1 - Tenranzan Junmai Ginjyo

Smooth, a little fruity. Abunai.

Hey Frank;

I'm no real expert on sake but appreciate a good one when I eat sushi. So this much I know:

The more polished the rice is, the higher quality sake it produces.

Of the different grades of sake I believe it goes like this:
Best - Junmai Daiginjo
Very good - Junmai Ginjo
Good - Junmai

I also have had very good sake without the Junmai precursor; however, what, why, how they're different, I don't know. I know we can Google it but trying to do this from memory so you might wanna verify before you walk into a sushi bar and order some. However, pretty sure if you order anything with a Ginjo grade or better you won't go wrong.

Cold or warm? Typically if you order warm sake it'll be a lower grade one. I used to only drink warm sake until I went to Japan and had cold Morita sake. I was working for Sony at that time and at the opening dinner of the line-up meetings they did the whole bust the wooden cask and pour it into a glass that was inside a square wooden cup (...you drank from the corner until it was gone and then you drank from your glass...) ceremonial thing. It was the first time I had cold sake and it was really good. However, even with that said, when it's cold here (...when the temp is 65 degrees or less...), I'll order warm sake to take the chill out. Yeah, yeah, coldness is all relative.

A bit of caution: sake is like tequila...it'll sneak up on you. You'll be drinking, eating, talking, drinking, laughing, eating, drinking, talking, drinking and then you'll have to stand up to go to the bathroom and then WHOA! Buzzed out. So go easy at first and enjoy the food with a little bit of drink and ease yourself into the world of sake.

Hope this helps a little and when you do finally try it, lemme know how it went.

I've had that same hangover...not fun But those were the days when I drank warm sake like it was going out of style.

Older and (...a little...) wiser now so don't over do it with sake...or just about any alcohol...anymore.

I drank sake once, don't remember if it was good.

Mmmm... Sake, going to have to go get me some sake tonight now...




the wife thanks you

3 - Kamotsuru Tokusei Gold - smooth
4 - Koten Sharaku - could drink this A-L-L night!

Love sake. Stoked to see this thread.

I have one in a dragon/tiger bottle, im not sure what brand it is

Hehe

#5

just got home with my first purchase, it's cooler than room temp but not quite "slightly chilled" as recommended yet.

Label says:
Tozai
Junmai Nigori
"Snow Maiden"
Premium Japanese Saki

on the back
Grade-junmai
Profile-bright, ricey/fruity, good body, long finish
Prefecture-Kyoto
Rice-Gohyakumangoku & Gin-Ohmi

there's more info showing what percentages of the bottle are ginjo, daiginjo etc.

It's cloudy, milky, thicker than I expected, lady in the shop said it would be a little fruity, told me it would be even better slightly chilled so I'l revisit later tonight.

I have a new hobby!

I need booze

Not familiar with your set but sake is best drunk as soon as possible. AFAIK, there's no benefit in aging it. I'm pretty sure it's drinkable but probably lost a lot of the flavors.

Conan, thanks for the reply on this. After mentioning it I went and dug it out and had forgotten that we had opened one of the bottles and yes it had slightly dis colored and had a slight vinagry taste to it, the other is still sealed but I suspect will have the same results.....bummer. Had been kept cool and dry and out of sunlight but didn't realize it was best " fresh"

Paul

That is a bummer

You probably would have really enjoyed it.

9-momokawa diamond junmai ginjo

of 3 types offered in this line-up, I chose this one because it said medium dry. didn't have my cheater glasses with me but saw that it also said to refrigerate before serving, mellow, smooth, apple, melon, tropical fruits. Ginjo quality-pure sake made with each rice grain polished to at least 60%.

What I didn't see was that it is produced and bottled by Momokawa...Forest Grove, Oregon! Round eye outrage!

Oh well. Clear, light and smooth. Subtle sweetness, I caught a little melon in the finish, but apple and tropical fruits...not so much for this noob . I'd drink it with or after spicy food. Tonight it went with a RyJ C en C.

14.8% ABV, around $15.

but I really have no idea if it is a good one, though for the $$$ I actually would snag a bottle again, though I'd really prefer to experiment some more.

gonna dust the cobwebs off my wallet and take a shot at daiginjo next time.

10 - Hoyo Kura No Hana - "Fair Maiden"

12- Pure Dusk Shimizu-No-Mai Junmai Daiginjo

300 ML bottle for about $16...and I like this, chilled. Label blurb says fragrant bouquet, (to me it is mildly like a wet dog but not offensive), supposed to complement delicate foods like sashimi. Seems to be just fine with turkey tips and grilled cauliflower.

13 - Tora no Oh - Tiger's Tail. Sister-in-law brought this back from the Motherland...good but still like "Silk" better.

I gotta get back on the program...

yup, "program" may have been misleading.

I gotta get back on the sake

now what?

15 - Nanbu Bijin Shinpaku Junmai Daiginjo - Silver Medialist at the recent Joy of Sake Festival.
16 - Silk

18 - Silk - got a new bottle.