Attention San Francisco Bay Area sake fans (especially those in the East Bay)! Takara USA in Berkeley is hosting a special tasting Wednesday (10/24) to Sunday (10/28) that will feature limited quantities of its ShoChikuBai Junmai Nama Genshu. Okay, let’s break this down to see what all the fuss is about.
“Nama” refers to the sake being unpasteurized. It’s fresh as can be and will taste particularly lively, with prominent aroma. “Genshu” means that it is undiluted–you are getting it exactly as it’s brewed. After sake is pressed (to separate the lees from the liquid) it can often be at a higher alcohol level than brewers want. Many brewers will dilute the pressed sake with water to reach a desired alcohol level. It’s a perfectly acceptable technique in the industry, but this genshu sake comes straight from the tanks. Finally, it’s junmai (or “pure rice”), meaning nothing else was added, except the other basic ingredients like yeast and water, for example. Sometimes brewers will add distilled alcohol at the end of the mash. This is not to fortify the sake, but to draw out some of the flavors and aromas. This is also a perfectly acceptable technique, too, that does not make the sake any better or worse than a junmai, per se, just different. With a junmai, you’re getting the sake ‘as is’. So with a junmai nama genshu, you’re basically getting the freshest, most untouched sake available.
Glasses of this special sake are only $5 (limit of two glass per person). If you are only coming to taste the nama sake during this period, no reservations are required; otherwise, for weekend tastings, please make a reservation with the brewery. Tasting room hours are from 12pm to 6pm, with the last tasting at 5pm. Getting a guided tasting is a great experience that we highly recommend; Takara does a rather good job of it.
Takara Sake USA Inc. is one of America’s four large sake breweries (in total, there are about two dozen sake breweries in America now). Its parent company, Takara, is located in the hallowed sake district of Fushimi, Kyoto, and is one of Japan’s oldest, most revered breweries. We featured Takara Sake USA in issue #4 of Sake Today.
