Collection: Gineboshi, The Latest Brewer's Rice of Aomori

A Dream-Come-True Sake Rice

Although Aomori Prefecture is home to premium sake rice varieties like Hana Omoi, its cold tolerance has posed significant challenges in the northeastern region of Japan.

To address this, the Aomori Prefecture Industrial Technology Center began developing a new sake rice in 2003, with the goal of creating a variety that could withstand extreme cold.

After 15 years of breeding, hybridization, and selection, the project was finally completed in 2018. This marked a milestone for sake brewers, as they could now use rice grown in their own region—a rice that fulfilled a long-standing dream.

Characteristics

Compared to classic Aomori sake rice varieties such as Hana Fubuki and Hana Omoi, Gin-eboshi boasts exceptional cold tolerance and disease resistance. Its parent strains include the cold-hardy Dewanosato from Yamagata Prefecture and the resilient Kome Kuro 2065.

These traits are passed down to Gin-eboshi, which also features a well-defined shinpaku (starchy core) and resists cracking during polishing. This makes it versatile for brewing a wide range of sake, from junmai to highly polished junmai ginjo and even daiginjo.

Gin-eboshi is distinguished by its clean and sharp umami, making it a standout sake rice variety.