Sugidama Sake Podcast
Sugidama Sake Podcast
Ep 21: Sake Focus: Nigori, a descendant of a sacred drink
The second episode in the short Sake Focus series is about nigori, which takes its origin from the ancient sacred drink called doburoku. Doburoku is the oldest method of sake brewing which survived more than a thousand years of history and is still around nowadays. Nigori is cloudy sake, where rice and yeast particles from fermentation left in the final product. Sometimes it’s called unfiltered sake, but it’s not correct. Listen to the episode to find out why.
Don't forget, Sugidama Podcast now has a sponsor, London Sake, an excellent online sake store. London Sake has one of the widest selections of premium and craft sake available online today. They deliver across the UK and Europe, and with over 100 sake from 25 breweries, there really is something for everyone.
Using simple online tasting notes and sensible, affordable food pairings they help you find the perfect sake without any of the fuss. Listeners of the podcast can get a 10% discount Listen to the episode to get the magical code! London Sake: making sake simple.
Episode's Content:
- What is nigori
- Doburoku: the origin of nigorizake
- The emergence of seishu
- Return of nigori
- Types of nigori
- Nigori: taste and food pairing
- Sake of the episode: Kamoizumi Summer Snow Ginjo
Kampai!
Sake mentioned:
Kamoizumi Summer Snow Ginjo
Kamoizumi Sake Brewery (no product information available)
Sorakami
Sugidama Podcast on Podchaser - please review if you don't use Apple Podcasts
Music used:
Wirklich Wichtig (CB 27) by Checkie Brown https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Checkie_Brown_1005/hey/Wirklich_Wichtig_CB_27
Just Arround the World (Kielokaz ID 362) by KieLoKaz
https://freemusicarchive.org/music/KieLoKaz/Free_Ganymed/Just_Arround_the_World_Kielokaz_ID_362
Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Vocal: Svetlana
Episode 21: Sake Focus: Nigori, a descendant of a sacred drink
Greeting (0:00)
Hey, everyone! Welcome to episode 21 of Sugidama Podcast, the podcast about Japanese sake, the drink which looked like a boozy porridge in ancient times and nigori, which we are going to talk about today is a reminder of those days.
But first, let me tell you about our sponsor, London Sake, who have one of the widest selections of premium and craft sake available online today. You can choose from over 100 sake from 25 breweries, and they will deliver across the UK and many European markets. And if you don’t know what sake to choose you can use simple online tasting notes together with very sensible and affordable food pairings to help you decide. What’s more, you can get a 10% discount by just using the code: SUGIDAMA (all caps) during checkout. London Sake: making sake simple.”
My name is Alex and I live in London. I am a certified sake specialist, sake judge, sake educator and sake advocate. Besides this podcast, I write on Sugidama Blog about all things sake, publish tasting notes, overviews, and information about sake events happening in London.
Before we plunge into the history of nigori, let me read you another great review from Richard, my regular and loyal listener. This review is about episode 17 in which I was talking to Kinu Yukawa about sake and Japanese cuisine. So here is the review:
“Another great podcast - this time on mirin, a relative of sake used for cooking and also sometimes drinking. Highly recommended”
Richard, thanks so much for this review!
So if you would like your review read out on this podcast, please leave one! There are a few ways of doing it. If you use Apple Podcasts, you can leave a review there, and it’s the most effective way to support Sugidama Podcast. Reviews drive the suggestions of the podcast to other people and help them decide if they would like to give the podcast a try.
Another way is to leave a review in the Comments under the blog post announcing the episode on Sugidama Blog, which is sugidama.co.uk. You can always write a review on your social media account and tag me to let me know. I hope that Google and Spotify will add reviews to their podcast platforms as well. Oh, you can sometimes leave a review in the player you use to listen to the podcast. I don’t know how it works but give it a try if you don’t use Apple Podcasts.
What is nigori (03:07)
Now let’s talk about nigori. I have already talked about it and its history in Episode 3 but here I would like to go into a bit more details. So first of all, the definition. Nigori is cloudy sake, where rice and yeast particles from fermentation left in the final product. Sometimes it’s called unfiltered sake, but it’s not correct. The Japanese Sake Taxation Law specifies that moromi must be pressed in order to call a drink nihonshu or Japanese sake.
