Sake, Sake, Sake!!!

Fermentation with air lock
My label

SAKE.......Even the word itself makes me think of century’s old master samurai brewing rice wine with a thousand year old Zen master brewing technique. A slow and pain staking process that is more about patience and mental fortitude than it is to culinary genius, a process that was most likely started by peasant farmers putting old fermenting rice to good use. I must say that sake is easy and hard at the same time. It is easy to read the recipe, but impressively hard to get proper ingredients. Anyone can put rice in a jar with sugar yeast and sherry culture, but can you make true Sake. I found that to make it right you need to do your homework, but you also have to crack the tight lipped Japanese Sake brewing community to get the good stuff. Koji Kin spores. 50%-70% milled Yamada Nishiki rice, Sake yeast and the purest water you can fine. I almost gave up a few times, but my inner samurai kept telling me don't give up. Yes, tight lipped is what I am going to be about how I got to my first successful bottle of Sake. I named it Heart and Soul; as well as shūji that in an ancient Japanese script on the bottle. Sweet, semi clear and flavorful Sake is what is was able to make. I am not saying that mine is as good as the time held sake brewing tradition in Japan, but my smile is as big as theirs after drinking it. The Japanese proverb says, "It's not the time spent getting from the start to the finish, but it is the appreciation of the time in between". I now have a greater appreciation for the Junmui daiginjo Sake which is only .5% of all the sake produced in Japan. If you want to take it to the next level there is Ginga Shizuku "Divine Droplets" sake that are drip pressed in an igloo outside in only cretin times of the year. Too bad it doesn't snow in San Diego or you would have a picture of me and my igloo drip pressing my next patch. Until then we don't sell it to the public or I'd be the next generation moonshine. We give it away as a compliment with our Japanese influenced dishes. Don't expect it when you come. The last patch is gone and it takes 3 to 4 months to make. But if you’re among the lucky ones when the brewing is complete, you'll be able to sample my SAKE, Nectar of the gods.