Nihon Sakari Nama Genshu: Unpasteurized, Undiluted, in a 200ml Bottle Can

We hosted a Nihon Sakari tasting a while back. This is the product line that made us pay attention to them in the first place.

The Brewery

Nihon Sakari is in Nishinomiya, in the Nada district of Hyogo, and has been brewing there for more than a hundred and ten years.

Nada is the sake capital of Japan, and its advantage is Miyamizu, the hard mineral-rich spring water that drives a strong, complete fermentation and produces the firm, dry regional style.

The Problem Nama Genshu Has

Nama genshu is the freshest sake there is, and it is also the most fragile.

Nama means unpasteurized. Standard sake is heated twice to kill off residual enzymes and stabilize it. Skip that and the sake stays alive: brighter, sharper, more immediate. It also stays vulnerable. Warmth changes it, time changes it, and light changes it.

Genshu means undiluted. Sake ferments up to around 18 to 20% ABV, and it is normally cut with water to 15 or 16%. Genshu skips the water, so the concentration and the alcohol both stay where fermentation left them.

Put together, nama genshu is sake in its most vivid state. The obstacle has always been distribution. It needs a cold chain, and once a 720ml bottle is open the clock runs fast.

The Bottle Can

Nihon Sakari's answer is an aluminum bottle can, usually 200ml, with a resealable screw cap.

That format solves several problems at once. Aluminum blocks light completely, where glass does not. A 200ml serving gets finished in one sitting, so oxidation never gets a chance. It chills quickly and it is unbreakable.

They put several of their specially designated grades into it, including a daiginjo nama genshu and a honjozo nama genshu, so you can taste the same technique across different grades rather than committing to one full bottle.

The daiginjo nama genshu is the aromatic one, rice polished to 50% or less, with the fruit and floral character that heavy milling produces, arriving without pasteurization to flatten it.

The honjozo nama genshu is drier and firmer. Honjozo includes a small measured addition of distilled alcohol, which lifts aroma and lightens the body. Undiluted and unpasteurized it comes out robust, with green apple and almond and a crisp dry finish.

They also make a yuzu sake, blending real Japanese yuzu juice with sake. Bright, aromatic citrus, sweet and tart together, and lower in alcohol than the straight sake.

How to Drink Them

Cold, and keep them cold. Straight from the can is fine, or poured into a glass, which is better for the daiginjo since the aroma is the point.

The yuzu one is also good over ice, which the others are not.

Pair Them With

The daiginjo with sashimi and grilled fish. The honjozo with karaage and tuna tataki. The yuzu with edamame and lighter food, or against something fatty where the citrus cuts through.

Try It at Juraku

Nihon Sakari bottle cans are on the sake list at Izakaya Juraku, Lower East Side. Check the current menu or ask us what is open.