Sake Social Group Tasting Vol. I - General Discussion

Sake Social Group Tasting Vol. I

Joined: 7/19/2009

Posts: 131

Alright, since we are all in agreement, now we just need to select 2-3 brews within $125 that are:

-Not nigori or nama varieties
-Each from a different prefecture
-Ideally representative of the "soul" of that particular prefecture

I'm going to look through the catalogue by prefecture and will post back with a few I found of interest tonight. Beau, Christopher, if you could, also post your own suggestions for which brands you feel are representative of a few different prefectures as well. After we have all the nominated brands listed here, we could go over the selection and see which we agree on.

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10/29/2009 4:13 AM

Joined: 7/19/2009

Posts: 131

Alright, these are the brands I've selected for my choices. Looking forward to seeing what you guys chose as well.:)

Akita:

Taiheizan “Grand Mountain” Junmai ($24)

Hoyogo:

Kasumi Tsuru "Crane of Kasumi"yamahai ginjo ($45)

Ishikawa: Yuho "Happy Rice" Junmai ($25)

Kochi:

Tsukasabotan “Karakuchi” Junmai ($19)

Igosso "Bull Head" Tokubetsu junmai ($27)

kyoto:

Tsukinokatsura Heiankyo “Ancient Kyoto” junmai dai ginjo ($60)

Niigata:

Kiminoi "Emperor's Well" Junmai ginjo ($26)

Okoyama:

Chikurin Karoyaka "Bamboo Forest" Junmai gingo ($42)

Shimane:

Syunyo Sakura "Spring Blossom" Junmai ginjo ($30)

shizouka:

Wakatake Onigoroshi “Demon Slayer” junmai ($20)

Yamaguchi:

Gokyo "5 Bridges" Junmai ($28)

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10/29/2009 10:07 AM

Joined: 4/9/2009

Posts: 163

Well done laddy (said in my best Scottish accent!)

Are you open to other choices?

I could easily help you nail three brews that "represent" amongst your list BUT - there are one or two "mo better brews" that take the "soul of the prefecture" more to heart!

I will wait until I see C's list then I will perhaps add one or two more choices....

But again.............. very well done!

10/29/2009 3:39 PM

Joined: 10/14/2009

Posts: 93

Heres my list then..

I've tried to stick with the same grade, in order to narrow down the list of variables in order to focus on any prefecture differences. MOst on this list are either Tokubetsu Junmai or Junmai Ginjo.

Akita
Hiraizumi "Splashing Spring Water"

Hyogo
Kasumi Tsuru "Extra Dry"

Ishikawa
Sogen “Pride of Samurai” (been on my list for a while)

Kochi
Tsukasabotan Senchu “Great Plan” (been on my list for a while as well)

Kyoto
Tsukinokatsura Yanagi “Willow Tree”

Niigata
Yukikage "Snow Shadow"
or
Shirataki Jozen “Pure Flavor”

Okoyama
Kamikokoro “Heart of God”

Shimane
Toyo No Aki "Autumn Reaping"

Shizuoka
Wakatake Onigoroshi “Demon Slayer” (Jumai Ginjo)

Yamagata
Ohyama “Big Mountain”

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10/30/2009 4:27 AM

Joined: 7/19/2009

Posts: 131

Great! We should, of course, include one of the brands you've been wanting to try for a while, Christopher. Good thought on wanting to keep within the same grade for the most part. Also, I forgot to mention it before, but if there are any on my list that you've already tasted let me know and I can remove them to narrow it down a bit further.

Other than that, yes, I am of course open to other suggestions Beau. I am not dead set on getting them specifically from this list, no worries.:) I'd love to hear the two brands you were thinking of that better represent the soul of the prefecture.

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10/30/2009 11:26 PM

Joined: 7/19/2009

Posts: 131

By the way, comparing our lists just now, it seems we agree on one brand:

Shizuoka prefecture: Wakatake Onigoroshi “Demon Slayer” (Jumai Ginjo-$20)

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10/30/2009 11:27 PM

Joined: 7/19/2009

Posts: 131

Comparing our lists just now, it seems we do agree on one brand:

Shizuoka prefecture: Wakatake Onigoroshi “Demon Slayer” (Jumai Ginjo-$20)

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10/31/2009 10:14 AM

Joined: 10/14/2009

Posts: 93

I think you listed the Wakatake Onigoroshi Junmai ($20)

I listed the Wakatake Onigoroshi Junmai Ginjo ($25)

5 bucks isn't much difference to me though, I want to see Beau's recommendations/choices, I'm pretty excited about this tasting.

