Sake Deep Dive

By Sake Deep DiveEducation

Sake Deep Dive episodes

July 31, 2023 Nada: go-go sake!
This month’s topic is big, literally. In the first of a special three-part series, we explore Nada; the biggest, boldest, and most storied sake region of them all. Does Nada’s sake still have relevance within today's craft-orientated industry? Is it all just soulless, machine-made plonk for the masses? Join us to hear our thoughts on this enigmatic behemoth of the sake industry.

Vocabulary from this episode

Nada Go-Go: Indicating the so-called 5 villages of Nada. From
east to west, they are Nishi, Mikage, Uozaki, Nishinomiya and Imazu.
Kudari-zake: Sake that was ‘’sent down’’ from the Kamigata
region (modern-day Kyoto and the surrounding vicinity) during the Edo period.

Recommended Sake

Andy – Hakushika Kuromatsu
Jim – Kenbishi Kuromatsu

53 min
June 30, 2023 Amakara - The (Not) Sweetest Thing
This time we see what value sweetness in sake has... The same meter value!
Andy and Jim try to pin down what "karakuchi" means, how sake had changed over time, and what we should really look for when buying a bottle.
Kanpai!
Vocab
Amakuchi - typically any "sweet" thing.
Karakuchi - traditionally, the foil for sweet things, which has made the word very context dependent. It could mean spicy, bitter, salty, or just heavily flavored. In sake, it means 'not sweet," which is pretty vague.
Recommendations:
Andy - Tamagawa Time Machine Muroka Nama Genshu
Jim - Kanenaka Kimoto Junmai Chokarakuchi
57 min
May 31, 2023 Shuki - Our Choko Runneth Over
Andy and Jim get a little bit more personal as they take a look at a topic close to both their hearts: sake vessels! From tokkuri to hirahai, they talk bottles and cups, with a couple of bones to the wine-glass crowd, too. Raise whatever is closest to hand for a rousing kampai to shuki!

Vocabulary from this episode
Tokkuri - a common style of bottle-style sake pourer
Katakuchi - a widely varied style of pitcher/bowl style sake pourer.
Guinomi - a relatively large sake cup
Ochoko - a relatively small sake cup
Heihei - a rather unusual style of “flat” sake pourer
Masu - A square wooden or plastic, sometimes lacquered sake vessel.
Kiriko - Japanese cut glass, often used for sake cups and pourers.

Recommended Sake
Andy - Juhachizakari Takaji Junmai Omachi Muroka Hiire Genshu
Jim - Gokyo Junmai Kiokezukuri Kimoto
Our theme music is from
Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions
Under a Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg

1 hr 7 min
April 30, 2023 Pasteurization - Holding out for a Hiire
With the spring flood of namazake, Andy and Jim take their usual contrarian position and go for the hiire stuff. Why do brewers heat-treat their sake? How do they do it? And why is Andy so resistant to the idea of sticking his hand in a vat of hot sake? Find out in the latest Sake Deep Dive!

Vocabulary from this episode:
Binkan Kyurei - A specific term for pasteurization and rapid cooling of sake in the bottle. Literally “bottle heat rapid cool”
Hiire - Heating sake to kill bacteria and halt enzymatic action
Hiochi - The term for unpasteurized sake that has gone bad from bacterial action. Literally “Fire failure.”
Hiochikin - A blanket term for a group of alcohol resistant lactobacilli that can thrive in sake and turn it bad if not killed through heating.
Jakan - The “snake tube” used in a traditional heating method for sake.
Nizake - A kind of heated sake introduced to Japan from China during the Muromachi period (1336-1573), inspiring early pasteurization techniques.

Recommended Sake
Andy - Aramasa Cosmos
Jim - Dewazakura Ginjoshu

Our theme music is from
Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions
Under a Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg

1 hr 2 min
March 31, 2023 Yamadanishiki - The Big League
Andy and Jim climb the mountains and explore the rice fields to get to the root of the “king” of sake rice, Yamadanishiki. We look at where it came from, why it got so big, and maybe express a wee bit of skepticism about those magical Hyogo rice fields.
Vocabulary from this episode:
Koji Haze - The distribution of koji over the surface of the rice grains.
Kumamoto Kobo - The origin of Association Yeast #9, often called the “Ginjo yeast.”
Nengo - The naming of eras in Japan based on the currently reigning emperor. Now, for example, we are in the Reiwa era, preceded by Heisei, and Showa before that.
Nishiki - Silk brocade. A word often used to denote something elegant and luxurious.
Shinpakuritsu - The rate of starchy “white heart” appearance in a batch of rice, expressed as a percentage.
Shuzokotekimai - The more official term for what we call sakamai, or rice well-suited to sake brewing.
Tankanwataribune - One of Yamadanishiki’s direct parents. “Tankan” means short stalk.
Yamadaho - Another of Yamadanishiki’s direct parents.
Toku A chiku - One of a few areas across two cities in northern Hyogo prefecture with reputations for growing high-grade Yamadanishiki rice. They are: Kato City - Yashiro, Tojo; Miki city - Yokawa
Recommended Sake:
Andy - Kikumasamune Gokujo Tokubetsu Honjozo Chotokusen
Jim - Tatsuriki Junmai Dragon Episode 3
Our theme music is from Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions
Used under a Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg

