{"id":243688,"date":"2025-05-15T21:20:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T21:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alcohol\/sake-industry-news-issue-136\/"},"modified":"2025-05-15T21:20:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T21:20:00","slug":"sake-industry-news-issue-136","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=243688","title":{"rendered":"Sake Industry News. Issue #136."},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

In the last issue of SIN, we reported on how lower grades of sake are starting to encroach on the realms of the next grade up with greater regularity; in other words, each grade is starting to taste and smell \u2013 and perhaps even legally qualify for \u2013 the next grade \u201cup\u201d of sake. And as an opening anecdote, I told the story of setting up a tasting challenge as part of a sake exam. I described using a futs\u016b-shu next to a ginj\u014d, and finding it more challenging than I intended to tell the difference because the futs\u0169-shu was aromatic, and in that sense encroaching on ginj\u014d. Not that this is a bad thing; on the contrary, it is more than likely a good thing. Nothing lamentable at all about it.<\/p>\n

Well, lo and behold, just the other day I opened up an issue of the industry publication, the Jokai Times, to which I subscribe and there it was: a story about a brewer in Kochi Prefecture, the formidable <\/span>Tosatsuru<\/a>, coming out with a new product called \u201c<\/span>Kaori Regular.<\/em>\u201d Kaori means aroma, and regular means, well\u2026 regular. Like, <\/span>futs\u016b<\/em> in Japanese, as in futs\u016b-shu.<\/span><\/p>\n

While something tells me that that borderline condescending explanation was probably overkill, the product is just the kind of sake about which I wrote in that last issue: a futs\u016b-shu made with a yeast that gives rise to ginj\u014d-esque aromas, even in a futs\u016b-shu.<\/p>\n

But Tosatsuru is unabashedly marketing it for what it is. Their angle is offering sake that lets one enjoy a bit of sunshine without waiting for a special day, by enjoying a futsu-shu that clearly presents aromatics reminiscent of more special sake. In fact, the company is promoting enjoying this futs\u016b-shu in a wine glass. The product has its own unique logo, and comes in both bottles and cartons. The alcohol is only 12 percent.<\/p>\n

Surely other producers will come out with similar products. However, it will be interesting, because not all daily drinkers of futs\u016b-shu actually want ginj\u014d aromas. Yet they are sure to capture a certain sector of the market with this.<\/p>\n

See how your friends here at Sake Industry News are always just a bit ahead of the curve? \ud83d\ude09 <\/p>\n

*We apologize due to logistics that we do not have an audio version of this issue.<\/strong><\/p>\n

**SIN Chief Editor Julian Houseman is stepping in with comments for this issue in lieu of a very busy John Gauntner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And now for the news\u2026<\/p>\n

\n
<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/picture><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Japan-<\/strong> Industry pundits are calling the ongoing rice shortage in Japan a \u201conce in a hundred years crisis\u201d. Rice prices have continued to remain high even after the release of supplies of reserved rice and are showing no signs of dropping.<\/span><\/p>\n

Saitama, which currently ranks fourth in Japan for sake production volume from its 32 breweries, is one of a number of regions which is looking at raising sake prices due to the cost of rice.<\/p>\n

Ryouji Matsuoka, chairman of the Saitama Prefecture Sake Brewers Association said, \u201cIt is inevitable that the rice prices rise, but the biggest challenge is if the brewers can raise prices accordingly without too much negative impact on sales or consumer trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mariko Sato, toji at Sat\u014d Shuz\u014dten, commented on the difficulty for breweries to absorb the 150% rise in cost of table rice when the price of other brewing materials is also on the rise. Sato was forced to abandon the use of Saitama\u2019s own <\/span>Sake Musashi <\/em>rice due to inflated pricing.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the last issue of SIN, we reported on how lower grades of sake are starting to encroach on the realms of the next grade up with greater regularity; in other words, each grade is starting to taste and smell \u2013 and perhaps even legally qualify for \u2013 the next grade \u201cup\u201d of sake. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":243689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12029],"tags":[11315,15294,1820,3107],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-243688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alcohol","tag-industry","tag-issue","tag-news","tag-sake"],"yoast_head":"\nSake Industry News. 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