tokyo food file

sake: the insider's guide

In my post yesterday, I mentioned the Book of Sake, written by Tamagawa's toji (brewmaster), Philip Harper.

I also rate his first book on the subject — the Insider's Guide. It came out in 1998 but still contains plenty of good and accurate information in a highly portable package. Pick up a copy if you see one.

Here's a short review I wrote (soon after it was just published) for the now-long-gone (and still lamented) on-line magazine, Tokyo Q...

        

The Insider's Guide to Sake

       By Philip Harper
       Kodansha; ISBN: 4770020767
       1998, 248 pages; 1,500 yen

 

We are living, or so we are informed, in a veritable golden age - at least as far as nihonshu is concerned. Never before have there been so many innovative sake makers turning out such a prodigious range of premium-grade, individually crafted, distinctive local brews. Better still, never before have they been so readily available throughout Japan and, increasingly, abroad. And now - at last - we have an authoritative guide to help us in our exploration of this heady brew. For once the title is accurate: Philip Harper has gleaned his inside information from his seven years' experience working in a traditional sake kura, becoming in the process the only non-native sake brewer in the country. Displaying an obvious knowledge and love of Japan's traditional tipple that is nicely leavened with a dry sense of British humor, he makes an excellent guide to a subject that can appear overwhelmingly daunting for the uninitiated. His explanations about the brewing process and the various forms of sake (ginjo, yamahai, jukuseishu, etc) are technical yet intelligible. He provides thumbnail sketches of 109 different brews from around the country – ranging from the rarified Tenraku (a daiginjo masterpiece retailing for 10,000 yen) all the way down to the humble Ozeki One Cup (mediocrity personified, but included here in recognition of its mighty impact on the non-snob end of the industry). There's a brief history of how sake developed, and what makes it so truly remarkable (no other fermented beverage can attain such a high alcohol level). He lists sake producers, retail outlets and (best of all) select izakaya in Tokyo and other regions. And he features an A-Z of sake terminology (from "alcohol content" to "zymotic") and deals adroitly with the letters Q and X respectively with a Quiz, and courtesy of a 17th-century Japanese-Portuguese dictionary that wrote shinshu as xinxu! But for many people the best feature of this guide will be its size. It's the perfect shape for stuffing in an inside pocket and taking with you as you trawl the shelves of your local sakayasan, or sip your way through the bottles at a favorite izakaya. Reviewed by Robbie Swinnerton

Tamagawa Nakakumi — a rare and remarkable brew

Very rare and remarkable, in fact... 

Tamagawa Nakakumi, from the Kinoshita brewery in northern Kyoto Prefecture.

 

Tamagawa is no ordinary brewery. That's not so much due to its history (founded in 1842; now in its 5th generation) or its location – close to the Japan Sea coast, not so far from Amanohashidate and the Tango Peninsula – as its toji (head brewer). 

Philip Harper is the first and only non-Japanese to attain the rank of master brewer. He's also the author of the excellent Book of Sake. And he produces some remarkably intense brews.

For those who like technical specs, this is a junmai ginjo muroka nama-genshu. It's unfiltered, undiluted, unpasteurized sake made from rice grains polished more than usual (in this case to 60% of their original size) and without the addition of any extra brewing alcohol. 

It gets even better. This is a limited-edition nakakumi – meaning that the sake was separated out from the moromi mash by a process that involves hanging it in small canvas bags and letting the sake drip out naturally. Using the force of gravity rather than a press results in a sake that is intensely dynamic but gentle, full-bodied but beautifully smooth.

Because it was only produced a couple of months ago, it has an amazing liveliness that tingles your taste buds with a huge, yeasty, umami-rich flavour and almost viscous presence in your mouth. And even though the alcohol level is a very powerful 17-18%, it's so well balanced you barely notice.

 

Now change all the above to the past tense...

By the time we'd polished off our dinner on Sunday evening – sashimi of hatsu-gatsuo and shima-aji, plus a few other tasty side dishes – there was very little left in the bottle. Only a few final drops, just enough for a photo...

 

The fact that the label is printed on washi paper is another indication that this is no ordinary sake. And as you can see at the bottom of the label, this is bottle number 43 of a very limited edition of just 48. Very special.

More info (in English) on the Tamagawa site here

And (last but not least), a big shout out and thanks to Paul for this bottle. It was hugely appreciated.