SEPT 24: Rihaku Origin of Purity-- In the Stumbling Shadow of Li Bai

IN THE STUMBLING SHADOW OF LI BAI

RIHAKU JUNMAI GINJO OMACHI NAMA GENSHU “ORIGIN OF PURITY”

Yuichiro Tanaka inherited an immortal legacy when his father passed away.

In his mid-20’s, this devastating surprise thrust Tanaka-san to a place of authority far earlier than he or his brewing team was ready for. His father, Seijiro Tanaka, inherited the brewery in 1987 and was expected to continue its management for at least another few decades. Seijiro’s philosophy was stalwart, unchanging: continue the soft and mellow house style, and very traditional aesthetic, is paramount.

Rihaku is, after all, one of Shimane’s most beloved local brands. So much so, that in 1928 prime minister Wakatsuki Reijiro expressed his appreciation for the brewery by bestowing it with a new name, Rihaku. Rihaku – better known by his name Li Bai in Chinese– was a famous poet in the 8th century who often wrote about his love of wine. At the time, this wine was huangjiu: a grain-based, typically sweet drink (shaoxing is a popular modern example) that is the earliest predecessor to sake. Li Bai attributed his creativity and free-flowing thought to solitary drinking sessions with huangjiu wine.

John C. H. Wu observed that "while some may have drunk more wine than Li [Bai], no-one has written more poems about wine." Classical Chinese poets were often associated with drinking wine, and Li Bai was part of the group of Chinese scholars in Chang'an his fellow poet Du Fu called the "Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup." The Chinese generally did not find the moderate use of alcohol to be immoral or unhealthy. James J. Y Liu comments that zui in poetry "does not mean quite the same thing as 'drunk', 'intoxicated', or 'inebriated', but rather means being mentally carried away from one's normal preoccupations ..." Liu translates zui as "rapt with wine". The "Eight Immortals", however, drank to an unusual degree, though they still were viewed as pleasant eccentrics. Burton Watson concluded that "[n]early all Chinese poets celebrate the joys of wine, but none so tirelessly and with such a note of genuine conviction as Li [Bai]". (wikipedia.org)

As described by sake brewer Andrew Russell of OriginSake.com, “although Rihaku produce a wide range of different styles, in general, their sake can be described as being soft and mellow with gentle umami…perhaps this is the result of its historic ties with its neighbouring prefecture [Okayama], whose Bitchu Toji guild provided them with their first two master brewers in the form of a father and son succession. As Haruo Matsuzaki recently pointed out in an article of Sake Today, Bitchu Toji typically produce sake with a soft texture to the flavour, whereas the local [Shimane] Izumo Toji...often have more dense or robust flavours.” Thus while Rihaku sake is not set in stone, it does have a widely recognized style and flavor profile: soft, mellow, and gentle. This is the legacy inherited by Yuichiro Tanaka, 5th generation president of Rihaku.

 Yuichiro graduated from Tokyo University of Agriculture, Department of Fermentation Science (Nodai) in 2003, when his father was still running the brewery. Yuichiro did his post-graduate studies at the Nodai Alcohol Science Laboratory from 2004-2005, during which time he worked on a project isolating yeast from flowers (next week’s Wednesday Lessons: Hanakobo will discuss this in more detail). The team involved in this research went on to form the Hanakobo Research Society which distributes flower yeast to its members and shares results and data. As a researcher, Yuichiro specifically worked on the isolation of a yeast from the wild climbing (vine) rose, so it has a special place in his heart. Yuichiro officially joined the Rihaku team in late 2005, was promoted to managing director in 2008, and unexpectedly assumed the role of president in 2010 when his father passed away.

“At the time, Rihaku Shuzo was made up of about half seasonal Izumo Toji and half year-round employees. Having studied alcohol science at Tokyo University of Agriculture, my aim was to redesign the company to not rely on the experience and intuition of [traditionally trained] toji.” There was a rift between the two teams: the Izumo guild members wrote off Yuichiro’s university training, while the year-round employees were happy to do the work as it was assigned. “The seasonally employed chief brewers told me, “studying at a desk is different from working in the field,” and refused to support Yuichiro’s university-inspired experiments. Rihaku’s “Origin of Purity” Junmai Ginjo Omachi Nama Genshu, a bold, flavorful, decidedly not soft, mellow or gentle sake, was his first personal project, and remains the sake to which he is most attached.
“[Origin of Purity] was the first sake I produced since returning to Rihaku, including the rice used, yeast used, and label design.  I found it difficult to realize my brewing vision [because of the opposition of the Izumo toji team]. So I chose a combination of rice and yeast that the Izumo chief brewers didn't like, packed in everything I wanted to do at the time, and made this sake without their help, using only the year-round employees. There were a lot of things that happened, and the sake that was made after that wasn't satisfactory... But this was the starting point for me to gradually convey my vision to the team and I think it is the foundation of my current sake brewing.”

Talking with Monica Samuels of Kome Collective (Vine Connections), Rihaku’s American importer since 2000 and buyer of ~20% of Rihaku’s production, or 50% of their total exports, Origins of Purity was a symbolic counterpoint to Yuichiro’s parents’ generation and a personal statement of his own origins and inspiration. The choice of rice, Omachi, which is native to neighboring Okayama, is a highly expressive, wild-tasting, herbaceous rice variety that is very difficult to work with. The yeast, isolated from creeping rose, is a nod to his university research with a similarly unfettered, unpredictable flavor profile and brewing behavior. Crafting it as a genshu, and eventually a nama genshu, is also relevant: its flavor is different every year, robust, astringent when first bottled, and evolves dramatically over the first 6 months from bottling. Its evolution is so significant that Monica and Yuichiro have decided to hold back the sake until Fall, once the flavors blossom and bitterness softens. Finally, Monica revealed that the choice of a bright pink label is not by accident. Yuichiro’s father would have rejected a pink label for being too feminine, an unfortunate reflection of his generation’s strict commitment to gender roles and cliches. Perhaps in consideration of these points of difference, the label doesn’t use Reijiro’s calligraphy but instead a woodblock print of the Rihaku brand. It is Rihaku, but not the Rihaku, and Origin of Purity is primarily allocated to export: only a small amount is sold in the tasting room and to brewery members.