57 min
February 28, 2023 Yamaguchi - From the Mountain’s Mouth
It was inevitable. This month, Jim and Andy wander the green mountains of Jim’s adopted home of Yamaguchi Prefecture. They touch on local history, the reemergence of Yamaguchi sake, and—of course—Dassai. They might also mention Jim’s new book, Discovering Yamaguchi Sake. On sale now wherever books are sold!For more info, check the publisher’s page at: Discovering Yamaguchi Sake
Vocabulary from this episode
Fugu - blowfish or pufferfish. A specialty of Yamaguchi.
Soridaiji - the official title of Japan’s prime minister, the leader of the national government. Yamaguchi is home to more than any other prefecture in Japan.
Recommended Sake
Andy - Gokyo Josen Futsushu
Our theme music is from
Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions
Under a Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg
1 hr 21 min
December 31, 2022 Yamahai - Blurred Lines
In this New Year's episode of Sake Deep Dive, Andy and Jim get back to the start—yeast starter, that is. We round out the group by taking on yamahai this time, building on what we’ve already covered in the kimoto and sokujo episodes with how it came to be, and what it is becoming now.
Vocabulary from this episode
Kai-ire - while generally a term for mixing or stirring the mash, here we mean a step in orthodox yamahai where a single brewery worker mixes and crushes the moto mixture after kumikake
Kumikake - circulating the enzyme-rich moto liquid using a perforated metal cylinder in the middle of the mash, and ladling the liquid it lets in back over the rice outside
Recommended Sake
Andy - Kikuhime Yamahai Junmai
Jim - Yuki no Bosha Hiden Yamahai Junmai Ginjo
Our theme music is from
Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions
Under a Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg
1 hr 10 min
November 30, 2022 Koji - Whatta Fungi
Show Notes
In the latest Sake Deep Dive, Andy and Jim take on Japan’s national mold, Aspergillus oryzae–the lowly koji-kin. This is less a historical exploration and more a real look at the nitty gritty on this itty bitty ruler of the sake world.
CORRECTION: During the episode, Jim mistakenly called Shirokoji Aspergillus luchuensis. That is incorrect. It is Aspergillis kawachii. Aspergillus luchuensis is another name for Aspergillus awamori.
Vocabulary from this episode
Kikoji - Yellow koji, Aspergillus oryzae. The standard sake strain of koji kin.
Koji kin - the actual way to refer to the mold spores that are added to rice to make rice koji.
Kurokoji - Black koji, Aspergillus awamori/Aspergillus luchuensis. The standard strain of koji kin for making the Okinawan rice spirit of awamori.
Shirokoji - White koji. Aspergillus kawachii. The standard strain of koji kin for making Japan’s spirit of shochu. Oddly, a mutated form of Aspergillus awamori.
Toko - Literally “floor/bed.” The table where major hand-made koji production happens.
Hako - Literally “box.” A box where moderately sized batches of hand-made koji are propagated for temperature control.
Futa - Literally “lid.” Smaller boxes for precise, granular temperature control in hand-made koji production.
Recommended Sake
Andy - 無窮天穏 Mukkyu Tenon
Jim - Gokyo Five Yellow
Our theme music is from Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions
Under a Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg
1 hr 12 min
October 31, 2022 Kodaishu - Days of Yore
Kodaishu - Days of Yore
Show Notes
Andy and Jim explore the very oldest kinds of sake in search of the real roots. From drunken serpents to monkly brews, we look at the earliest records of sake to see how it developed in the olden days.
Vocabulary from this episode
Sumizake - An ancient kind of filtered sake. No one knows for sure how they filtered it.
Dakushu / Doburoku / Nigorizake - all the same kanji, all meaning “cloudy/muddied sake.”
Heian Period - 794-1185
Goshu - An ancient sake brewed in the Heian. Kojibuai 28.6%, water absorption 77% (Modern koji 22%, mizubuai 135% )
Goishu - Another ancient Heian sake. 1 dan jikomi brewed from late August into september. 28.6% kojibuai and mizubuai of 51.4% (very very low). SMV -80-100. The low water content prevented spoilage.
Kamakura - 1185-1333 Rise of private breweries, people drank too much, banned.
Muromachi 1336-1573
Azuchi-Momoyama 1568-1603
Edo Period 1603-1867
Tamonin Nikki (Tamon temple chronicles) from 1478 to 1618
Recommended Sake
Andy - Sawa no Tsuru Kimoto Honjozo
Jim - Daruma Masamune 10 year koshu

Our theme music is from Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions
Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions
Under a Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg
56 min
September 30, 2022 Terroir 2 - The Bonsai Theory
Show Notes:
In a departure from the typical fact-based fare, this time Andy and Jim trawl the murky depths of terroir. What is it, really? No, really? And, is it really going to “save sake?” Predictably, we don’t think so… Enjoy the second part of our first ever two-parter!
Recommended Sake in this Episode:
Andrew:
Tsuki no I Nanotsuki Kimoto Junmai 80%
Jim
Kai no Kaiun Tokubetsu Junmai Nama Genshu （Limited edition-sorry. The shiboritate and regular junmai are great, too!）

Our theme music is from Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions
Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions
Under a Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg
43 min