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The Month of May is here
Greetings to all readers on the fifth day of the fifth month. Albeit unrelated to sake, this day is the approximate midpoint of spring in the northern hemisphere, and of fall in the southern half of the globe. May 5 is known as Kodomo ni Hi (Children’s Day) in Japan, although traditionally it as known as Tango no Sekku, which refers to its position on the traditional Asian calendar. But back in more misogynous times, it was celebrated merely as “Boys’ Day.” In Mexico Cinco de Mayo is celebrated. Even Bob Dylan felt affinity for this day (“I married
Isis on the 5th day of May.”)
In the sake world, while no one special event happens on 5/5, most breweries are either recently finished with the brewing season, or wrapping things up until the fall, turning their attention to tastings and events.
Enjoy the newsletter,
John
Sake Today Issue #9 is Available!
Sake Today issue # 9 is out and will ship soon! This issue features an article on Kochi prefecture's sake and all that influences it by Matsuzaki-sensei, as well a travel feature on that region to go along with it.
Our feature on Tsuji Honten, brewers of Gozenshu in Okayama, tells the inspiring story of two siblings (including a female toji) that saved a family business. Our other featured brewery, Suisen, was destroyed in the tsunami of March 11th, 2011, along with most of the rest of Rikuzentakata. It has been rebuilt and is now a story of hope for the region.
Our regular technical column takes a closer look at the three ways in which sake can be pressed. It further details variations within those three steps and how they might affect the resulting flavor. Finally, we fill out the rest of this once-again stunning issue with an article on where to drink sake in Tokyo, food pairing suggestions, recipes, exceptional photography and attractive ads from our sponsors.
Subscriptions, single issues as well as packages (all back issues + subscription) are available from the website:
www.sake-today.com.
Please direct all inquiries about subcriptions to
info@sake-today.com .
Sake Confidential - Now available
Interested in sake? Pick up a copy of my book!
Sake Confidential is a beyond-the-basics guide to the sake world, and after a short introductory chapter on all things sake, it goes into depth on many topics not usually touched upon. It is a practical and concise yet complete guide to sake idiosyncrasies, misperceptions, and controversies presented in a conversational and informal tone. Easy to read and frank, it also includes sake recommendations tied into each of the topics presented.
Read a veritable cornucopia of reviews
here a New York Times brief mention
here, and order from your favorite bookseller
here as well.
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Sake Industry Snapshot
How many producers, how much sake?
As interest in sake grows around the world, naturally enough more and more people express curiosity about the sake industry at its source and origin: Japan.
There are many angles from which the industry can be viewed and analyzed. Certainly sales growth and production numbers are one such metric. And as important as they are, those numbers are in constant flux these days. Sales of premium sake grows but overall production still drops as the older generation that was the main market for inexpensive sake gradually passes on. Certainly the growth of premium sake is a more appealing number, and surely it is a better indicator of what to expect in the future.
Another metric, one that is more tied to the traditional infrastructure of sake brewing, is the number of brewers active in the industry. And even these numbers can be confusing and open to interpretation.
For example, one survey on sake exports mentioned that of 1613
companies surveyed, 1526 responded. However, there certainly are not 1613 active sake brewers. It makes more sense when we realize that some companies that just bottle product also need licenses. Furthermore, there are a good-sized handful of kura that are no longer brewing, but refuse to throw in the towel, and so are “taking a break” from sake-producing activities. And, there are some companies – I would estimate ten percent – that have more than one facility, each calling for a separate license. So bundle all those together and perhaps we will get to 1613 or so.
Another survey by the National Tax Administration determined that during the brewing season that ended in July of 2015, there were 1225 sake-brewing facilities, down 11 from the previous year. However: there are breweries in existence that do not actually brew themselves, for any one of a myriad of reasons. They instead outsource it from factories that are under-capacity, and bottle it and sell it as their own. Some do this with only part of their lineup, others do it for all the sake they sell.
Practices like this are good for small companies with a local market but that might not have the manpower or capital to actually produce it anymore. It can also be helpful to the outsourcing company as well. So while not everyone would enthusiastically support this sector, it fills a need.
When I arrived in Japan in 1988, there were 2055 kura selling sake. Now there are 1225. So we are down 830 sakagura in 28 years.
Based on estimates from traveling the country, working in the industry, and actually counting breweries all around the country (I have a lot of time on my hands…), all observations indicate that there are probably close to 1000 sake companies actually making sake. And that may be a high-end estimate.
So,
how many sake breweries are there in Japan? About
1600 with licenses, about 1200 selling product, and about 1000 actually brewing the stuff.
Amongst those thousand,
how much sake is being made? About 550 thousand kiloliters a year (of recent). Let that number sink in:
over half a million kiloliters. Of that, 13 percent is ginjo (including its four subclasses), and 12 percent is junmai-shu. Interestingly, just a scant 20 years ago, both ginjo and junmai were but four percent of production each.
