Japanese New Year (Shogatsu): Ringing in the New Year with Tradition and Joy

Shogatsu, the Japanese New Year, is a celebration of renewal, hope, and togetherness. Rooted in rich traditions, it’s a time to reflect, set intentions, and enjoy iconic customs.

At Tengu Sake, we’re here to help you bring the spirit of shogatsu into your home with festive dishes and sake traditions. Here’s how to celebrate in style!

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UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Sake-making listed!

As soon as Japanese sake-making techniques (NB – sake in this context means the literal meaning of “all alcohol”) was granted UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status I wanted to get something up on our website to provide some clarity. Lots of articles in the press are claiming sake itself has been granted status by UNESCO; the clue is in the name of the award, though: Intangible Cultural Heritage. So it’s the techniques and skills, honed over many years, that have been given this award.

Here, Tengu Sake’s Sales Executive, Gabriel Lei, provides a thorough assessment of what it means for sake to have UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status:

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Sake Times Article on Noguchi-Toji

In this article from April 2022 SAKETIMES speaks to veteran brewmaster, Noguchi Naohiko, about his sake philosophy and his rise to the top of brewing.

The article is full of great insight and quotes from the man himself, including:

Tengu Sake lists a good number of Noguchi-Toji’s sakes, you can find further information on this fabulous brewery on the brewery’s page, and discover all the sakes in our shop.

IWC Sake Merchant of the Year 2018

Amazing – we did it again!!! Tengu Sake has been awarded IWC Specialist Sake Merchant of the Year 2018!

That’s three year’s running. What an achievement and I’m so proud that all the hard work Tengu Sake has been doing over the years is being recognised. Thank you to everyone: our customers and friends, without you this would not have been possible.

Tengu Sake still adheres to it’s principle tenets:

• Quality products
• Reasonable prices
• Excellent customer service
• Unparalleled communication and interpretation of products

Here’s to another year of slingin’ quality sake!

Tatenokawa “Zenith” Komyo Dewasansan

This year marks a world first – the first sake ever to be polished down to a mere 1% – Tatenokawa “Zenith” Komyo Dewsansan

It is difficult to overplay the level of technical complexity and, thus, achievement associated with this astonishing accomplishment. Tatenokawa are well known for pushing the boundaries of what is achievable with highly polished rice. They had already produced an 8% polished and a 7% polished sake but, 1% is a whole different level.

When the 1% was announced, I took the opportunity to ask both Jumpei Sato, Tatenokawa’s CEO & Head Brewer, and Takeshi Sato (no relation), Tatenokawa’s number 2 a number of questions. (more…)

Is sake gluten free?

I was recently asked is sake gluten free or not (some of you may have noticed that on some of our bottles gluten is indeed listed as an allergen). The answer, in a word, is complicated.

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Sake Myths

There are a lot of sake myths and mis-information out there so here are a few facts we hope will clear things up!

• There are tens of thousands of sakes produced in Japan. They all have very different characteristics so if you’ve tried one and didn’t like it then the chances are you might find another one that you do like!
• Sake is not a spirit!  It is a brewed beverage like a beer.
• Most sake is 15-16% alcohol, only marginally stronger than wine.
• You can drink sake however you wish but it was designed to be sipped and savoured like a wine.
• Sake does not have to be drunk hot! The Japanese actually have nine different temperatures at which sake can be enjoyed, starting at 0°C all the way up to 55°C+. Different sake suit different temperatures. See our page on sake & temperature.
• There are only four main ingredients: rice, koji, yeast & water.  It is rarely fortified.
• There is usually no vintage; sake is designed to be drunk within 1-2 years of bottling (although there are some aged sake called koshu).
• Sake has a mild taste with light acidity, bitterness or astringency. No more heart burn!
• Finally, it is free from sulphites & other preservatives; instead, it’s pasteurised. No more fiendish hangover!

In summary the rough, boiling-hot gut-rot of yore is no more! Instead, as interest has grown and technology (both manufacturing and transportation) has improved, the quality of sake available in the UK has improved immeasurably.

