5/31/2023 0 Comments Awa yuki sparkling sake![]() ![]() While it may or may not rival champagne in the future, the sparking sake sector is bubbling up, and likely to come to a head at some point in time. Certainly the efforts of the awa Sake Kyokai will help that. A bit is, to be sure, and that bit is growing. Note, too, that relatively little sparkling sake is being exported. While there are various opinions on sparkling sake overall, it is a real and fast growing sector of the sake market and should be encouraged. More members as well as more products from those members can be expected. Some of these breweries have more than one conforming product available, while two do not yet even have a conforming product on the market. The current chairman is Noriyoshi Nagai, president of Mizubasho. The nine breweries are: Tenzan, Hakkaisan, Chiyomusubi, Shichiken, Nanbu Bijin, Mizubasho, Kikuizumi, Fukumitsuya and Dewatsuru. In fact, there are many well known, well marketed and very visible sparkling sake that are not a part of this organization. It might be alcohol that is not high enough, cheap rice, methods that do not comply, or added fruit flavors (legally rendering them something other than sake) or more. So many products on the market do not meet one or more of the specifications above an so will not be marketed under the awa Sake Kyoukai organization’s efforts. Transparent in appearance, with visible bubbles when poured.Īlso, a further stipulation is that the flavors and aromas must remain stable for at leaest three months in the bottle. Contains only naturally occurring carbon dioxide resulting from fermentation.Ĥ. Made with rice that has passed legal quality inspection.ģ. Made with rice, rice koji, and water, and conforming to the legal definition of nihonshu.Ģ. While there are likely several reasons for this (some of which are beyond the scope of this newsletter), certainly one is the strict set of conditions to which sake made under this banner must comply.ġ. There are variations and other methods as well.īack to the awa Sake Kyokai, even though there are plenty of producers making sparkling sake, there are only nine members. It is also common to leave some sugar in the sake after pressing, and add a bit of the yeast-laden foam back into the bottle to do a secondary fermentation in the bottle, trapping the gas inside. As such, a good number of sparkling sake products are made in this way. It is legal to just pump regular sake with carbon dioxide, and fast and easy as well. Not even close.Īlso, note that there are a handful of ways to make sparkling sake. However, it is important to point out that sparkling sake is not to the sake world what sparkling wine and champagne are to the wine world. The point is not to trivialize it on the contrary, I do want to support the development of this sector of the sake world. In terms of volume produced, it is way, way less than one percent. So that means that sparkling sake, in terms of number of products, is less than one percent of the market. I think there are significantly less than 200 sparkling sake products on the market. That is about 25,000 sake products in Japan. There are 1200 breweries in Japan (1241 this year, to be exact.) Let’s say they average 20 to 25 products each, including seasonal variations. Still, I do have confidence in the numbers here, even if they are my own approximation. as far as the government is concerned, it is the same stuff. In truth, I doubt there are any hard stats, since sparkling sake is classified as sake, i.e. Japan right now, so the below is my own estimate. I have not found accurate numbers of how many sparkling sake products there are in awa sake kyokai certification mark Let us briefly look at the sparkling sake market as a whole, and then at the awa Sake Kyokai in more detail. With the Olympics coming to Tokyo in a scant three years, the member brewers decided it would be good to have a type of sake that can be enjoyed in a toast much like a sparkling wine or Champagne. The purpose of the group is to produce and promote high quality sparkling nihonshu. ![]() (Explaining this seemed better than just writing (sic) after the word awa. ![]() Furthermore the word awa is not capitalized. The official Japanese same keeps the word awa in English, with sake and kyoukai in Japanese. With respect to the name: the word awa means foam, or bubbles. On November 1 of last year, eight sake brewing companies formed the “ awa Sake Kyokai,” or the “Sparkling Sake Association.” On April 14, 2017, the awa Sake Kyokai had increased its membership to nine, and held its inaugural event in Tokyo. Announcing the establishment of the “awa Sake Kyokai” ![]()
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