Season 1. Episode 52. Of Japan’s 47 Prefectures, the third largest is Fukushima. This region is a sake powerhouse with a number of famous sake breweries and more than their share of gold medals in all kinds of sake competitions. Today John and Timothy look into a couple of Fukushima sakes and dive a bit deeper into the unexpected flavors of this region. Look for deep, developed flavors on the palate and a sophisticated thread of umami throughout. Timothy also tells the tale of a ramen game-of-chance he found in Kitakata City. You need to slurp every drop of ramen broth to find out if you’ve won. You’ll definitely want to join us as we explore a bit of the sake kingdom of Fukushima.

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Skip to: 00:19 Hosts Welcome and Introduction
Welcome to the show from John and Timothy

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Skip to: 01:46 Sake Spotlight: Fukushima

Some sakes from Fukushima:
https://www.urbansake.com/sake/?filter_prefecture=fukushima

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Skip to: 09:44 Kitakata Ramen
From Wikipedia: Kitakata ramen (喜多方ラーメン) is a kind of ramen that originated in Kitakata, Japan. As of 1927, Kitakata ramen originated from Genraiken noodle shop in Kitakata, Fukushima. Kitakata Ramen is one of Japanese’s three most popular ramen, along with Sapporo ramen and Hakata ramen. Kitakata city has the most ramen stores per capita. The ramen has a soy sauce base, and is usually topped with green onions, fish cake, and bamboo shoots. The noodles are also noticeably thicker than the ramen noodles used in other varieties

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Skip to: 13:54 Sake Tasting Introductions

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Skip to: 17:30 Tenmei Junmai Ginjo

Tenmei Junmai Ginjo

Acidity: 1.6
Alcohol: 16.0%
Brand: Tenmei (天明)
Brewery: Akebono Shuzo
Classification: Genshu, Junmai Ginjo
Importer: Mutual Trading (USA)
Prefecture: Fukushima
Rice Type: Yamadanishiki
Seimaibuai: 55%
SMV: +2.0
Yeast: Fukushima Akira, Kyokai 9

View on UrbanSake.com

 

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Skip to: 21:20 Naraman Junmai daiginjo Daiginjo

Naraman Junmai Daiginjo

Acidity: 1.6
Brewery: Yumegokoro Shuzo
Alcohol: 16.5%
Classification: Junmai Daiginjo
Prefecture: Fukushima
SMV: +3.0
Brand: Naraman (奈良萬)
Seimaibuai: 48%
Rice Type: Gohyakumangoku

 

View on UrbanSake.com

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Skip to: 30:37 Show Closing

This is it! Join us next time for another episode of Sake Revolution!

John Puma: 0:22
Hello everybody. And welcome to Sake Revolution. This is America’s first sake podcast, and I’m your host, John Puma from the Sake Notes. You may also know me as the administrator over at the internet sake discord and Reddit R/sake community. Stop by and join us some time. Also the guy on the show, not that’s not a Sake Samurai.

Timothy Sullivan: 0:45
And I am your host, Timothy Sullivan. I am a Sake Samurai. I am also a sake educator as well as the founder of the Urban Sake website. And every week, John and I will be tasting and chatting about all things, sake and doing our best to make it fun and easy to understand.

John Puma: 1:03
So Tim I think it is time for us to go on another one of our virtual trips abroad.

Timothy Sullivan: 1:09
Get your scuba gear. Cause we’re doing another deep dive.

John Puma: 1:14
I scuba gear. I’ve never scuba-ed before. Have you have you scuba-ed before?

Timothy Sullivan: 1:20
I’ve snorkeled.

John Puma: 1:21
Is that count?

Timothy Sullivan: 1:22
No,

John Puma: 1:23
Okay. All right. So great. Wonderful.

Timothy Sullivan: 1:28
we are going to explore a Prefecture that is super duper famous for sake, and I’ve been able to go there once. I don’t think you’ve ever been to this place. Right?

John Puma: 1:39
Uh, it is true. I have not, uh, I took a train through it once. Never stopped.

Timothy Sullivan: 1:46
We are talking about Fukushima. Now. Fukushima is very well known and it is the third largest prefecture in Japan. So it’s pretty darn big landmass wise, for sure.

John Puma: 2:02
And what about, sake production wise? Where do they fit in?

Timothy Sullivan: 2:04
Well, they have about roughly 34 sake breweries that are active right now

John Puma: 2:10
Oh, wow.

Timothy Sullivan: 2:11
Yeah. So it’s, it’s a medium size as far as the number of sake breweries that they have. But for that lower number of breweries, they actually take home a lot of gold medals. So they have tremendous pride in their ability to win medals and produce very, very high quality sake. So we’re going to taste some really great sakes today

John Puma: 2:37
And I do think there is definitely a reputation from Fukushima for making excellent sake and, as you pointed out lots of awards and just from personal experience, there’ve been so many times where you have a great sake and you’re like, wow, where’s this from? And the answer oftentimes ends up being a Fukushima.