How much rice did the industry use last year? About 250 thousand tons of genmai (unmilled rice), or 164 thousand tons of milled rice. Let that number sink in too. The average seimai-buai (milling rate) was 65 percent.
Of the 1225 kura out there, 41 are considered large, i.e. 1300kl or more. All 41 of these companies export sake. Of the small companies, the tiny craft brewers sector, 93 percent export sake. But still, 70 percent of all sake exports come from the big 41 kura. Indeed, the polarization of the sake industry is very interesting.
In spite of all this, only three percent of all sake brewed is exported. Only.
Three. Compare that with the twenty to thirty percent of French and Italian wines that are exported from those respective countires. Or, compare that with scotch whiskey, for which 90 percent of all production is exported. Wow. Either we have a lot of catching up to do (the sake glass is half empty!) or the sake future is so bright, we gotta wear shades when we drink it (the sake glass is half full!).
Either way you look at it, start by filling the sake glass up back to the brim, and enjoy it. If everyone does that, the sake future is indeed a bright one.
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Non-junmai Types: An Interesting Idea
From whence does the added alcohol come?
In recent years, the line between junmai-types vs. non-junnmai-types divide seems to be strengthening, in many senses. One such sense is sake style. Brewers that focus on junmai seem, at least to me, to be making the richer and fuller styles that junmai types can be, and those that make non-junmai, i.e. added-added alcohol types, seem to be making lighter, more aromatic and seamless sake styles that added alcohol affords.
While there is a lot of information out there on these two divisions of the sake market, here is a semi-brief synopsis. About 80 percent of all sake has pure distilled alcohol added to it just after fermentation. Water is later added to bring the alcohol back down, so it is not really fortified. When alcohol is not added the term junmai is put on the label.
So junmai-shu, junmai ginjo-shu and junmai daiginjo-shu are the three premium types of rice-only sake. Honjozo-shu, ginjo-shu and daiginjgo-shu are the three types of added alcohol
premium sake. For the 65 percent of the market that is non-premium sake, this addition of alcohol done for economic reasons. For the 15 percent of the market that is premium
and non-junmai (honjozo, ginjo-shu and daiginjgo-shu), this added alcohol is done for good technical reasons: it helps extract flavor and aromas, and predisposed the sake to time in the bottle.
In recent years, the junmai types have grown in popularity, but the non-junmai types have been a bit maligned, unfairly so in the opinion of many, myself included. Those that are anti-added-alcohol say they can taste it, it gives them a hangover, it is somehow cheating, and other unfounded arguments. While a rant is not the aim of this article, the topic is one about which many in Japan feel passionate.
However, interestingly, in blind tastings many ostensibly dedicated junmai fans will choose non-junmai sake over junmai sake. This I have seen again and again. But like I said, this is not intended to be a rant.
Beyond the untenable arguments above, though, there are a couple of valid positions. Namely, whether or not sake is made from rice, and whether or not the ingredients are domestically sourced. For example, brewers must list on the label the source of rice. They are permitted to use imported rice (very, very few do, and only for very, very cheap sake), but in the ingredients list it must say “domestic rice” or “imported rice.” The same stipulation is not, however, applied to added alcohol.
Almost without exception, the alcohol used when making non-junmai sake is
roughly distilled from sugar cane, imported into Japan, and then distilled again for purity. By the time it gets to the brewers it is pure ethyl alcohol, blended with water for safety reasons. So it is not made from rice, and it is not from Japan. To have a product like sake – the national drink of Japan – which is known as a rice-based product – be made with something other than rice, and other than Japan-based ingredients can be a sore point with some folks.
Again; not me. I enjoy sake completely unfettered from such concerns. Perhaps I am just a hedonistic simpleton. But I digress.
So yes, junmai types are growing in popularity in Japan, but so is an understanding of the very positive aspects of added alcohol sake.
And related to all of this: I recently saw in an industry publication a very interesting idea that has arisen of late.
In order to make premium sake, inspected rice must be used. Inspection ensures certain levels of quality in the rice, which will vary from rice to rice. And in any event, rice in general is just expensive in Japan.
But what if the alcohol used for making non-junmai were to be distilled from really, really cheap rice – broken stuff or rice that did not pass inspection. Again, since it is taken down to being pure ethyl alcohol, the quality of the original rice should not matter.
Surely this is more expensive than sugar-cane based alcohol. But the other side of the coin is that by using this, the entire product can be rice based, and one hundred percent domestic. Surely this will help the agricultural sector as well, since even schlock rice has a use.
What I am curious about is, if premium sake were to be made using added alcohol, but that alcohol was made from domestic rice, would the junmai jihadists concur on its validity as sake? Certainly the quality would be there, or at least, there is no technical reason it would not be so. If so, the idea holds potential for the sake world in bringing non-junmai types back to the fold, and the rice-growing industry would benefit as well.
Making non-junmai using alcohol distilled from domestic rice, even domestic schlock rice, would not be cheap. Surely it would be more expensive than using imported sugar-cane based alcohol. But just as surely there is a market for such products.