My Sake Log. http://www.evernote.com/pub/soloracer24/nihon-shu.sake.log

11/1/2009 6:51 PM

Joined: 7/19/2009

Posts: 131

After looking over your list again I noticed I've actually tried the Ohyama “Big Mountain” sake, so if we could, let's eliminate that one from the tasting selections (you can always buy this on your own separately from the tasting, of course!:). But as a compromise, we can go with your selection of the Wakatake Onigoroshi Junmai Ginjo over mine, and like I said we will also make one of the choices a brand you indicated you've been waiting to try for a while.

So taking those two eliminations into account, the updated list of possibilities:

Akita
Hiraizumi "Splashing Spring Water"
Taiheizan "Grand Mountain" Junmai ($24)

Hyogo
Kasumi Tsuru "Extra Dry"
Kasumi Tsuru "Crano of Kasumi" Yamahai Ginjo ($45)

Ishikawa
Sogen “Pride of Samurai” (been on my list for a while)
Yuhu "Happy Rice" Junmai ($25)

Kochi
Tsukasabotan Senchu “Great Plan” (been on my list for a while as well)
Tsukasabotan "Karakuchi" Junmai ($19)
Igosso "Bull Head" Tokubetsu Junmai ($27)

Kyoto
Tsukinokatsura Yanagi “Willow Tree” Tsukinokatsura Heianko "Ancient Kyoto" Dai Ginjo ($60)

Niigata
Yukikage "Snow Shadow"
or
Shirataki Jozen “Pure Flavor”
Kiminoi "Emperor's Well" Junmai Ginjo ($26)

Okoyama
Kamikokoro “Heart of God”
Chikurin Karoyaka "Bamboo Forest" Junmai Ginjo ($42)

Shimane
Toyo No Aki "Autumn Reaping"
Syunyo Sakura "Spring Blossom" Junmai Ginjo ($30)

Shizuoka
Wakatake Onigoroshi “Demon Slayer” (Jumai Ginjo)

Yamaguchi
Gokyo "5 Bridges" Junmai ($28)

Beau, we could use a bit of your guidance from here.:)

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11/2/2009 11:37 AM

Joined: 4/9/2009

Posts: 163

You guys rock!
I was lurking to see what you came up with...
There are a lot of ways to crack this nut...... the original concept was to do a "prefecture-inspired" tasting - to try and capture a "sense" or "style" found - in general - in differing prefectures...... This is easy and cool to do...... I was just in Yamagata at a brewers meetings attended by all 45 tojis and most owners of breweries in Yamagata - and one of the tasks they were charged with was to taste 5 samples sent from Ichi prefecture - to be graded and commented upon by the Yamagata guys - pretty cool if you ask me.... one prefecture saying to another - what do you think of our brews - well the 5 sakes all had a similar theme - they were soft, round, not a lot of body and not very deep in flavor..... smooth and neutral.....
I think that we can do that from your combined lists - as per doing all Junmai or all one category.... I dunno if that is specifically necessary.... If you guys agree on that then we can do that ....... but I would stay on point as per trying to capture the "sense" of the prefecture by the brew itself.. not so much the category.... again... your call!
I say do three brews - from three prefectures - in whatever category captures the "in general" best!
Thoughts?

11/2/2009 6:01 PM

Joined: 7/19/2009

Posts: 131

I think Christopher was right on when he made his choices indicating he tried to get mostly all of a similar grade categories. That said, I will be purchasing a Dai Ginjo on my own, but separate from the tasting for another. To stay within a similar quality range we should remove the DGs from the list, I agree.

So with that in mind, yes, let's stick with the original goal of tasting a variety of brews best representative of the "general" taste of that prefecture.

So then, Beau, could you suggest the best 3 choices from the list, if possible, including one from Christopher's"wanted to try this for a while" list? And like was mentioned earlier, if there's something you feel better represents one of the prefectures on this list, please list that selection as well.

