Comments on: Kubi 5 Ro

By: Tokyofoodcast | Sake of the week #052: Kaiun Daiginjo Hase Shokichi

Tokyofoodcast | Sake of the week #052: Kaiun Daiginjo Hase Shokichi — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 04:32:24 +0000

[...] been aged for over one year total, this developed a more honey-like and thicker taste. Looking over my notes on the same brew in an unpasteurized version, I see that the velvety feel that rolls on the palette was still there. [...]

By: et-chan

et-chan — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:20:37 +0000

Local price?

By: Robert-Gilles Martineau (ロベル。ジル)

Robert-Gilles Martineau (ロベル。ジル) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:56:10 +0000

Etchan!
Just saw the bottle in Shizuoka City.
It was priced only 8,400 odd yen!

By: et-chan

et-chan — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:00:24 +0000

Hi Robert-Gilles! 5 tobin? That is really special! May was my Shizuoka month with Kaiun, Hatsukame and Garyubai! Oh, I just remembered the bottles from Hatsukame I ordered from last month are not here…. I’d better find those turtles. Kampai!

By: Robert-Gilles Martineau (ロベル。ジル)

Robert-Gilles Martineau (ロベル。ジル) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:46:43 +0000

You shouldn’t worry too much about the details. This type of sake is extremely limited and mainly brewed for contests or rich collectors/drinkers.
Although I’m not rich, far from it, I do love them and drink them from time to time.
For example Kampai Brewery made only five this year (I mean large tobin).
I doubt that Kaiun makes many.
Fukuro zuri on the other hand is getting pretty popular as demonstrated by Sanwa (Garyubai) or Kokkou Brewery.
They simply are not common sake and are very difficult to find outside their prefectures, especially Shizuoka!
Kampai!
Robert-Gilles

By: Et-chan

Et-chan — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:23:19 +0000

Oops, Japanese part did not come out right.

By: Et-chan

Et-chan — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:21:23 +0000

Gee, Jocelyn, I thought you are moving to DC not to NY. OK, important stuff first-$$$. This 1.8L bottle is 10,500 yen. I think it’s totally a bargain!

You got me thinking. Yes, we have thousand different ways to describe the rain and sake. That gets me really confused, too.

???????????????????????
Fukuro-zuri=fukuro-shibori=shizuku-shibori?shizuku=shizuku-dori=kubi-tsuri

?Tobin-dori? and ?Tobin-gakoi?
I think brewers use these terms today for marketing interchangably–basically to refer to good stuff. It is interesting, though, that I found out before the current fukuro-zuri pressing method was introduced in 1965, brewers pressed using fune into tobin, especially for the kanpyokai [new sake contest]. So I think the association between tobin and the current fukuro-zuri method is relatively new. I checked with Takase-sensei about tobin-dori and tobin-gakoi to be sure my understanding is correct and he gave me some interesting trivial facts!

Tobin-dori
Pressed sake goes directly to tobin instead of going to the tank. I think it is really meant to describe where the pressed sake goes.

Tobin-gakoi
Pressed sake is stored in tobin. So, to be precise, I think this can be used for any pressing method. Also, I was told and confirmed this term is a trademark owned by our friend in Shimane, Rihaku!?They said they use this term for their Shizuku sake stored in tobin until it is sold in October.

By: Jocelyn

Jocelyn — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:37:26 +0000

Whoa, wait a sec. Overload. Am I reading this right? Is “tobin-gakoi” the same as “tobin-dori”? (Meaning the good stuff put aside in the 18 l bottles?) Or is “tobin-dori” the term for putting drip-pressed sake into tobin? And “tobin-gakoi” is for funashibori (old wooden press sake)? Next, is “shizuku” the general term for gravity-only pressing from cotton bags, and “kubitsuri” or “fukuro zuri” more specific terms? Or are they all the same, in the normal annoying practice of Japanese having a thousand different words for the same thing depending on what prefecture you happen to be standing in?

And come on, don’t be coy, how much dosh would one lay out for a bottle such as this?