Hakutsuru Sayuri: A Nigori Named After a Little Lily

This is the sake we open for someone who says they don't like sake.

It works almost every time, because most people who say that have had one dry, sharp cup at a bad restaurant and reasonably concluded it wasn't for them. Sayuri is nothing like that.

What Sayuri Means

Sayuri means "a little lily."

In Japanese floral language, the lily carries chastity and innocence, and Sayuri is also a common name for girls and women. The name is doing the same job the sake does, soft, delicate, unthreatening.

The Brewery

Hakutsuru was founded in 1743 in Nada, the district of Kobe that's regarded as the home of fine sake.

Nada has a specific set of advantages that made it the center of Japanese brewing: hard mineral water off the Rokko mountains, cold winter winds coming down from them, access to premium Yamada Nishiki rice, and a toji brewing tradition going back a thousand years.

Hard water is the key difference from Niigata. Where soft water gives you light and dry, Nada's harder water ferments more vigorously and historically produced fuller, firmer sake.

What Nigori Is

Nigori is sake that hasn't been fully filtered. Rice solids stay suspended in the liquid, which is what makes it opaque and gives it body.

Sayuri is cloudy, creamy and gently sweet. Soft rather than sugary. There's sweetness, but it sits on texture rather than on top of it.

How We Serve It

Cold, and shaken before pouring. The solids settle at the bottom, so an unshaken bottle pours clear first and thick last.

Pair It With

Anything spicy. Spicy edamame, spicy ramen, pork kimchi, the creaminess handles chili heat the way a lassi does.

It's also very good with fried food. Karaage or tebasaki against a sweet, cold nigori is a genuinely great combination.

And it works as dessert. Try it alongside matcha mochi ice cream.

Try It at Juraku

Hakutsuru Sayuri Nigori is on the sake list at Izakaya Juraku, Lower East Side, in small and full bottle format. If sake has never worked for you before, start here.