And, equally as surely, there is a sector of the market that does not care, only cares about price, enjoys cheap sake – and deserves to have it. So to insist all sake be made in that way would not be fair to all brewers or all consumers. But I see a compromise.
What if cheap sake were to continue to use imported ethyl alcohol and premium sake, i.e. honjozo, ginjo and daiginjo, were to be limited to added alcohol made from domestic rice? This could be indicated on the label, just like the source of the rice.
While I think this is a great idea, it is clear there would be humongous challenges. It would be hard to regulate or enforce. Brewers might be reticent to try this for a handful of reasons, from technical to image-related to economic. Many consumers might not be convinced, won over, or trusting. They may choose to stick with their junmai-only mentality – which of course is their prerogative.
Furthermore, sake brewers are – for the most part – an intelligent lot. Something tells me that someone somewhere along the line has thought of this. If it has not been realized, there must be a good reason. As an indication of this, there are a few brewers that distill their own junmai-shu and use that as the alcohol they add to their sake. So some experimentation has taken place, but nothing remotely resembling widespread adoption.
Finally, as almost all premium sake that is exported is of the junmai varieties, this is not a problem that will resonate with many. It is not exactly rocking the sake world. It is, however, an interesting potential solution that may present opportunities to a handful of challenges at once. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out over the next few years.
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 Announcements and Events
Sake Professional Course in Las Vegas
The next Sake Professional Course is scheduled for August 8 to 10, at the Aria Casino and Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada in August. For more information and/or to make a reservation, please send me an email to that purport.
More information about the course is available
here, with a downloadable pdf
here, and testimonials from past graduates can be perused
here as well. The three-day courses wrap up with Sake Education Council supported testing for the Certified Sake Professional (CSP) certification. If you are interested in making a reservation for a future course, or if you have any questions not answered via the link above, by all means please feel free to contact me.
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Sake Education Council Website
Please take a moment to check out the website for the Sake Education Council, the organization behind the Certified Sake Professional and Advanced Sake Professional certifications. We plan to grow steadily, strongly and continually, and we will need the support of all those that love sake to do so. Follow us through the "usual suspects" of social media.
Don't forget the archives!
Older editions of this newsletter are archived
here.
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Sake Education Central
Sake's Hidden Stories and The Sake Notebook are now available for the Kindle, Nook and iBooks!
The Sake Notebook is now available for the
Kindle as well as the
Nook. And now, it is available for iBooks on
iTunes as well!
Sake's Hidden Stories too is now availabe on the
Kindle as well as the
Nook. And now, it is available for iBooks on
iTunes as well!
Both are
less expensive than their original pdf version too. Now is your chance to learn more about sake from your phone or tablet! Check 'em out!
Sake Dictionary App for the iPhone, iPod and iPad
"For 99 cents, this app ROCKS!!"
-a satisfied customer
There you are, perusing a menu, or standing in front of a shelf of great sake, or perhaps reading a sake newsletter… and up pops one of those hairy, pesky sake terms in Japanese. You know you have heard it many times, but dammit, you just cannot remember what it means now…
No problem! Just whip out your iPhone or iPod and fire up your trusty old version of
The Sake Dictionary. In a matter of seconds, you’ll be amongst the cognoscenti once again. But… if only you could pronounce it properly. Now that would really rock!
Done! Just tap on the term and you will hear a clear example of how to pronounce the term in Japanese. Repeat it a couple of times and the term is yours for eternity, to toss about and impress your mates.
What’s more, it’s
less!
Less than what it cost before, much less. Like less than one-seventh less. For a limited time only, the audio-enhanced version of The Sake Dictionary iPhone app is available for a mere $0.99.
The Sake Dictionary is a concise little package of all the terms you might ever come across when dealing with sake. Almost 200 of them - including sake grades, rice variety names, seasonal sake terms, special varieties, rare types, post-brewing processing words and the myriad terms used in sake production - many of which are not even familiar to the average Japanese person on the street - are listed up here with concise, useful and clear definitions and the written Japanese version as well. And now, with the new audio component, you can listen and learn just how to pronounce those terms properly.
Start to toss around Japanese sake terms like you were raised knowing them! Gain a level of familiarity hitherto unimaginable! Avoid frustrating paralysis when faced with a sake-related purchase!
Get your copy of The Sake Dictionary now and never be confused by sake terms - or how to pronounce them - again.
Get it here: http://itunes.com/apps/sakedictionary
(Note if you have already purchased it, this upgrade to the audio version is free. Just go to iTunes and get it!)
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Sincere apologies for the hassle, mixed with gratitude for reading this newsletter. |
I hope you have found the above information helpful and entertaining. For more information about all things sake, please check out
www.sake-world.com. Until next month, warm regards, and enjoy your sake.
Questions and comments should be directed to John Gauntner, at this
email address.
All material Copyright, John Gauntner & Sake World Inc.
Regards,
John Gauntner
Sake World, Inc.
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