Wednesday Lessons #16: Rice, Farming, and Future

WEDNESDAY LESSONS #16: RICE, FARMING, AND FUTURE

7/26/23

SAKE 1

MUTSU OTOKOYAMA Junmai "Chokara" Bottle (720ml): $37 ($42) Aomori, Japan Organically grown local Hanafubuki Polishing: 65% Yeast: Mahoroba kaguwa kobo SMV: +8 Kanizawa Fukuryusui hard water, trucked in

Mutsu Otokoyama is a multi- award winning jizake--locals' sake--which has been made (with changes) for over 100 years and is intended to be drunk with local seafood.

THEME: Mending Hachinohe's growing alienation with nature, and in order to address rural population decline and rising average age of farmers, Hachinohe Shuzo founded the Ganja Natural Sake Club: a community project whose members gather 4 times a year to plant, weed, harvest, and brew organic sake. A portion of membership dues goes toward environmental restoration, and members take home a few bottles of the sake they raised from seed. Now >150 members strong, Ganja Sake Club is just one example of the ways sake breweries are involving their community in the agricultural process.

SAKE 2

IZUMIBASHI Junmai Ginjo "Megumi Blue" Bottle (720ml): $42 ($47) Kanagawa, Japan Organic Yamadanishiki Polishing: 50% koji, 58% kakemai Yeast: #9 SMV: +7 Medium-hard Kanagawa river water

The flagship sake for Izumibashi Shuzo, who grow 95% of their own rice organically in a Tokyo suburb.

THEME: Fighting two fronts simultaneously, Izumibashi Brewery- located in a suburb within commuting distance to Tokyo- farms its own sake rice organically, while also leading the charge in preserving local family farms. These small farms have been held by families for generations, but this close to Tokyo, are under constant threat of redevelopment. Izumibashi leases and manages these farms, growing organic rice for his sake brewery and providing his employees with year-round work. It is a challenging and tenuous economic argument, but one worth fighting for.

SAKE 3

SHIRAFUJI Junmai Nama Genshu Bottle (750ml): $35 ($40) Woodinville, WA Arkansas-grown Yamadanishiki Polishing: 60% Yeast: #9 Medium-soft water

A local sake made with Yamadanishiki from Isbell Farms in Arkansas. Shirafuji has a 300 year history in Fukushima and reestablished in WA state following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, which took place in their hometown.

THEME: As interest expands globally. sake production and rice supply must follow. For American sake breweries, American rice is the most cost- and environmentally-effective choice. In collaboration with craft breweries such as Shirafuji Sake, American farmers are learning how to grow sake rice: vastly different methods, and quality criteria, from table rice. Use of precision agriculture, water availability, habitat restoration, and economies of scale are important questions for the future of American sake.

SAKE 4

KAMOIZUMI "Kome Kome Shu" Bottle (500ml): $25 ($30) Hiroshima, Japan Blend of locally grown rice Polishing: shiro nuka sourced from 60-70% Yeast: KA-1 SMV: -60 Medium-hard spring water

A sake-like rice drink made from leftover rice powder instead of grains, with a final ABV of 7%.

THEME: One of the most significant environmental impacts of sake brewing is the rice polishing process, which slowly whittles away the protein-rich outer layers of rice until only a starchy, inner core remains. Removing 30-40% of the exterior is typical, even 60% is not uncommon!

Aside from the energy demands of a multi-day milling process, brewers are left with a low-value byproduct: rice flour. In addition, heat waves in late Summer- a new reality with climate change- cause air pockets to form in the rice, making it difficult to mill and brew. One solution to both of these problems is inventing new ways to brew high quality sake with rice powder and low quality rice. Kome kome shu is one example, made by a handful of breweries in Japan.

SAKE 5

TERADA HONKE Junmai MNG "Katori 90" Bottle (720ml): $37 ($42) Chiba, Japan Organically grown Saitama & Chiba Koshihikari & Yukigeshoo rice Kimoto starter Yeast: ambient Hard water ABV 21%

A triumph of powerful ambient yeast, bacteria, and fungi working in harmony under the natural climatic conditions of Chiba. Only 10% of grain is milled away, and table rice is used for the kakemai (mash rice).

THEME: Terada Honke utilizes a flexible approach to sake making which embraces natural variations in rice and climate. Chiba is a relatively warm peninsular climate with high humidity, minimal farmland, mountain- hilly terrain, and close proximity to urban Tokyo. Most breweries in Chiba use air conditioning, cooling jackets, added yeast and rice grown elsewhere to produce a consistent style for the Tokyo populace. In contrast, Terada Honke embraces these variables, brewing a powerful sake where microbiological survival of the fittest is key. They are able to price it affordably by using table rice polished to 90%.

SUNFLOWER

SAKE

Sunflower Sake is a retail shop, tasting room, and educational center in Portland, Oregon, focusing on craft sake from around the world. Sunflower ships year-round and offers affordable, biweekly Wednesday sake classes. Thank you so much for joining us tonight!

107 SE Washington St. #121, Portland, OR 97214 web: www.sunflowersake.com IG: @sunflowersake email: nina@sunflowersake.com

Printed on the sheet as #16; sequenced here by date.