The Trans-Pacific, multipolar, international Cyber Sake Tasting was organized by three sake enthusiast bloggers; Tim of Urbansake.com, Melinda of Tokyo through the drinking glass, and Valerie of The Sake Diaries. Thanks to Melinda, I joined this wonderful tasting from Tokyo on October 21st with Te-chan and three friends. The Cyber Tasting rules were quite simple:
1.
Buy five bottles of junmai sake–four sake picked as a group, with the 5th being my individual choice
2.
Taste
3.
Fill out the tasting sheet put together by Tim,
4.
Finally, post the results on our web sites.
The five of us got together on a rather warm evening, with our guests thinking we were getting together for a dinner. Good thing it was Saturday and no one had to drive, because we finished about one bottle per person by the end of the tasting. We tried the selected sake several different ways at different temperatures and picked our “favorite” at each stage.
The five selected sake were:
From left to right, the number on the bottles in this picture were from blind tasting.
1.
Shirakawago Sasanigori “Bamboo Leaf” Junmai Ginjo Nigori from Gifu
(ALC 15.3%, SMV ±0, Acidity 1.5, Seimaibuai 60%, Gohyakumangoku)
2.
Rihaku Junmai Ginjo “Wandering Poet” from Shimane
(ALC 15.2%, SMV +3, Acidity 1.6, Seimaibuai 55%, Yamadanishiki)
3.
TAMANOHIKARI Junmai Daiginjyo from Kyoto
(ALC 16.2%, SMV +3.5, Acidity 1.7, Seimaibuai 48%, Omachi)
4.
Urakasumi Zen “Misty Bay” Junmai Ginjo from Miyagi
(ALC 15.5%, SMV +1.0, Acidity 1.3, Seimaibuai 50%, Toshinishiki)
5.
Yuki-no-Bosha “Limited Release” Junmai Ginjo from Akita-my pick
(ALC 16.0-16.9%, SMV +1.0, Acidity 1.9, Seimaibuai 50%, Gin No Sei=local sake rice from Akita)
Phase 1: Blind Tasting
How?
First, we tried a blind tasting of all five bottles fresh out of the wine cooler, so, right around 8-10 ℃. Te-chan was commissioned to hide any identifiable marks on the bottles so that no one was biased. Then I put random numbers on each bottle from 1-5 so that we would still know which one was which. At this point, though, the Shirakawago Sasanigori was obvious, so even though this “Bamboo Leaf” was still part of this blind tasting, but we did not wrap it up. Placing five glasses in front of us, we compared color, fragrance, the taste without food.
Results
Highest Score from Overall Rating
3 gave the highest scores to Urakasumi, 1 to Yuki-no-Bosha, 1 to Rihaku.
Color
We all agreed Yuki-no-bosha had yellowish golden color, but two people said TAMANOHIKARI was the clearest, two said Urakasumi was the clearest. I cannot produce the absolute answer.
Fragrance
All subtle, but again, we agreed Yuki-no-Bosha had a hint of anise and the most fragrance. The others were more subtle in aroma.
Taste and aftertaste
Here are some of the comments from the participants.
- Shirakawago – too different from other 4 but lighter aftertaste, bite to it with a bit sour aftertaste, for lack of a better term what we call a nyah-nyah aftertaste
-
Rihaku –mild anise flavor, less aftertaste, taste higher alcohol content than others, characterless with hardly no aftertaste, taste goes away
- TAMANOHIKARI – sweeter than Rihaku with slightly bitter aftertaste, clear with slight aftertaste, faint and hardly no aftertaste
- Urakasumi – subtle with slight aftertaste, clean with nice aftertaste
-
Yuki-no-Bosha – strong/almost “violent” according to one taster, but with a light aftertaste, sweet and strong aftertaste
Although we are all novices at describing sake, (two members of the party have been successful food and drink professionals), I hope you can grasp how the first phase went.
