Read Japanese? Know about sake? Can you tell me about mine?
October 6, 2008 7:32 AM Subscribe
Japanese/SakeFilter: I found a sake I like! Can you tell me about it? (Japanese description/website)
http://nissin-shurui.co.jp/shopn/11_37.html
I know very little about sake, though I've been skimming through the wikipedia article. What I do know, is that usually I don't like sake, and I had this one in a Tokushima yaki-tori bar, at room temperature, and it was really good.
I get a bottle of it tomorrow in the mail, but for the future, can you tell me what sort of sake I like, for the next new sake I try? ("Hello Sake shop owner! I'm looking for a XXXXX-type sake, with a YYYY acidity and a ZZZ brewing process. Do you have something that is [insert appropriate sake adjectives here]?")
(Here is a somewhat amusing babelfish translation: http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-home&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fnissin-shurui.co.jp%2Fshopn%2F11_37.html&lp=ja_en&btnTrUrl=Translate )
Oh yeah, and can you tell me what the romanji would be for the name of my sake? As I understand it, the brewing company is Hisagotaiko (or maybe 2 words with those phonemes), and the specific sake is called 本醸造, which I have not yet heard aloud.
Thanks!
http://nissin-shurui.co.jp/shopn/11_37.html
I know very little about sake, though I've been skimming through the wikipedia article. What I do know, is that usually I don't like sake, and I had this one in a Tokushima yaki-tori bar, at room temperature, and it was really good.
I get a bottle of it tomorrow in the mail, but for the future, can you tell me what sort of sake I like, for the next new sake I try? ("Hello Sake shop owner! I'm looking for a XXXXX-type sake, with a YYYY acidity and a ZZZ brewing process. Do you have something that is [insert appropriate sake adjectives here]?")
(Here is a somewhat amusing babelfish translation: http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-home&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fnissin-shurui.co.jp%2Fshopn%2F11_37.html&lp=ja_en&btnTrUrl=Translate )
Oh yeah, and can you tell me what the romanji would be for the name of my sake? As I understand it, the brewing company is Hisagotaiko (or maybe 2 words with those phonemes), and the specific sake is called 本醸造, which I have not yet heard aloud.
Thanks!
This is Hisago Taikou's (瓢太閤) Honjouzou (本醸造) sake.
Honjouzou is not actually a brand name per se, but rather an indication of a type of sake. But in this case, the type has been stuck on to the maker's name to create the name of this product. Sometimes sake is given a fancy name, but it's not uncommon to simply append the type to the manufacturer in the case of well-established varieties.
Honjouzou refers to sake that has had a small quantity of food-grade alcohol mixed into it, along with less than 70% of clear, polished rice. So it is rice wine mixed with alcohol. There are apparently strict stipulations as to what % of alcohol and what % of rice actually constitutes honjouzou. Anything above a certain threshold cannot be named as such. Honjouzou has a comparatively clean color (as opposed to, say, more viscous, murky varieties) and a good aroma.
In a sense, this is what the 本 of 本醸造 refers to -- it's the "real" stuff, that meets a certain specification of quality.
As for the stats, they are as follows:
Alcohol content: 15.5%
Type (flavor): Crisp and dry (淡麗辛口) <> Sake content: +3.0
Acidity: 1.4
Amino acid content: 1.4
Main ingredient: Tokushima yamadanishiki (yamadanishiki is a type of rice grain)
Polished rice content: 65 (as opposed to brown, unpurified rice)
Fermentation: 7
Recommended method of drinking:
Drink at room temperature, in a tepid kan or heated-up kan. (This thing)
Characteristic of this sake:
Clear, crisp taste combined with umami (this is a worldwide flavor term now, no?). A slightly dry flavor that doesn't get tiresome.
I don't know how you would interpret some of those numbers - 1.4 acidity? what? But the type of flavor and mouthfeel is good to know. If you like this style, honjouzou, then maybe that is what you want to go for in the future, maybe trying different brands.>
posted by softsantear at 8:32 AM on October 6, 2008
Honjouzou is not actually a brand name per se, but rather an indication of a type of sake. But in this case, the type has been stuck on to the maker's name to create the name of this product. Sometimes sake is given a fancy name, but it's not uncommon to simply append the type to the manufacturer in the case of well-established varieties.
Honjouzou refers to sake that has had a small quantity of food-grade alcohol mixed into it, along with less than 70% of clear, polished rice. So it is rice wine mixed with alcohol. There are apparently strict stipulations as to what % of alcohol and what % of rice actually constitutes honjouzou. Anything above a certain threshold cannot be named as such. Honjouzou has a comparatively clean color (as opposed to, say, more viscous, murky varieties) and a good aroma.
In a sense, this is what the 本 of 本醸造 refers to -- it's the "real" stuff, that meets a certain specification of quality.
As for the stats, they are as follows:
Alcohol content: 15.5%
Type (flavor): Crisp and dry (淡麗辛口) <> Sake content: +3.0
Acidity: 1.4
Amino acid content: 1.4
Main ingredient: Tokushima yamadanishiki (yamadanishiki is a type of rice grain)
Polished rice content: 65 (as opposed to brown, unpurified rice)
Fermentation: 7
Recommended method of drinking:
Drink at room temperature, in a tepid kan or heated-up kan. (This thing)
Characteristic of this sake:
Clear, crisp taste combined with umami (this is a worldwide flavor term now, no?). A slightly dry flavor that doesn't get tiresome.
I don't know how you would interpret some of those numbers - 1.4 acidity? what? But the type of flavor and mouthfeel is good to know. If you like this style, honjouzou, then maybe that is what you want to go for in the future, maybe trying different brands.>
posted by softsantear at 8:32 AM on October 6, 2008
Oops, I screwed up the HTML tags by trying to make an arrow up there. Next to the flavor: crisp and dry part, it should read: this would be a good thing to know about what kind you like.
Also, here is the manufacturer's page for this booze.
posted by softsantear at 8:35 AM on October 6, 2008
Also, here is the manufacturer's page for this booze.
posted by softsantear at 8:35 AM on October 6, 2008
Response by poster: Hey, thanks! I noticed there's a fair bit of discussion of various brewing methods and the difference in resulting sake in the sake wikipedia article; is there any way to determine what Hisago Taiko uses for this one?
posted by sirion at 5:45 PM on October 6, 2008
posted by sirion at 5:45 PM on October 6, 2008
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That's about all I can get with my basic Japanese skills.
posted by splice at 8:21 AM on October 6, 2008