We hope that has cleared up some of the sake myths and encouraged you to give it a go!  Pop on over to our shop to see what you can find.

Using the Tengu Sake Master Specs

In our shop we quote a series of ‘Master Specs’ for all our sake. These are not special Tengu Sake Master Specs in so much as we didn’t come up with the system, these are metrics given by most brewers. As the name suggest you kind of have to be an expert to really understand what they mean and how they’ll affect you experience. I can’t fully explain them all here but what I can give you is an insight into what they mean, future blog entries will expand (under master specs tag), and tastings I host will help your understanding so do pop along!

• ABV: alcohol content as a percentage, by volume. Ok, this one isn’t revelatory but it can have an impact on you choices for food pairings.
• Polishing rate: complicated! This is covered on the types of sake page.
• SMV: The Sake Metre Value (or nihonshu-do in Japanese) gives you a very rough indication of the relative dryness of sweetness of a sake. It generally ranges from -6 to about +8 (but most are -2 to +4), with negative numbers being sweet and positive, dry; anything outside of that is considered extreme (but not unpleasant, just unusual). +2 is about neutral for the western palate.
• Acidity-metre: high acidity will make a sake feel drier (which is one of the many reasons the SMV in isolation is a poor indicator of dry/sweet). Acidity also has the affect of spreading flavour around the mouth (both of the sake and the food it is paired with). Temperature affects your perception of acidity, and acidity is important when considering which foods to pair. The scale is arbitrary and generally ranges from  0.7 to 2.5-ish; anything out of these ranges is quite extreme.
• Amino-metre: is a rough measure of the amount of amino acids present in a sake. Certain amino acids give the umami flavour (see the pairing with food page) and so the amino-metre is an indicator of a sake‘s umami. The scale is again arbitrary and generally runs from 0.7 to 1.7, anything above that very full of umami flavour.
• Rice: obviously the rice chosen to make a sake (there are many different varieties) affects the flavour. I will talk about rice types in future posts under the ‘rice’ tag.

The last thing I want is for these specs to be intimidating. Sake is a very involved subject and the rabbit-hole goes very deep! These specs are design for those that already know a lot about sake. However, the more you drink it and the more you learn about it (this blog is a good place to start) the more you’ll begin to understand what these stats mean.

Today is International Sake Day!

Well, technically it’s nihonshu no hi (日本酒の日) so just ‘Sake Day’ but I think that’s less of a call to action than INTERNATIONAL SAKE DAY!!!!

It’s a bonafide date in the Japanese calendar but why should 1st October in particular be Sake Day? As ever, it’s complicated but here goes… (more…)

Hyper Japan Award

The accolades keep rolling in!

Rocky Mountain has been voted “Best Sake with British Food” at this year’s Sake Experience at Hyper Japan. Over 1100 people visited the Sake Experience (a 44% increase on last year).

To celebrate our award I’m offering a 10% discount and free delivery for a half case (6 bottles+) of Rocky Mountain!

NB – discount only shows after you’ve logged in/registered and added 6 bottles of Rocky Mountain to your shopping cart. Discount only applicable to Rocky Mountain.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN
Rustic, raw and earthy

JAPANESE NAME OF SAKE:  Gozenshu 9 Regular
TYPE OF SAKE:                        Junmai Bodaimoto
BREWERY:                                Tsuji Honten

This is a rustic, raw and earthy sake with malt, caramel and cereal all present on the nose. The flavours are smoothly presented, well-balanced, rich and deep. Again, caramel, malt and cereal are the predominant flavours and, when warmed (30°C – 45°C), Rocky Mountain favours the sweeter caramel notes.

Full umami in this sake means it’s a wonderful pair with richer flavours. Think cheese burger, think BBQ, think anti pasti, roasts, game, cheese, tomato sauces…

So, next time you’re reaching for a full-bodied red to go with your summer BBQ, why not grab a bottle of Rocky Mountain, wow your friends and experience umami matching like never before.

Visit the Tengu Sake shop and buy now!