake of sake

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Two more "Fall Draft" seasonal sakes are now available at True Sake joining Wakatake and Aramasa for a total of four brews that were made over six months ago and pasteurized once before being released in the autumn. The first is a familiar and very popular brew from Urakasumi and the second is new to the US this season and is from one of our favorite kuras in Kyoto - Tsukinokatsura.

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Urakasumi "Hiyaoroshi" From Miyagi Prefecture. Tokubetsu Junmai Hiyaoroshi. SMV: +1.5 Acidity: 1.4 Rested for 7 months this single-pasteurized sake has a mild nose filled with wheat, straw, dried apple, and wax elements. Do you do "full-body"? This semi-thick and semi-sweet sake has a depth and complexity that speaks to those who want expansive flavors in a smooth and layered "near draft" delivery. Think crème brulee, caramel, and tapioca pudding, but remove the overwhelming sweetness! Just a simple -deep and expansive- sake that explores the meaning of life in a glass. WORD: Full-Bodied WINE: Bordeaux/Rich whites BEER: Big Belgians FOODS: Shell fish, eel, squash, pumpkin pie or desserts. $26/720ml

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Tsukinokatsura "Asahi Junmai" From Kyoto Prefecture. Junmai Hiyaoroshi. SMV: +3 Acidity: 1.6 New to the store this Fall Season this brew has a nose filled with crushed leaves, caramel, charcoal and cinnamon. Talk about a gentle and relaxed sake! This 7-month aged draft Junmai is smooth and slick with a peek-a-boo sweetness - maple syrup - that rests on the tip of the tongue, but the overall complexion is semi-dry clean and calm. The strength rests in the feeling of this sake and if you are looking for a brew to "throw the cap away" then look no further. WORD: Clean WINE: Merlot / Sauvignon Blanc BEER: Ales FOODS: Gentle cuisine, sashimi, tofu, steamed/baked white fish. $26/720ml

Also new to the store is a product from a brewery that I just worked at in late October. (Yes, yours truly does go Japan and pretends to be a real kurabito sweating away shirtless in koji rooms across the brewing countryside.) Kudoki Jozu, not only has the coolest name in the sake world - "The Pick Up Artist" but also makes some superb and vibrant sakes that appeal to those who like a little fruit in their nose and pallet.

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Kudoki Jozu "Pick-Up Artist" From Yamagata Prefecture. Junmai Ginjo. SMV: +1 Acidity: 1.2s Great name and a great nose on this sake with hints of pear, apple, and purple plum aromas. Ahhhhh! A brew that gets it. A terrific feeling sake that fills the mouth with fat and gooey flavors but stays super smooth. The brilliant acidity-balancing act takes the sweetness out of the gambit of fruit flavors including pineapple and mango. Plump and complex this "sexy beast" is layered and luxurious with attitude and swagger. Drink closer to room temp if you want even more fruit tones, but chilled is happening. WORD: Vivacious WINE: French Pinot Noir/French Chardonnay BEER: Deep Belgians FOODS: Oily and grilled fare, sushi, shellfish. $9/300ml $45/18L

You can review many of our sakes on our web site:
www.truesake.com

Our inventory list is here.

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NOV 27th - Crab Season and Sake Collide on Kani Night!

• Take fresh crab and prepare it 6 different ways and then add seven flights of sake, and therein rests the secret for the 3rd Annual Kani Night.
• This is an extremely limited event (only 14 seats!) and True Sake would like to request that only folks who have not attended a Kani Night in the past to participate. Translation "Let some others taste a great evening."
• Tuesday November 27th from 6:30-9:00PM
• $80/person
• Secret location in Japan town.
• Please phone True Sake to order your tickets 415.355.9555 (Sadly this event sells out in a flash!) (And please no repeaters!)

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Coincidentally enough, I received an email question (askbeau2 @ truesake.com) that related to this month's "Sake Bummer" (see above) and decided to run with it.

Trevor B from Seattle wrote:

"The wine world goes crazy for great grape years, and I was wondering if there are quality vintage brewing years for sake brewing rice?"

Ahhhhhhh yes! The ol' vintage rice question! Are there the "great" years for growing brewing rice? Is there a market for sakes from this year or that? Do customers specifically try to buy sake made with rice grown during those "brilliant" years? The big answer is No! The small answer is not really.

Wine - it can be said - is dictated by the quality of the grape. Some vintners will say that at least 80% of their final product comes as the result of the quality of the grape and 20% comes in brewing technique. It can also be said that the these percentages are almost the opposite for the sake brewing industry where 20% of the final product is dictated by the quality of the rice and 80% comes in brewing technique. That is a powerful contrast between wine and sake making.

So Trevor to answer your question I will harken back to a brewery visit in Kobe over 5 years ago, where I posed the exact same question to the owner of a really cool brewery called Take no Koi. I asked him which years were the really good rice years? He paused and thought for a moment and then he said that he could not really remember. BUT he then went on and said that he could remember the bad rice growing years very well, because those were the brewing seasons that they had to work so very hard to achieve the flavor and quality that was consistent with their brews.

The long and the short of it is that no producer will say "Ohhhhhh yes the 1996 Yamadanishiki was superb, or the 2002 Omachi was outstanding" but they will say the 12 typhoons in 2005 made things tough. That said the individual rice growers may remember specific years that they produced a super high quality rice that fetched a higher price at market. But the brewers themselves would say that there are no great years, rather they would say look for the consistency of quality year in and year out.

Please send your sake specific questions to askbeau2 @ truesake.com. (This address is not for general questions and I only review the questions once per month. All other correspondence should use info @ truesake.com.)

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Ah, at last we have reached the end of this Newsletter and that of course means that we have come to the now-famous SECRET WORD. To those who are new the SECRET WORD is a chance for you to try a sake of note for half of that sake's original price. Just for reading this Newsletter. It is our way of saying thank you for trying to understand the wonders of sake. And in this regard we typically select a sake with a story, and this month's story is "Koshu" or aged sake. (A cold aged Dai Ginjo no less)

Please remember the rules: only one bottle per reader, and don't tell your buddy at the moment if he/she isn't a Newsletter subscriber, always use a hushed or secret agent voice when saying the SECRET WORD, and lastly for those who have their sakes shipped we can only include the SECRET WORD sake in a four-pack purchase - meaning you must buy three other sakes.

This month's brew is a Junmai Dai Ginjo that is not only aged for two years, but also uses a flower yeast (Yes a yeast made from flowers) which usually sells for $15/300ml bottle but for you sake-jockeys we will part with this brew in 720ml form for $18. This is one of the few sakes in the sake world that tastes better several days after opening the bottle. And the SECRET WORD is: Check Your Email Inbox - We only give out the SECRET WORD in the mailed Newsletter! So sign up for the Newsletter!

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Thank you for reading!

True Sake

TRUE SAKE: America's First Sake Store.