Timothy Sullivan: 2:55
Yeah, that’s really true. And when I first went there, I visited a few different breweries in Fukushima and I really didn’t comprehend when I first visited there, how big it is. So it starts on the Pacific ocean and then it stretches way, way, way inland, and it reaches Niigata on the other

John Puma: 3:18
Yeah.

Timothy Sullivan: 3:19
So it stretches across the entire main Island of Honshu. And there’s a mountain range in the middle and if you’re on the far West of the mountains, you’re much closer to Niigata than you are actually the Pacific ocean. So it’s really an expansive, it’s a big place.

John Puma: 3:36
Very, very cool. I think I, I went through vertically. I was on my way to Sendai and just, just a brief little. Ride through town. so I’m excited to get into the weeds here. I also like that you’ve been there. So what, what brought you over to where you’re visiting breweries?

Timothy Sullivan: 3:53
Yes, I was visiting breweries and one brewery I visited early on my first time to Fukushima. I went to Daishichi, Daishichi that’s translated as big seven in English.

John Puma: 4:07
Oh, okay.

Timothy Sullivan: 4:07
You know, you’re familiar with Daishichi sake brewery

John Puma: 4:09
Yeah. I am very familiar. They make excellent, excellent sake. And they’re one of very few breweries and, and correct me if I’m wrong. that exclusively produces a Kimoto methods. Okay. Is that right?

Timothy Sullivan: 4:21
That is a hundred percent, right. They are making exclusively and only Kimoto sake to remind our listeners about Kimoto Kimoto is the. You can kind of consider it the original fermentation starter method. And it is the most labor intensive. And they’re keeping that tradition alive.

John Puma: 4:41
But we’re not going to be tasting sake today

Timothy Sullivan: 4:45
But we don’t have, we don’t have Daishichi but they’re awesome. Please check them out.

John Puma: 4:50
They are great and you should totally try them if you have the opportunity.

Timothy Sullivan: 4:54
Yeah, I think in Fukushima, even though we didn’t bring their sake today, they’re one of the better, more well-known breweries in Fukushima for

John Puma: 5:02
I would say so for certain, um, So, so who else did you visit while you were over there?

Timothy Sullivan: 5:09
Well, the other brewery that I visited is the sake that I brought today. And this is a sake from, Yumegokoro Sake Brewery

John Puma: 5:21
Yumegokoro, Sake Brewery. Now the name Yumegokoro may not be that familiar to a lot of Westerners, but the sake brand itself

Timothy Sullivan: 5:30
Um, yes. So the, the brand name here is Naraman

John Puma: 5:36
And for me Naraman is definitely a familiar name. Uh, whereas the, the name of the brewery, very unfamiliar to me, so that, uh, that, that does happen a lot or sometimes the brand becomes a very popular, but you don’t necessarily know the brewery name.

Timothy Sullivan: 5:52
It’s a little strange isn’t it it’s like some, some breweries like Daishichi it’s like they only have one brand and their brand is the same as the brewery name, but other sake breweries have maybe a family name as the brewery name, but then they make seven or eight different brands of sake So you might it’s. It’s interesting. You might not know the name of the brewery, but you might know the brand name very well.

John Puma: 6:17
Early on in my sake tasting career I had a lot of situations where I thought I knew the brand name and it was the brewery name. And then you, you go and you tell people, Oh, they’re this brewery. And you tell them the name of it. And people look at you. Like, that’s not it. That’s not the name for brewery, sir. That is the name of a brand.

Timothy Sullivan: 6:35
Then you had egg on your face.

John Puma: 6:37
I did do things happen, these things, you know, sometimes they happen. You just have to apologize. and move on.

Timothy Sullivan: 6:42
Well, John, I know you’ve been studying Japanese language recently

John Puma: 6:45
I, have, I have been trying, it’s not easy.

Timothy Sullivan: 6:48
It’s not easy studying Japanese is it’s a series of egg on your face situations. I think like I could, I can think of so many, so many times I just embarrassed myself by saying the wrong thing or the impolite thing, or confusing people. It’s not easy. So my hat, my hats off to you for learning,

John Puma: 7:10
We’re trying the wife and I are both taking classes together and it’s been, uh, it’s been quite an adventure.

Timothy Sullivan: 7:17
You know, if you are into sake it’s a wonderful way to deepen your hobby. I know lots of people who are into wine, who take a French class or take a German class. Yes.

John Puma: 7:28
Yeah, I think that’s something that’s going to be useful. Um, especially considering that we frequently go to Japan. And I think that makes sense if you’re going to go to Japan a lot. I think it makes sense for me to learn. A little bit more Japanese there’s always room for improvement. Um, I am not going to say that one we’re going to classes. We don’t necessarily look at things through the filter of this. Part’s not going to be useful to me in a bar. I don’t know.

Timothy Sullivan: 7:55
Can I use this in a restaurant?

John Puma: 7:57
yeah, exactly. Well, you know, but we’re trying, we’re trying.

Timothy Sullivan: 8:02
Yeah. So I mentioned the brewery that I’m featuring today. John, I’m curious, what brand or brewery did you bring from Fukushima today?

