There are sake breweries throughout the country, but Akita Prefecture in Tohoku is a place that has gained tremendous trust from sake fans.
Akita is the center of rice. Because sake is made from rice, sake made in Akita, where rice is delicious, is also very popular among sake fans and has gained tremendous support.
Sake rice made with Akita Sake Komachi and delicious brewed water that springs from the land where nature remains is truly authentic.
Here are 10 recommended sakes that are perfect for souvenirs among the sake made in Akita Prefecture, also known as the Sake Kingdom.
Akita sake history
Akita's sake brewing has made great progress in the Edo period. Because of the discovery of silver in Keicho 11 (1606), mining engineers, carpenters and merchants gathered from all over the country.
Because there is little entertainment in the mountains and sake is in high demand as an indispensable necessity, the number of breweries that start making sake has increased.
At Satake Coffee, the predecessor of Akita Prefecture, there is a record that there were 746 liquor stores at its peak.
In other words, fierce competition in sake brewing has been held since the Edo period, and the results of cutting and slicing can be said to lead to the taste and evaluation of Akita's sake today.
In the middle of the Meiji era, the sake brewing industry was modernized, so Akita sake was shipped not only locally but also throughout Tohoku and Hokkaido.
As a result, Akita's sake has spread nationwide, and at the 2th National Sake Sake Fair held in 1913, eight types of sake produced in Akita Prefecture won the first prize. There is also a history of being in the limelight.
From there, the sake brewers worked hard, and at the National Sake Review Conference held in 3, 1991 breweries were awarded 25 gold awards.
It is particularly noteworthy that a new yeast for brewing sake called Akita-ryu / flower yeast has been developed and has been distributed to breweries throughout Japan as the “brewing sake No. 15 yeast” since the XNUMX Sake Brewery.
Characteristics of Akita sake
The characteristics of Akita's sake are appreciated among the smooth and fine and the sake fans.
Since the weather in the snowy country can be used well, you can take time and prepare at low temperatures.
The preparation using Akita's unique climate is called Akita-style low-temperature long-term fermentation and has become widely known.
Speaking of sake, don't forget the rice that is the raw material. Originally Akita, the center of rice, is a top-class rice production area called “Akitakomachi” that is proud of the whole country.
There are also a number of brewing suitable rice.
Akita Sake Komachi
Akitakomachi is famous, but no matter how delicious it is, edible rice has small grains and is not suitable for making sake that is made from rice.
Therefore, Akita Prefecture has created the original rice for sake brewing. That was Akita Sake Komachi, and until then it was called “Akita Sake 77”.
It is known for having a high starch quality compared to Yamada Nishiki, which is said to be the king of sake rice, because it contains less protein, which is said to give miscellaneous taste to sake.
Gin no Sei
In the past, Akita Sake brewing used the sake-brewed rice “Miyama Nishiki”, which was born in Nagano. We decided to make a suitable rice.
The sake-brewed rice born there is “Gin no Sei”. Akita Sake Komachi has a characteristic that may be said to be the exact opposite. It has a small percentage of white heart and a large amount of protein that is likely to produce miscellaneous taste.
However, ginjo sake and Daiginjo sake with a rice polishing ratio exceeding 50% will remove protein at the time of rice polishing, and it will be a sake rice that can cover the weak points.
Gin no Sei is also known as a sake rice that is popular in brewing because it is hard to crack and easy to process.
Misato Nishiki
Misato Nishiki is one of the best rice brewers in Akita. This sake rice is made by crossing Miyama Nishiki, born in Nagano and actively cultivated in Akita, with Yamada Nishiki, the king of sake rice.
It is a large grain of rice that is ideal for sake brewing, has a solid heart and is transparent to the surface, so it is very easy to use in the place of brewing and has a feature that makes it easy to extract sweetness. It is.
With the birth of Misato Nishiki, it became possible to produce deep and heavy sake while having a fruity aroma like sake made from Yamada Nishiki.
Autumn spirit
Like Misato Nishiki, “Akisei” was born by mating Miyama Nishiki and is one of the sake rice that represents Akita.
Sake rice is especially popular with local sake breweries, and is very useful when producing dry sake.
Five bottles of Akita sake
New government
“Shinsei” is the nationally famous sake that is designed like champagne and wine as “fashionable sake that makes you want to give a present”.
Shinsei Sake Brewery is brewing sake with a thorough commitment to using only rice grown in Akita as a raw material.
Not only delicious, but also looks ingenious, one bottle that overturns the image of traditional Japanese sake.
Shinsei has three different concepts: “No. 6” to keep the old traditions, “Colors” that has been fired, and “PRIVATE LAB” that is overcoming the common sense of Japanese sake brewing and taking on new challenges. I have a brand.
A sake brewery that has a long history of being founded in 5, has been making sake that matches the times, and has built its own sales channels that are not easily available at local restaurants.
“Shinsei” that Akita citizens can't easily get in hand can be said to be a very delightful gift.
| Brand | Shinsei Shuzo Co., Ltd. |
| website | http://www.aramasa.jp/ |
| Sale | Click here for Amazon Shinsei |
Snow stable
Akita's snow is a soft and cold snow that falls deep and feels warmth somewhere.
The sake that expresses such a clear sight as it is is the Snow Stable.
While there are many ideas to make something better than conventional products by adding something that is lacking in both cuisine and sake, it is manufactured by sticking to removing the extra things thoroughly and drawing out the original taste of sake. Sake is this product.
