Akashi Tai Tokubetsu Honjozo Sake, 72 cl

Product Information

Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. While people outside Japan are just catching on to the great potential of sake and food matching, it’s a known fact in sake’s homeland that it can all but transform a meal. What’s more, it goes with a variety of dishes beyond what we might think of as its classic partner, sushi. As the Japanese saying goes, “sake and food never fight”. That flavour is dictated by each brewery's toji – the sake master. Unlike wine, where taste is as much about the soil as the choice of grapes and which kind of wood it's aged in, sake is purely about ingredients and technique, rather than terroir.

Though sake is a drink steeped in ancient Japanese tradition and history, it’s a category that’s not always easily understood outside of Japan. Fortunately, quality, craftsmanship and taste are universal – and Akashi-Tai places all of these at the forefront of its production to create elegant, balanced but characterful sakes. Keeping tradition alive Polishing is perhaps the key step in defining what kind of sake gets made. It involves stripping away each rice grain's outer husk to reduce down the amount of protein and fat available for fermentation and thus shorten the brewing process. The company incorporated in 1918, after which it made the most of a geographic location ideal for making fine sake. In brewing its select sakes, Akashi Sake Brewery uses only the choicest ingredients, often produced locally. year old Hakutsuru is one of the largest if not the largest sake brewery in Japan. It’s located in Nada area famous for its excellent water and produces a wide range of sake, umeshu and other drinks.This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services. For the brewery today, this means treating rice with respect. It means meticulous attention to detail and never cutting corners. It means sometimes going to extreme lengths, for instance making sake not only with the finest Hyogo-grown Yamada Nishiki rice, but also brewing with the Akashi aren’t traditional or artisan for its own sake, - as in sake, not sake - oh for goodness sake! I mean - never mind... As a rule, the more polished the rice, the more delicate the sake, with floral and fruit notes dominating. This tends to be the more refined, high-end stuff, whereas less polishing results in a deeper – some say rougher – style of sake, with bold umami flavours and a certain oiliness on the palette.

Even the hushed sounds of natural fermentation at work can be heard in the cool, quiet rooms of our brewery." The balance of refined elegance and complexity found in Akashi-Tai range of sakes make them great for drinking on their own, but they also work beautifully when paired with all types of food. As well as being the heartland of sake, Hyogo is also known throughout Japan and beyond for its food culture, making it a global hotspot for gastronomy. This epicurean trait has of course had an influence on the sake the region is known for, and Akashi-Tai is a prime example, having grown up alongside the vivid flavours of one of the world’s most evolved cuisines. Mr Yonezawa says that he is driven by “that moment when food and sake become one, and both are amplified, when the food reveals hidden depths in the sake, and the sake lingers and prolongs the pleasure of the meal”.

today’s innovations are tomorrow’s traditions

Heating enhances the impact of naturally occurring glutamic and saccinic acids, imbuing the sake with a pleasant mellowness. Warm sake aids in digestion and is mild on the body.

Mr Yonezawa explains the brewery’s philosophy this way: “My mission is to make sake that can reveal the character of Hyogo’s water, rice and yeasts, among the finest in Japan, and really let them shine.”However, when you start warming the sake up, it becomes much more enjoyable. The acidity melts down with the sweetness making the taste more mellow and gentle. The spiciness from alcohol becomes more prominent but without a strong alcohol aftertaste. The toji decides on the rice variety," says Cheong-Thong Marie Cheong-Thong, an effervescent sake obsessive who sits on the board for the British Sake Association and judges at the International Wine and Spirits Competition. "He decides on the yeast variety, he decides on how he makes his koji, he decides on the polish of the rice." Different types of sake However, when you start to warm it up, the sake opens up and the acidity becomes milder but doesn’t disappear completely. Actually, it was one of the main things I liked about Akashi-Tai Tokubetsu JUnami: its ability to hold acidity even at a high temperature. The warmer sake gets, the more sweetness comes out and the more mouthful it becomes. I liked it best at 50C as Miho san recommended. Really, it's the wrong name: the Japanese character for 'sake' just means 'alcohol', "but at some point it got bastardised," says Cheong-Tong. "It should really be called 'nihonshu': 'nihon' meaning Japan, 'shu' is the alcohol of Japan." The drinking of warm sake spread from the aristocracy to the common people during the middle part of the Tokugawa Period (1600-1867), when the drinking of sake itself became popular with the masses.

As relevant now as it was then, Akashi-tai continues to be a market-leader and relentless tailblazer of authentic, Japanese sake. If you fancy a taste of something new, or enjoy the odd sake and want a prime example, you’re in the right place. Kanpai! I tried it chilled first and the low temperature does not do justice to Kanpai Tsuki. The fun starts at room temperature as the sake opens up. So you can smell sweet apple and pear with honey notes and some herbs and a bit of chestnut. It’s a full-bodied sake, slightly fizzy with a creamy texture notable acidity and spiciness from the higher alcohol content. It has a bitter but pleasant finish.

AKASHI-TAI ARTISAN JAPANESE SAKE

Brewing superior sake by hand requires all five senses to perfect with the natural processes of fermentation and flavour development. Tamagawa Tokubetsu Junmai is a savoury full-bodied sake with a deep taste and silky texture. For me, it tasted sweeter chilled or at room temperature than hot. The sweetness seems to dissolve as you warm the sake up. As many junmai sake, Tamagawa is not particularly aromatic sporting some rice notes and a bit of earthiness.