So nigori is filtered or pressed as it’s called in English to distinguish from carbon filtering, using a coarse mesh, in order to let some fermentation mash, moromi, remain in the final product. Another method is to press sake as usual and then add some of sake kasu, sake lees remained after the pressing back into the final product. While the law states that after pressing nothing should get into sake, adding sake lees means returning something that was already there. But I am not sure that it’s the official way of making nigori.
The name “nigori” means murky or unclear in English and is usually translated as cloudy. The official name of the drink is nigorizake or cloudy sake. Normally, in the case of sake, it’s written with hiragana in Japanese. Though there is a kanji version of the word.
Nigori is a very well-recognised type of sake outside Japan thanks to its catchy name which is easy to say and remember in non-Japanese languages and its milky look.
Doburoku: the origin of nigorizake (4:49)
Nigori takes its origin from the ancient sacred drink called doburoku, the oldest method of sake brewing which survived more than a thousand years of history and is still around nowadays. We will come back to the current start of affairs of doburoku but let’s first travel back in time.
For hundreds of years, doburoku was made in villages by farmers using their own crop. The method might vary but in a nutshell, it was like this. You steam some rice, mix it with the rice inoculated with koji (koji-rice), add water and leave it mixing regularly for a couple of weeks.
After that, you will get a sort of boozy rice porridge. The alcohol content could be between 16 and 19 percent, so it’s quite strong. People usually drink it unfiltered, but you can filter it as well if you prefer a less coarse drink. Doburoku has a sibling called omiki or shinshu, shrine alcohol or sacred sake as you can translate it. Basically, it’s doburoku made at Shinto shrines for religious ceremonies.
Sake for centuries was considered a sacred drink, which purifies people. So for hundreds of years shrines were making their own alcohol for ceremonies such as wedding or funeral. Nowadays, most of the shrines use sake made somewhere outside the shrine and then blessed. But some still use omiki and make it on the grounds of that shrine.
However, in 1899 making sake at home was forbidden by the Japanese government. The main reason was to collect more taxes needed for the industrialisation and militarisation of the country at that time. It was quite understandable given that the liquor tax at that time accounted for 30% of the government’s revenues. The ban has continued until now. You can’t make alcohol stronger than 1% in Japan at home, so now home-made or cider. Oh, by the way, cider in Japan is non-alcoholic and usually made of carbonated water, sugar and citric acid.
However, in recent years the law has been slightly relaxed and now some areas can get a licence to produce doburoku in limited quantities. Not sure if making doburoku has ever stopped at Japanese villages. At least a lot of people know how to make it. And if they have remembered it since 1899, it’s a pretty good memory if you ask me.
The emergence of seishu (7:41)
The main difference between doburoku and sake is not really in filtration. You can press doburoku and make it clear. The key factor is the production method. As you might remember from earlier episodes about the brewing process, sake is made in two main steps: first starter, shubo or moto, then the main fermentation, moromi. Doburoku is made with one step: mix everything together and wait for the alcohol to develop.
So when brewers came up with the shubo method in the mediaeval times, sake still remained cloudy. Technically it was nigori until the end of the 16th century. I heard that monks or priests in the Ise region possessed the secret of making clear sake for a long time, but it was thanks to a chap named Konoike Shinroku, that clear sake was discovered and introduced to a wider audience. Well, technically not to him.
According to many sources, seishu, refined or filtered sake, was discovered in 1578 in the city of Itami in the Nada region. Though other sources put the date a bit later, the beginning of the 17th century. I told you the story of a disgruntled worker or servant who in revenge drop a box of charcoal into freshly made sake. Is it true or not I don’t know. But the story of the Konoike family, who made this discovery is quite fascinating.
The family were samurai, tracing their origin to the powerful Minamoto clan. However, the head of the family happened to be at the wrong side during the Sengoku Jidai, the Warring States period and was killed in one of the battles leaving Shinroku in poverty. However, the guy proved to be quite resourceful when he grew up. He abandoned his samurai origin, actually concealed it, and decided to become a merchant. He took a new family name from the village he lived with his grandparents, Konoike. But he didn’t have money to start the business. Chance helped him.
Shinroku heard that one samurai was building a castle and decided to get a job there. As he was a samurai himself, he knew a bit about castle defence and used his knowledge wisely in his favour helping improve the defence of the castle. As a result, his boss paid him a bonus when the castle was built, which Shinroku used to start a sake brewery. And at this brewery, his servant or a worker emptied a bucket of ashes into a vat with freshly made sake. The story actually varies about what happened next. In the episode about sake types and told a version where the brewers decided to try and save the spoilt sake by filtering it and got clear sake as a result. In another version of the story, Shinroku didn’t notice first what his servant did and just put a jug in the vat to fill it with the sake and to his surprise saw that the sake was clear. It also had a nicer aroma. So he looked into the vat and saw ashes in the bottom.