Normally, sake is produced by “carbon filtration”, but in the case of a snow stable, no filtration work is performed as “extra” that erases the original taste of sake.
Yuki no Stable Junmai Daiginjo is one of the most sought after claims that this is the original sake.
You can get a seemingly contradictory experience that you can feel the thickness of the drink even though it is refreshing and light.
Sakai Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. was a relatively young sake brewery in the Meiji 35 (1902) and Akita breweries, but succeeded in spreading the brand of Snow Stable at a stretch by sticking to in-house cultured yeast and rice polishing. .
| Brand | Sakai Brewery Co., Ltd. |
| website | http://www.yukinobousha.jp/index.html |
| Sale | Click here for Amazon Snow Stables |
Hiraizumi
Hiraizumi is a sake produced by a very historic sake brewery founded in the middle of the Muromachi period.
For over 26 years, the founder has continued to brew sake, making it the third oldest brewery in Japan.
The biggest feature of Hiraizumi is to make the mother of the liquor in the mountains. It is a stock removal that is realized by not carrying out the work of mashing, which is usually a wholesale, after adding steamed rice, rice bran and water.
By doing abandonment in the mountains, it is possible to fully capture the power of microorganisms such as lactic acid bacteria floating in the air.
Sake made with an environment in which yeast grows well can be said to be a sake that is produced without going against the natural providence.
Yamawase takes more time and has more time than sake, which is produced using wholesalers.
Hira Izumi, made without hesitation, can be said to be one with the soul of Mr. Tsuji.
| Brand | Hirazumi head office |
| website | https://www.hiraizumi.co.jp/ |
| Sale | Click here for Amazon Narazumi |
Fukukomachi Daiginjo Akita Sake Komachi
Fukukomachi is a sake where you can fully enjoy the unique ginjo incense.
The elegant fragrance can only be enjoyed in Fukukomachi.
As for the taste, it is a dry type that does not betray the image of Ginjo sake.
Among its fruity and clear flavors, the most distinctive feature is the unique taste that cannot be seen in other areas of Ginjo sake with a contradictory swell.
“Akita Sake Komachi” produced for Ginjo Sake and Daiginjo Sake is used as a raw material, and the sake born from the complete local production for local consumption using Komachi Yeast is Fukukomachi.
Japan, which won the Chang-on Salmon at the top of 2012 brands at the 689 International Wine Challenge, can be proud of.
| Brand | Kimura Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. |
| website | http://www.fukukomachi.com/ |
| Sale | Click here for Amazon Fukukomachi |
Ryoseki mountain abandonment
Because it is made in the harsh environment of the snowy country, there are plenty of sake that is delicious when you drink.
Among them, the Junmai sake recommended by Tsuji is “Ryosekiyama Abandoned Special Junmai”. This book won the grand prix in the 2006 US National Brewery Competition Junmai.
If you are abandoned in a mountain, you will definitely have a deep taste, but for both of these features, it is surprisingly refreshing and fresh.
When you get it in the state of lukewarm, the flavor of the rice will be even more enhanced, and it can be recommended as a genuine pure rice sake.
Ryozeki Sake Brewery is a long-established store established in 1874 (Meiji 7), and is famous for using “Rikisui”, which has been selected as one of the top XNUMX famous waters in Japan.
The National Sake Fair has won an excellence award and can be said to be one of the breweries loved by Japanese sake fans nationwide.
| Brand | Ryozeki Brewery Co., Ltd. |
| website | http://www.ryozeki.co.jp/ |
| Sale | Click here for Amazon Ryokan Sake Brewery |
How to get Akita sake
In the past, local sake brands such as Akita's sake were only enjoyable for those who know.
However, since the Internet has become popular in recent years and various information can be obtained, and many Japanese sake and local sake have been sold on the Internet, it has been distributed nationwide.
Since everyone can easily obtain it, there is a phenomenon that restaurants that have been associated with for a long time can no longer be obtained as easily as before.
However, Akita's sake introduced here can be obtained relatively easily by using a major Internet shopping site or a mail order site specializing in sake.
The most popular and difficult-to-obtain liquor that is difficult to obtain is Shinsei Sake Brewery. If you don't introduce it, it will be Hanamura's Junmai Daiginjo, which is famous among rare Japanese sake fans.
Hanatsubaki is a sake produced by Ryoseki Sake Brewery that I introduced, and pure rice sake is rarely used and is considered difficult to drink.
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If you are a Japanese sake fan, you will find an anecdote that Takagi Sake Brewery President Takagi, who is in the same Tohoku region and produces “XNUMXth generation”, which is regarded as an illusionary spirit, was born. It can be said that it is a rare sake that you want to say once.
If you would like to know the restaurants that are handled locally, you can research what they are doing by looking at the “Sake Kingdom Akita” website operated by the Akita Sake Brewery Cooperative.
In addition to local Akita, restaurants in Tokyo and other prefectures are also introduced.
Enjoy the sake that is not ashamed of the name of rice
How was it.
You may have understood why Akita's sake is appreciated nationwide.
Akita Prefecture has many breweries that have been in business for more than 100 years, and is working on new sake brewing in line with the changing times while preserving good old traditions.
Not only edible rice, but also excellent production of sake brewed rice, please enjoy the sake made by a unique manufacturing method that makes good use of the snowy climate.
