Ichinokura Himezen Ume (300ml)
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Fermentation was stopped early on this ichi-dan jikomi (single stage, short-fermented) sake, resulting in a lighter alcohol and a touch of sweetness: just enough to make added sugar unnecessary for this sweet-tart, light umeshu. Concentrated, rich local yellow ume plum juice was added after fermenting to give it the signature umeshu flavor. Drinks more like a refreshing plum soda than a typical syrupy-sweet umeshu: delicious on the rocks, with sparkling water as a soda, or even heated in winter.
Ichinokura、一ノ蔵
Location: Osaki, Miyagi prefecture
Grade: Junmai Umeshu
Rice: Toyonishiki (Miyagi)
Polish: 65%
Yeast: #901
ABV: 8%
SMV: -65
Acidity: 7.5
Four Miyagi breweries- Asami Shoten, Kachiki Shuzoten, Sakurai Shuzoten, and Matsumoto Shuzoten- merged into Ichinokura (lit. one brewery) in 1973. Matsuyama, a town at the center of the Sendai Plain- Japan's farm belt- was chosen as the ideal location for the recently founded brewery. 90% of the rice they work with is grown locally, and an onsite well draws super soft water from 100m underground.
From their website: "In order to acquire fine-quality rice, we first began by securing growing contracts with local farmers, and, starting in 2004, we established our own in-house Agriculture Department to promote sustainable agriculture that minimizes our environmental impact and helps support local farmers through the cultivation of fine-quality rice. We are currently working on cultivating our own rice and we aim to develop a cultivation method for fine-quality rice best suited for sake brewing."
Miyagi is a land of abundance known for its high quality agriculture and livestock, and being situated along the Sanriku coastline, teeming with high quality seafood as well! At the core of Ichinokura's ethos is pride in this land, and they set out to brew sake that will be an ideal complement.
