On my last article, I’ve introduced some types of sake that are highly accepted by women. If that article makes you eager to know more or even fall in love with sake, let’s see this article below. Here, I will introduce some different styles of sake that are neither sweet nor sour, but a more masculine and advanced style of sake (get ready to increase your knowledge of sake ! ) :
1. MASUMI Yawaraka Junmai Ginjo Sake Type 1
MASUMI Type 1 is the type of sake with an elegant grey sake label design which symbolizes the characteristics of low profile and elegance. Just as you open the bottle, you can smell the freshness of fruit blend fragrance, mainly the scent of yellow apricot combined with fresh pear.
When it enters your mouth, you can feel a sweet and smooth sensation, slowly but continuously, like a water flowing in your mouth. Followed by a warm and pleasant acidity that spreads slowly, leaving a slightly bitter and sour aftertaste in your mouth. The overall taste of this sake is considered as dry and refreshing, also with soft and gentle sake texture, giving a delicate and sweet mouth-feel at the end.
The alcohol content of this sake (12%) is lower than the other sake, so you can drink it pure, or can also pair it with delicate foods such as raw shrimp, sashimi, or other seafood with sweet and fresh flavor to balance with the taste of sake. Salad with vinaigrette dressing may also pair well with this sake, although it might increase the taste of bitterness in sake, the fresh and crispy textures of vegetables mix well with sake textures.
But the salad with strong dressing flavors, such as Caesar dressing or Honey-mustard dressing may cover up the sake texture, so it is not recommended to pair with these dressings.
Rice : 100% Miyama Nishiki (Nagano Pref)
Yeast：No 9, 18
Polish Rate : 55%
SMV : about -4
Acidity : 1.4
Amino Acid Rate :: 1.4
Alcohol Content : 12%
Corporation：Miyasaka Brewing Company, Ltd. (Suwa, Nagano Pref.)
Serving Temperature : best chilled (10℃) to room temperature
2. Kaze no Mori風の森 Junmai ALPHA TYPE 1
Kaze no Mori風の森 Junmai ALPHA TYPE 1 is sake with the scent of fresh green apple, lychee, and citrus fruit, clean and refreshing, with dense and thick textures of bubbles. In the aftertaste will appear a slight flavor of vanilla that brings up a new sensation of taste transformation.
Air bubbles inside sake bounced freely in your mouth in your first sips like a melody of sourness and slight bitterness that dance inside, adding a taste of maturity.
This light-bodied sake, with the fragrance of citrus fruit that becomes stronger at the end, accompanied by the slight bitterness of grass stem that appears. This clean and light aftertaste, giving a slightly sweet mouth-feel at the end.
This Alpha type of carbonate sake can be paired with Southeast Asian cuisine that is spicy and sour, such as Thai cuisine. Seafood salad with lime and chili also paired well with this carbonate sake, making both the sour flavor of the food more significant and increase the delighted feeling of bubble bouncing in your mouth. Alpha Type 1 sake also helps in balancing the flavor of green curry. By mixing the carbonated taste with the spicy curry in your mouth, the spiciness of curry can be lowered and leave a slight fragrance of spice in your mouth at the end.
Rice : 100% Akitsuho species of rice (Nara Perf.)
Yeast :No. 7
Water source : Mount Kongo, Katsuragi area (total water hardness 214 ppm)
Days of fermentation : 30 days
Polishing rate : 65%
Alcohol content : 14%
Corporation：Yucho Shuzo Co.,Ltd ( Gose, Nara Perf.)
Serving Temperature : chilled (below 15℃)
Besides Junmai Alpha Type 1, if you are big fans of sake with fresh and sour flavors, I really recommend you to also try this one : Kaze no Mori風の森 Junmai Ginjo Petit (Pic.3).
For you who can’t drink too much or unable to finish a bottle of 720 ml sake and don’t want to be troubled by storage problems, this one Kaze no Mori風の森 Junmai Ginjo Petit with the volume of only 375 ml is absolutely the best choice for you!
3. Gasanryu Saigetsu Junmai Ginjo Sake
A sweet and pleasing fragrance of melon with a slight citrus fragrance hidden within just flow into your nostrils. When you try to smell it harder, you can smell a creamy flavor of vanilla ice cream inside. Wow! Can you feel how lovely it is just by thinking about it?
This sake with its really smooth and sweet texture brings a slightly sour flavor that diffuses slowly on your tongue, balancing its own sweetness. In the middle of the taste, you can feel a sense of bitterness starting to appear, followed by a smooth and warm sensation that balance the overall taste in your mouth. With a long aftertaste that flows smoothly and slowly like a soft silk, adding the atmosphere of joy and tranquil.
Although this sake is a type of raw sake (Nama sake), the alcohol level of this sake is yet not really high. You can also pair it with Japanese –style pickled vegetables, the sour flavor of the cuisine mix really well with the smooth texture of sake. So as the chewy vinegar-pickled octopus may also mix well with this sake, adding a new sensation and mouth-feel to it.
Rice : 100% Dewa 33 (Yamagata Pref.)
Polishing ratio：60%
SMV：+0
Acidity：1.4
Amino Acid Rate：1.3
Alcohol Content：16.5%
Chief of brewery：Masanobu Shindou
Corporation：Shindo Sake Brewery Co.,Ltd (Yonezawa, Yamagata Pref.)
Serving Temperature：below room temperature
「There is no limit to Sake」. Of course, there are still lots of Sake that I really want to recommend to all of you! By using simple and easy explanation in these two articles, I hope that it will help you more in choosing Sake. And finally, hope that you can also fall in love with Sake like I do!