When Yuichiro considered what to name the sake (Rihaku were early adopters of the use of English names for sake), Monica worked with him to come up with “Origin of Purity”: a reference to the innocent, even naive, place young Yuichiro came from when he returned to Rihaku in 2005 as a fresh graduate. This sake is an unapologetic representation of his own story, an artist’s statement in an otherwise stalwart, stylistically consistent brand. If you want to know Rihaku taste Rihaku, if you want to know Yuichiro taste Origin of Purity. And if you are in Japan, also seek out Caro: a pink-colored sake made with black rice, and the only other sake that falls outside of the standard Rihaku lineup.


It would be selling Yuichiro short to suggest that this is the only mark he’s made on the brewery. His father’s mission statement, to act as missionaries for sake throughout the world and to spread sake culture, is still a core part of his vision and the conversion to a fully year-round, toji-less brewery has also been realized. "While inheriting traditions, we want to proceed with data collection and pass it on to future generations so that sake brewing can be carried out by employees alone without relying on the master brewers.” Using this data-informed method the brewing staff of 7 produces 1600 koku (a unit equal to 180 liters), making them a small to medium-sized brewery, and which is significant growth from their size in the early 2000s. Rihaku exports about 40% of their production, uncommonly high, the long tail of the 4th generation’s early maneuvers in exporting to Hong Kong. Sustaining careful growth has required the ingenuity and gradual improvements from each generation: the 3 generation built a 3-story production facility in 1968, which allowed for efficient movement of rice/sake throughout the brewing process, starting from steamed rice on the 3rd story and ending with pressed sake on the 1st. A series of holes in each story are wide enough for transport tubes moving sake from each phase to the next. Improvements during 5th generation Yuichiro’s tenure introduced automatic koji machines to replace some of the manual koji making, allowing workers once occupied with 24-hour koji management to return home to their families at night. Partially air conditioned facilities, and the liberal use of ice, enable year-round brewing so that staff have reliable employment 12 months of the year. Winter is less of a sprint than in traditional seasonal breweries, so workers can keep normal hours regardless of season. A large refrigerated storage facility, which can hold ⅙ of the annual production, relieves the bottling crew from hectic bottling sprees when orders are received. Yuichiro’s greatest legacy to Rihaku is carrying on with these careful improvements in efficiency and management.

Stats

• Brewery: Rihaku Sake Brewery

• Established: 1882

• Brand: Rihaku

• Grade: Junmai Ginjo Muroka Genshu Namazake (Muroka: unfined, Genshu: undiluted, Namazake: unpasteurized)

• Rice: Omachi (Okayama)

• Polishing: 55%

• Prefecture: Shimane

• Yeast: Hanakobo (flower yeast) - Creeping rose

• Starter: ko-on tooka (heated/pasteurized starter mash, to kill off any residual microorganisms before lactic acid is added and it is inoculated with yeast).

• Available: seasonal only, very limited release
  
  

This 2024 release is quite a bit more mellow than past years-- where I'd ordinarily categorize it with the funkier sake of Terada Honke and Kidoizumi, this year it's a subtler sort of wild card, which we can partially attribute to its delayed release in August rather than the more typical May. Notes of honeysuckle, rose, cantaloupe, nougat, sweet carrot juice, fresh ginger, vanilla and loquat dance giddily on the palate, taking me somewhere deep into my sensory past. The palate is full and flavorful, with that natural sort of carrot-root bass notes balancing the gingery, floral high notes. The finish has a buzzy heat-- not alcohol, not astringency-- that I can only describe as the burn of fresh ginger beer.

Pairing and Storage
Every year I have a great time pairing Rihaku OOP with everyday snacks and meals in my fridge. Roquefort and gorgonzola rarely fail to enmesh beautifully– if you enjoy blue cheeses, this is a really fun one to play around with, and makes a great jumping off point for gorgonzola, pear and walnut salad or pizza/foccacia. Last year at Not Umami’s Cooking popup OOP was a fantastic match for a simple roasted green garlic-mayo-cream cheese dip served with vegetables and crackers, but would be just as nice in Fall with leek and garlic. The soft tartness of the cheese and pungency of alliums were lovely together, while the crisp, fresh vegetables played off the sake’s inherent sweetness ands bitterness. I love carrot, ginger, persimmon and loquat with OOP, as well as Hat Yai Thai fried chicken.

Store in the refrigerator and enjoy within the next 6 months, as this namazake is robust enough to age (and has been aged already for 4 months at the brewery, to let it blossom). Chilled is the intended way, but I wouldn’t put it past OOP to show nicely warm, too. 

Sources

1. https://otokonokakurega.com/meet/curiosity/77676/

2. https://rihaku.co.jp/aboutus/

3. https://www.jozo.or.jp/iikamo/%E6%9D%8E%E7%99%BD%E9%85%92%E9%80%A0%E6%9C%89%E9%99%90%E4%BC%9A%E7%A4%BE%E7%94%B0%E4%B8%AD%E8%A3%95%E4%B8%80%E9%83%8E/

4. https://otonano-shumatsu.com/articles/295249/3

5. https://www.originsake.com/post/2018/09/01/the-wandering-poet-of-shimane

6. https://www.tippsysake.com/blogs/post/behind-the-scenes-tippsy-s-quality-control