Welcome to Issue#140 of SIN.
The good news is the people of Japan are talking about something other than the rice shortage! The bad news is that they’re just complaining about the heat. But to be fair, it’s worth complaining about.
As the weather heats up we tend to see and hear more about natsuzake/summer sake - and for good reason.
Nihonshu kind of has the winter months wrapped up with kanzake. There’s not a beverage on earth that can hold a candle to the power of warm sake in the cold weather. However the summer months prove a little more competitive.
Cold beer, gin and tonic, fruity chu-hi, crisp white wine, even a mai-itai by the pool offer strong competition for sake when the mercury rises. But fear not, summer sake is better than ever. Low-alcohol, zippy fresh offerings are out there for the taking, as are higher alcohol, fuller bodied variations that work nicely on the rocks. And let’s not forget the huge leaps in quality of zesty sparkling sake.
It’s all there. Don’t get tempted by the other “also-rans” vying for your attention. Hot or not, sake still has plenty to offer when the weather turns sweltering (although who doesn’t love a cold beer?)
And now for the news…
Takenami Is Back
Aomori- Back in issue #115 SIN reported on the return of Takenami Shuzōten, Aomori Prefecture’s oldest brewery. Business troubles saw the brewery declare bankruptcy in 2020, however outside investors brought the brewery back to life and back to its original location.
Now Takenami Shuzōten is finally back in the wild with the first releases of Shichirobee Junmai Namagenshu and Junmai Nigori hitting the market this month.
Next month the brewery will hold its first kurabiraki (open brewery festival). Seventeenth generation kuramoto and toji, Yoshiaki Takenami expressed a sense of achievement saying, “We have finally made it this far and now we hope more people will be able to enjoy our sake.”
Source - Toonippo
JG: I feel as if we are seeing the start of a new trend, wherein people do not want to see sake breweries that have long been integral to the local community just disappear. It also signals the start of an era wherein families that have long run such breweries are willing to sell off something that has been part of the family for many generations, rather than just let it disappear.
That part is surely the easy part. Turning the newly revived ventures into profitable and sustainable enterprises will be their next challenge(s). Let us support them every chance we get.
竹浪酒造店（七郎兵衛）
One Brewery’s Trash Is Another Brewery’s Treasure
Gunma- As Japan continues to struggle with rice shortages, Tsuchida Shuzō’s unconventional approach to brewing is offering one way around the issue.
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