Phase 2: Tasting with Food
After diligently “tasting” without eating, the starved participants moved on to tasting with food. As we continued, sake left on the table was a bit warmer than during Phase 1 and definitely the difference in temperature brought out different dimensions to all five sake. Also, pairing sake with food brought out totally different tastes.
Food
1.
Appetizer plate- assorted sweet pickles, radish pickled in kasu, Roasted Salmon and Spanish Mackerel marinated in kasu, tuna-scallop-yellow tail-snapper sashimi plate
2.
Shima Dofu (freshly made tofu with Okinawa water)
3.
Houba Miso (sweetened miso cookec in Houba leaf, specialty from Gifu)
4.
Seafood & Vegetable Nabe/Hot Pot
5.
Zosui
Appetizer Plate
Houba Miso
Nabe before the action
Results
You can check individual tasting sheets here.
:: Sheet 1: Guest – Sheet 2: Te-chan – Sheet 3: Guest – Sheet 4: Et-chan
Highlights and Comments
- Shirakawago–Very salty Houba Miso from Gifu brought out the best of Shirakawago. With miso, Shirakawago was very nice and sweet. I really believe in pairing sake with right food, and this was that perfect match where one brings out the best of the other. May be the fact that they are both from Gifu have to with it?
- Rihaku–Nice subtle flavor, repressed when cold, this bloomed at room temperature. Also, pairing with food brought out really nice extra dimentions to Rihaku. Sets better as you eat and as you drink
- TAMANOHIKARI–Room temperature brought out nice fuller flavor of TAMANOHIKARI.
- Urakasumi–Really adoptable or good all round sake to pair with any food.
- Yuki-no-Bosha–Reminded one tatster of shochu because it had such impact.
Phase 3: Kan
As we grazed and sipped, as is our tasting habit, Te-chan got up to make kan with TAMANOHIKARI and Urakasumi. We were well into the nabe as we steamed up the room to enjoy these two nicely warmed but not too hot sake.
Everyone agreed kan made both mild, smooth, fuller. Urakasumi seemed to have more comment to be a perfect kan match with seafood and vegetable nabe
As always, tasting notes become almost illegible after a while, but I hope the essence from the tasting is here. Even with a small group like us had very different pick, I am very curious to find out how other groups did. To read on about Cyber Tasting at other locations, please be sure to visit Urbansake, Tokyo through the drinking glass, and The Saké Diaries.
My God, Estuko, you guys are like scientists! You covered the sakes from all angles, and you managed to drink twice as much as we did. Well done! I really enjoyed reading this and seeing how your approach was different from mine. I thought your pairing for the Shirakawago was especially interesting. I hadn’t thought to put it with something full-flavored like that.
I hope you and your group enjoyed this experiment, and I hope that we can all do it again sometime soon!
Melinda
Posted by melinda | October 29, 2006, 11:47 amWe are bunch of geeks here or two of us at least. Everyone had very “quiet” Sunday the following day as you can imagine. It was definitely interesting to see how your tasting went, and I imagine Tim and Valerie had totally different approach, too. As you said, though, groups in Japan had the most votes for Urakasumi. We will see the US side.
It was really fun and thanks again for asking us to be part of this this exciting experiment. I am definitely in for the next one!
Posted by Et-chan | October 29, 2006, 12:27 pmEtsuko,
I’m glad that you had a successful tasting! Your food photos are gorgeous. Very interesting that you paid particular attention to how the sake went with your food – I think that was a good idea. Also, interesting that your group voted for Urakasumi – that is what I chose and also my friend Japanese friedn Mayu.
Valerie
ps, happy to see enthusiasm for a future tasting!
Posted by valerie | October 29, 2006, 12:56 pmHi Valerie,
Looks like out of 4 sake, Urakasumi is going to have the most votes. Comments from your group were really good and it is really interesting how everyone view/tastes the same sake differently. I think that was the biggest thing I was reminded of through this tasting: everyone taste the same thing very differently. Obvious, but nice to be reminded this way.
Posted by Et-chan | October 29, 2006, 1:51 pmNow, with Tims’s posting, I am not sure where Urakasumi stands… I think all sake were good.
