The Beginning of Sake

Hello. I'm Yuka, the lady drinker.

Thank you for visiting again.

This is a continuation of How I Came to Love Sake.

Though I'd come to find sake delicious,

what I usually drank was wine, and sake was something I only drank when invited out.

But then I met a certain brand, and sake entered my daily life.

That brand is "Yamazaru" from Nagayama Honke Shuzojo in my hometown, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

It's a junmai (純米) sake with a cute monkey mark.

(The photo is borrowed from Nagayama Honke Shuzojo's website)

It's a gentle choice for beginners, with the firm deliciousness of the rice coming through.

In Yamaguchi you can even find it at supermarkets, so when I go home I enjoy it with my father.

Sake has many types — junmai (純米), junmai ginjo (純米吟醸), junmai daiginjo (純米大吟醸), ginjo (吟醸), and daiginjo (大吟醸) —

and even from the same kuramoto, the taste and character really differ by brand.

There are also namazake (生酒, unpasteurized) and hiire (火入れ, pasteurized) versions, and ones that appear by season (like hiyaoroshi),

and the brand you choose changes depending on whether you enjoy it with snacks or pair it with a meal.

(This is an area I'd really like Ayako-chan to explain)

Looking back, the reason I'd avoided sake was

that the first sake I drank wasn't delicious.

My first sake was at an izakaya in my student days...

Unfortunately, the chance for a student of barely twenty to encounter how to drink sake deliciously

is rare, isn't it (and I think the same goes for wine, Shaoxing wine, and so on).

So I think it's a shame to decide after one taste that it's not delicious or doesn't suit you.

Please, don't dismiss it untried — I'd love you to taste it where someone can show you its real deliciousness.

Speaking of Yamaguchi, Dassai is famous, and it's a brand I love too,

but many other delicious sakes are being made there.

I'll introduce more next time♪

Thank you again today (*^^*)