It was a real breakthrough. He and his workers figure out that the ashes merged with the rice particles that made sake cloudy and sank to the bottom of the vat leaving sake nice and transparent. The ash also absorbed some of the unpleasant aromas making sake smell nicer. I read that Shinroku had to do a lot of experimentation to find out the best way of pressing sake. But he’s got it at the end, and it made him rich, very rich. Konoike Zaibatsu was one of the largest business conglomerates during the Edo period. They even founded a bank, which was one of the building blocks of the mighty MUFG group, whose branches you can see now at every corner in many Japanese cities.
Mid sponsor’s message (12:00)
So before we talk about the revival of nigori sake and how it tastes, let me remind you about London Sake, our sponsor and their huge selection of curated sake sets, which provide a great opportunity to explore various styles and types of sake. Have a look but don’t forget about the magic word, SUGIDAMA (all caps) to get your 10% discount.
Return of nigori (12:25)
I have already told you the story of Masuda Tokubee Shoten and how they revived nigorizake in episode 3. The brewery owner was inspired by old books on sake found in the brewery and decided to bring back nigori. The main obstacle though was not a technique but the law. As I have mentioned before, it specified that sake has to be filtered.
So Masuda Tokubee had to spend quite some time convincing the government to let him press sake with a coarse mesh to get nigori. Eventually, he succeeded and the first commercial nigori, Tsuki no Katsura Daigokujo Nakagumi Nigorizake, was released in 1964.
The sake was either developed in collaboration with or endorsed by Kinichiro Sakaguchi, who was one of the key scientists who worked in the field of fermentation and sake brewing. Born in Niigata, famous for its distinctive style of sake, he was an agricultural chemist and microbiologist. I could only find mentioning of him in the connection with Tsuki no Katsura nigori, so I am not sure what his role was.
Since then, a lot of breweries embraced nigori and added it to their product range.
Types of nigori (13:51)
Let’s now talk about types of nigorizake. Nigori can be of any grade or style, from futsushu to junmai daiginjo. Initially, though, nigori tended to be made from lower polished rice. Tsuki no Katsura for example was honjozo. When junmai sake became common, many nigori were made of junmai. The thinking behind it was that rice particles make the sake less refined so what’s the point to use highly refined ginjo sake for that.
However, the thinking has changed in recent years, and now you can find ginjo and daiginjo nigori sake. I think it has something to do with the evolving brewing techniques. Brewers now can make quite elegant and refined nigori especially if it’s not too thick. Dassai now makes junmai daiginjo nigori, and those who have been listening to this podcast from episode 1, you might remember the first sake I featured here, Keigetsu Nigori Junmai Daiginjo 50.
A lot of nigori at the start were namazake, unpasteurised sake, which gave the drink some foaminess and effervescence. However, as time went by, more and more nigori were pasteurised to stabilise the quality and taste. The unpasteurised nigori is called kassei seishu, active sake and you should be careful opening a bottle. It can explode. Treat it as champaign. Some breweries even make a special bottle cap for such sake, which you can prickle in order to release CO2 inside before opening.
You can also classify nigori sake by thickness. It can be from as thick as porridge to slightly cloudy sake called usu-nigori. But generally, nigori is medium creamy. So basically, nigori can be any type of and grade of sake. I haven’t seen koshu nigori though. It probably exists but it might be a bit difficult to age sake full of rice and yeast particles. I don’t know.
Nigori: taste and food pairing (15:57)
Ok, let’s now talk about how nigori tastes, what is the best way to drink it and food to pair. Nigori sake sold in the Western markets tends to be quite sweet and fruity, especially those with a creamy texture. Usu nigori is usually drier and more acidic. However, in Japan, your normal nigori is more savoury and coarse. If you order just nigori at a local sake bar, you might be quite surprised.
In terms of aroma, it is usually dominated by ricey and dairy notes, a bit of yeast. Ginjo nigori will have more fruity and flowery aromas. The texture ranges from light and delicate in usu nigori to creamy in a lot of nigori available outside Japan to quite coarse and chewy.
