Collection: Seasonal

Much like beer, sake follows a seasonal cycle: where fresh hop beers signify harvest season, Hiyaoroshi/Akiagari (Fall sake) are traditionally released in September and show lightly aged flavors of nuts and dried fruit, often served warm and paired with classic Autumn dishes. Each season brings new flavors, food pairings, and activities!

The annual Japanese sake calendar looks something like this (note: our imported sake calendar will generally be 1-2 months behind!):

 🏁 Japanese Brewing Year official start July 1 🏁

• Summer: Natsuzake, enjoyed chilled/over ice and lower alcohol, for beaches, festivals, etc.
• Late Summer/early Fall: Hiyaoroshi and Akiagari (fall sake) are released
• Mid-Fall: Brewing season starts and in some regions you might start to see some doburoku; Hiyaoroshi and Akiagari, including Autumn color change watching, are in full-swing and kanzake (warm sake) helps ease the transition of cold weather
• Early Winter: Live Nigori (ongoing fermentation, never exported), Shiboritate (straight from the press, unpasteurized), fully matured Hiyaoroshi & kanzake (warm sake), and the tradition of yukimizake: enjoying sake while viewing the snowy landscape, often from the comfort of a hot onsen tub
• New Years: Otoso, traditional herb-infused sake or mirin, your fanciest celebratory bottles of Daiginjo, Fu-In (mystery bag) sake, and more shiboritate, live nigori & super-fresh sake
• Late Winter/early Spring: first fresh, unpasteurized Spring namazake releases start around February. These usually differ from Winter Shiboritate stylistically- often with more fruity notes and a bit less fizz- and are more often exported.
• Spring: Hanamizake! Flower viewing sake and fully into Spring namazake season!
• Summer: back to Natsuzake for hot Summer days!