Sunflower Club Monthly Archives – Page 2 – Sunflower Sake

Jun 14, 2024

MAY 24: The Kamoizumi Story

May 2024, we used a one-page comic to highlight Kidoizumi Shuzo & the inaugural arrival of AFS, as well as a fresh batch of Hakugyokko, a Hyogo Yamadanishiki Junmai Ginjo. Kidoizumi's unique ko-on (hot) Yamahai method is the signature of their rich, full bodied, tart and ageable house style. The intensity of flavor, structure and umami make Kidoizumi a favorite at Tokyo pairing institutions such as Eureka and Maen, even serving as the basis for barrel-aged variations (Afruge series), back vintage releases and single-tank selections. Common wisdom suggests that Kidoizumi is for experienced sake drinkers only, but I've found that it makes a stunning red carpet entrance for any skeptic, newbie, gastronome...it's all but guaranteed to knock the taster off their chair, and make them rethink all that they thought they knew.
Sake does not have to be light, clean, water-like, dry, or otherwise mild mannered in any way. It can be 100% chair-throwing, maximum volume, Lisa Frank, metal!

Apr 29, 2024

JUNE 2023: All About Kirinzan

June 2023, we used a one-page comic to highlight a brand-new arrival to Oregon: the seasonal junmai ginjo nama, Potari Potari Blue, as well as its mellow, perfectly chill cousin: Kirinzan Classic Futsushu. Two very different sake, one badass brewery. Kirinzan's vision and philosophy, as well as its excellent sake, are well worth supporting. We're big fans of Kirinzan over here at Sunflower, and we hope you are, too!

Apr 29, 2024

JULY 23: The US Import Pathway: How Sake Gets from Japan to You

Sourcing sake is a complicated process. Alcohol is highly regulated, and the path from brewery to customer is complex: in all but one state, intermediary importers are required. I can't import even if I wanted to! Tariffs, fees, label review, countless hands to pass through. In July 2023, we used a comic to illustrate this process and its importance.

Apr 19, 2024

FEB 24: Cool climate rice: how Kamenoo saved the north

Japan’s record heatwaves are flipping the script on a century of rice breeding for cold tolerance. From the 1600s to as late as the 1950s, a majority of Tohoku and Hokkaido residents were in a state of extreme poverty, growing more desperate in years of bad weather and volcanic activity. The majority of Japan’s great famines occurred in Tohoku, which was only barely warm enough to ripen rice in a good year. So when a few lucky (and talented) farmers in Yamagata identified and bred the most cold-tolerant, and palatable, rice variety in history, it was only a few decades before Tohoku's circumstances turned around. With this club, we taste through the relatively recent history of Kamenoo and its progeny, and learn a bit about the difficult history of northern rice in Japan.

Apr 19, 2024

APRIL 24: Terada Honke's Gonin Musume, three ways

Terada Honke, maker of Gonin Musume, is an unusual brewery. Their sake is made with organic rice, entirely ambient microorganisms, and ancient methods. Their sake is very much alive, and ages rapidly (and dramatically). For the first time ever, Oregon has received two different Gonin Musume products and with my personal cellar stash of back vintages, we have a unique opportunity to explore a single sake from Terada Honke quite deeply… that is, to compare three versions of the same basic brew.