Posted by Et-chan | October 29, 2006, 6:17 pmHi! Wow, this is really interesting. I can’t believe the Tomano Hikari was not a stand out first place winner as it was at the NYC tasting. What I seem to be learning is that Food and the order in which you taste the sakes has a huge impact. in NYC both Urakasumi and Rihaku tied for second place! Can’t wait for our next tasting.
Posted by Timothy | October 29, 2006, 11:55 pmNow, this is very interesting. It seems that in both US groups, the Zen came in at 2nd place, or thereabouts. I wonder why…
I think that my group was really charmed by the fruitiness and also its ability to stand up to lots of different foods. We had it with sushi, yakitori, prosciutto, nuts, and potato chips, and it rocked out with all of it!
I love your geekiness, and I’m still looking forward to going to a benkyoukai with you. You’re sure you won’t be able to go to the one on the 18th? I’ve mentioned it to a couple of people, but I’m still deciding myself.
Posted by melinda | October 30, 2006, 10:06 amThe whole tasting experiment was a great success, I think. It was quite interesting how sensitive sake can be–the order in which it is served seems to make a very big difference. It might be fun to try and get a few of these and put them aside for a later comparison tasting. In particular, I tried both the Rihaku and Yuki-no-Bosha at a tasting on the 26th and felt that maybe I had missed something the first time around–Rihaku especially.
Anyway, it was all good fun and a nice way to get us all together online. Et-chan can’t make the benkyoukai on the 18th, but I’ll be there. I’ll be the guy who has his mouth wide open in the group photo. (Thanks for that pic, Et-chan!)
Posted by Te-chan | October 30, 2006, 9:40 pmTamanohikari was at the event on 10/30 and he is happy to hear everyone loved his sake.
Melinda, hope you can make it on the 18th. If you get there, look for the guy with his mouth open in the picture!
I thought both Zen and Tamanohikari are good, clean, fruity, and very versatile sake.
Posted by Et-chan | October 31, 2006, 8:38 amTe-chan, I feel the same way about trying things more than once. There’ve been several times that I haven’t really liked something the first time, but later really loved it.
Et-chan, how fun that you got to meet Tamanohikari and tell him that his sake did well in our virtual tasting!
Posted by valerie | November 2, 2006, 11:34 amHey guys,
I think I can go to the benkyoukai on the 18th, but I’m a little worried about my Japanese. Do I need to make a reservation?
Also, we should talk about having a little do at Buri or something. I really like that idea, Etsuko.
I’m so worn out from my trip, though, that this weekend I think I need a break from tasting, but maybe not straight-up drinking!
Take care and talk soon.
Posted by melinda | November 9, 2006, 9:42 amH Melinda,
Getting together for a drink after worksometime soon would be fine. Buri is always a good idea, too.
Etsuko has been offline all week back visiting home. She’ll be back soon.
A reservation for the benkyoukai is a must. I’ll try to find the phone number and let you know.
Posted by Te-chan | November 11, 2006, 9:10 amMelinda, I am back online. Benkyokai ＠Mitsuya needs reservation:０３)３３３４-７４４７. It starts 3:00pm on 11/18 and goes on till 7:00pm or so followed by nijikai. Mitsuya info can be found here. http://tokyofoodcast.com/index.php/et-chan/103/
Takase-sensei and the whole gang at the benkyokai is really nice. I am sure you will enjoy it. Good luck and let me know it goes!
Posted by Et-chan | November 12, 2006, 10:27 amHey guys, thanks. I’m just waiting on a friend to see if she can go, too. Then I’ll try to make a res, although I just noticed that there’s only room for 30 people. Yikes – if I can’t squeeze in this time, then perhaps next month…Sounds like a bit of deja vu, huh?
One more thing: I just heard that Buri in Akasaka has half-price Saturdays! For liquir, only, but that’s what we’re going for, right? I’ll email you more about this later.
Melinda
Posted by melinda | November 12, 2006, 2:47 pm