Once we have all the choices on the table including yours we can finally start to make our choices.:)

Updated list after removing DG (18 total):

Akita
Hiraizumi "Splashing Spring Water"
Taiheizan "Grand Mountain" Junmai ($24)

Hyogo
Kasumi Tsuru "Extra Dry"
Kasumi Tsuru "Crano of Kasumi" Yamahai Ginjo ($45)

Ishikawa
Sogen “Pride of Samurai” (been on my list for a while)
Yuhu "Happy Rice" Junmai ($25)

Kochi
Tsukasabotan Senchu “Great Plan” (been on my list for a while as well)
Tsukasabotan "Karakuchi" Junmai ($19)
Igosso "Bull Head" Tokubetsu Junmai ($27)

Niigata
Yukikage "Snow Shadow"
Shirataki Jozen “Pure Flavor”
Kiminoi "Emperor's Well" Junmai Ginjo ($26)

Okoyama
Kamikokoro “Heart of God”
Chikurin Karoyaka "Bamboo Forest" Junmai Ginjo ($42)

Shimane
Toyo No Aki "Autumn Reaping"
Syunyo Sakura "Spring Blossom" Junmai Ginjo ($30)

Shizuoka
Wakatake Onigoroshi “Demon Slayer” (Jumai Ginjo)

Yamaguchi
Gokyo "5 Bridges" Junmai ($28)

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11/3/2009 1:13 PM

Joined: 10/14/2009

Posts: 93

I think Beau has a point. The goal is to taste "the soul of the prefecture", it has to be assumed that the "soul" of at least one prefecture resides in something other than a Junmai. By norrowing it down to a specific grade of sake we could possibly be eliminating an entire prefecture's movement, or worse, draw incorrect conclusions about a prefecture based on one grade of sake from one brewery in one prefecture.

I want to taste Ishikawa. I want to taste Kochi. I want to taste ".............". If it's a Junmai then so be it. If it's a Daiginjo, I'm down.

With that said, I think the better way to do this is to pick a few prefectures, and then ask Beau ( who admittedly has far more prefecture knowledge and sake tasting experience than probably us both combined) to pick a sake (regardless of grade) that reflects that prefecture the best.

My Sake Log. http://www.evernote.com/pub/soloracer24/nihon-shu.sake.log

11/3/2009 2:49 PM

Joined: 7/19/2009

Posts: 131

Perhaps you're right, this may have been over-complicated after all. If we're switching gears, I have no preference which prefectures are chosen, you and Beau may take it from here.:)

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11/3/2009 6:40 PM

Joined: 10/14/2009

Posts: 93

Well, Beau still has to share some of his choices but I think the desicions on prefectures and brands should be made collectivley. If you don't agree let's comprimise somehow, this is for all of us.

My Sake Log. http://www.evernote.com/pub/soloracer24/nihon-shu.sake.log

11/3/2009 11:23 PM

Joined: 4/9/2009

Posts: 163

Okay-

Here is what I recommend:

1) Ishikawa Prefecture:
Yuho Junmai

2) Niigata Prefecture:
Shirataki "Jozen" Junmai Ginjo

3) Kochi Prefecture:
Tsukasabotan "Senchu" Junmai "great plan"

Now I will describe why these "scream" the prefecture's war cry when you guys agree if these brews will do.....

Cool?

11/4/2009 12:57 AM

Joined: 7/19/2009

Posts: 131

I agree and am perfectly happy with them.:)

Christopher, does that selection look good to you?

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11/4/2009 10:59 AM

Joined: 10/14/2009

Posts: 93

Sounds fantastic to me! Thanks TARN and Beau, this should be good!

My Sake Log. http://www.evernote.com/pub/soloracer24/nihon-shu.sake.log

11/5/2009 1:39 AM

Joined: 7/19/2009

Posts: 131

Awesome! I'm heading to the order page as I type.:) Kamal from DrinkUpNY was kind enough to send me some "G" Junmai Ginjo Genshu, so I have cracked that open to tide me over until the sake package of the century arrives (I'm going over my spending limit, ho ho...)! Really bright, fruity nose intensified by the higher proof, a little sweeter than the metre value suggests, complex but difficult to pick out flavours. Finish is a bit abrupt, but overall I think it is "good", certainly something to cater to the tastes of people like me who are accustomed to fine spirits.

Please post back here when your package arrives and I will do the same!

Beau, do you think it would be better to explain the reasoning behind your choices now, or hold off as not to influence what Christopher and I conclude from the tasting?

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11/5/2009 3:37 PM

Joined: 4/9/2009

Posts: 163

Great question - should I speak to the brews first?
I guess my inclination is to not lead you on........ You guys try to pick up a theme ......
I will say this however - the exercise we are doing is like having a nation o 250 million people and picking one person to represent Texas - one person to represent NJ and one person to represent Florida........ we are generalizing! (but you guys already knew that).
I thought the total would be under $125 - how much over?

Lastly, I was thinking about doing a reward/gift centered around the Forums.... "Post of The Month" or "Review of the Month" gets a free bottle - thoughts?

11/6/2009 12:47 AM

Joined: 7/19/2009

Posts: 131