Hopefully you’ve started trying on 2026, seeing how it fits so far. We’re all hoping for a good year, however all the news in – and out – of the sake industry points to a rather tumultuous year ahead. But let’s try to keep things positive.
The brewing season is in full swing as more and more new sake begins reaching the market. The increase in price for many brands is kind of hard to ignore at this point, however there’s little point in waving an angry fist in any particular direction.
This is the new normal for sake.
We enjoyed the glory days of sake being a ridiculously rewarding product at such a low price point for many years, so perhaps we should think of this as the time for sake to really grow up and get taken seriously alongside other higher priced alcoholic beverages. We all know sake is great (that’s why we’re here) so we should be prepared to pay for it – and so should new consumers. And that means for all sake – not just sake that has been made with absurd milling rates or sake that comes in a fancy box with diamond encrusted, gold embossed labels. If a sake is good, it’s not unreasonable to affix a price that represents the quality, material cost – and workmanship that went into making it.
We’d all like sake to be cheaper. It would be nice if smartphones, steak, cheese and dental work were cheaper too. But they’re not. And we accept it.
So let’s start accepting that the days of cheap sake are for the most part behind us and acknowledge, and encourage others to appreciate, that sake is something worth paying for.
And now for the news…
Japan- SIN has touched on the relatively newly identified aroma component known as 4MMP in previous issues as the compound has become more widely noticed.
Recently NRIB has conducted research into the compound with the results being made available to the public.