How to drink nigori? First, you need to shake gently the bottle before pouring to mix the sediment that usually deposits at the bottom evenly in the bottle. Just keep in mind that if it’s kassei seishu, then you have to be extra careful when opening the bottle because of CO2 built up inside.
Normally, nigori is quite good chilled. It keeps the texture nice and smooth and the drink feels fresh. You can even keep the bottle in the fridge between pouring or on ice. However, nigori also can be enjoyed warm, especially in cold weather. The taste will become mellow and sweeter.
There are plenty of ways to drink and use nigori. It’s fantastic on its own, especially if it’s a nama version, which is nicely fizzy. You can drink it on ice as well, especially if it’s hot outside. As for most sake, it’s terrific with food. I found out that pairing it with spicy foods works the best. The creaminess of nigori works very well with Indian or Thai curry, hot chicken wings, or even Chilli con Carne. It feels pretty much like lassi but with alcohol.
It’s also very good with hearty Western foods like a cheeseburger, or oily Japanese dishes like tempura. Another food pairing it with sushi. Slightly salty sushi are great with sweeter nigori. A great interplay between saltiness and sweetness in your mouth. Yum! Thicker nigori is great as a topping for desserts like chocolate ice cream for example.
Nigori is also a great cocktail base. It has a distinctive texture and a more prominent taste compared to clear sake. You can mix it with gin and vermouth or with green tea, coconut water, fruits, juice or just soda and ice. It will work fantastic on a warm summer evening.
Sake of episode (18:57)
So today I will of course feature a nigori sake and this time it’s Kamoizumi Summer Snow Ginjo from Hiroshima. It’s one of the most popular nigori sake available in the UK. Interestingly, it was specially developed for the international markets and wasn’t available in Japan until quite recently.
Kamoizumi brewery is relatively young, founded only 109 years ago in 1912 in Saijo, a district in Hiroshima Prefecture renowned for sake brewing. The founder, Junichi Maegaki, was a son of a grain merchant, who was only 23 at the time. Branching into sake from selling rice made a lot of sense at that time. But sake turned out to be a more profitable business. The name of the brewery comes from the name of the spring, Kamo, from which the brewery takes the water for their sake. Kamoizumi has been always a bit eccentric and innovative brewery. If you remember from the previous episode, Kamoizumi was one of the first breweries who started making junmai sake.
So Kamoizumi Summer Snow is very rich and creamy sake, with rice, dairy products like yoghurt, and green apple in the aroma. It’s tangy-sweet with notes of vanilla tart and port and a pleasantly bitter finish. I tried it with Korean BBQ, fried duck breast and Indian curry and the latter was the best pairing. BBQ and duck were also very good. I can’t complain. So it’s perfect sake for a summer day. You can enjoy it either on its own with ice, with BBQ in the evening or try it with a dessert. It might not be as sweet as a dessert wine, but you can pour a bit of Summer Snow over ice cream if you fancy.
Ending (20:54)
That’s it for today. I’ll be back with more episodes. In the meantime, buy a nigori sake and try it with different foods or make a cocktail. For example, you can mash 3 watermelon wedges with a bit of simple syrup and add 2 ½ parts of nigorizake and 1 ½ part of chilled green tea and feel great!
If you have any questions or suggestions about any sake topic, just drop me a line. My email address is alex@sugidama.co.uk or you can find me on Instagram or Twitter @sugidamablog in one word.
Look at my website, sugidama.co.uk. I’ve got a constantly updated tasting notes section and a lot of posts with recommendations. Kamoizumi Summer Snow is available on a few websites like Sorakami and Whiskey Exchange but you can try some other nigori if you can’t find it. London Sake stock a couple of brands and you can get a 10% discount by entering SUGIDAMA all in caps at the checkout if you buy there.
If you prefer to buy at a brick and mortar store, Japan Centre and Ichiba have a good range of nigori sake, or you can try Bottle Apostle in London. They have Summer Snow but you’d better call them up to check if they have it at a particular branch. Or go to your local wine shop and ask them if they can stock sake?
Again if you liked the episode and want more, hit the SUBSCRIBE button, and you will get the new episode downloaded to your player as soon as it’s out. If you would like to give me a bit of support, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or share this podcast with your friends, with anyone who might ask you about sake, on your social media, chat apps anywhere. This way more people will find out about sake and won’t feel intimidated to order or buy it.
Thanks a lot for listening!
Kampai!