John Puma: 8:12
Well, uh, I also have a sake from a brand that does not match the name of the brewery. and in my case, the name of the brand is Tenmei. and the name of the brewery is Akebono Shuzo. Mm. Of course as mentioned, this is also in Fukushima as mentioned since I’ve never been to Fukushima, I have never visited this brewery. But I did get to meet the the brewery Owner here in New York once. and he was a very, very enthusiastic gentleman who was very happy to pour a sake for us. and we had some very nice things to say about it, which is one of the, one of the reasons I was very excited to be tasting it today.

Timothy Sullivan: 8:54
Yeah, I know that brand, but I don’t remember the last time I tasted it. So I wish I wish we were not socially distance. I wish we were in person, so I could. Have a sip of yours and refresh yes, someday and refresh my memory on that sake, but it’s a, well-known kind of craft brand. Isn’t it? Like it’s a smaller brewery for sure. I think.

John Puma: 9:17
Yeah. My understanding is that it’s a very small brewery. When we get to kind of really getting into the nitty-gritty on each of our bottles, uh, there’s some interesting stuff about the way the sake is made. And we’ll get into that a little bit later on, but I want to know a little bit more about Fukushima the place before we start talking about Fukushima the sake Some more. I realize it’s very off-brand for me.

Timothy Sullivan: 9:44
I can tell you a little bit about my visits to Fukushima and some of the food experiences I had there. When I visited Yumegokoro Sake Brewery and they’re located in an area of Fukushima called Kitakata, Kitakata And there is a very famous ramen. That comes from Kitakata. So they have Kitakata ramen, and it’s a broth that combines soy sauce, tonkotsu and sardines. And it’s very rich and umami Laden and lots of chashu on top. And when I visited, Yumegokoro Mr. Shoji, who’s the president. Took us out for lunch. And we had Kitakata ramen. And the funniest thing was is that you got the ramen bowl in front of you, and then you had to finish it. And like every seven or eight bowls that they hand out, there’s a red Mark at the bottom of some of the bowls.

John Puma: 10:58
and w what is the signify.

Timothy Sullivan: 10:59
It means you get a prize.

John Puma: 11:01
Tim. Did you get the prize? Nah. All right. I thought that’s where the story was going. I was very excited.

Timothy Sullivan: 11:08
So if you eat the whole bowl of ramen, you get through the broth soy sauce broth, and then you get to the bottom. And if you have the Mark in the bottom of your bowl, you get some kind of reward or extra serving of noodles or something

John Puma: 11:25
Yeah. That you didn’t, you didn’t get this award. Next time you go. You need to like represent Sake Revolution better and win. You need to keep ordering bowls until you get the prize how this works. We’re not quitters!

Timothy Sullivan: 11:38
Okay, this isn’t, it’s not a game of skill, John. It’s a It’s a game of chance, but it does give me motivation to want to go back to Kitakata.

John Puma: 11:49
So I’m actually looking up some photos of Kitakata the ramen, the noodles look very interesting. They look kind of wider and flatter than most ramen. I see. Which is it probably lends to like a little more of a chewy texture, which sounds interesting. It sounds nice. This looks like something I would want to try, although I’m not going to lie to you kind of a little worried about how much fish is going to come through on the sardines. Uh, how much fish came through on the sardines Tim?

Timothy Sullivan: 12:13
it’s like one of those things that it’s like putting anchovies in tomato sauce, it’s like, you know, what’s in there, but you never tasted it.

John Puma: 12:19
Got it. that’s a good that’s, that’s refreshing. I had a similar broth in Hiroshima once and the broth was very, very delicious, uh, with the noodles, but then when it got to the end of you just kind of sipping the leftover broth that it really hits you. It really, I was like, I’m good. I need to stop this. I’m not a big, I’m not a big fishy fish guy, but whatever.

Timothy Sullivan: 12:45
Well, you don’t need to worry. I think you’ll enjoy this ramen. And there’s more than enough chashu layered on top to bury, any sardine flavors you could possibly get.

John Puma: 12:56
There will be, there will be some photos of this ramen, uh, in the show notes. Tim do you happen to, do you happen to have a photo of the bowl you had or is this

Timothy Sullivan: 13:07
Um, you know what I, when I go to Japan, I take pictures of absolutely everything. This was years ago. This was years ago. And I have to dig through my iPhotos to find it, but I, I bet you going out on a limb here. I bet you, I can get a picture of that bowl of ramen.

John Puma: 13:28
In and you’re going to do it for the fans.

Timothy Sullivan: 13:33
for the shownotes.

John Puma: 13:34
Well, the show notes, the detailed show notes. This is an important detail, Tim. Okay, Tim. Um, I’m glad I got to hear your tale of, of ramen. Uh, and I think now is the time on Sake Revolution, where we talk a little bit more in depth about our sake and start

Timothy Sullivan: 13:54
Yes. So would you like to start? I’m so curious to get into this Tenmei situation.

John Puma: 14:01
Ooh. Absolutely. so in the U S or at least in New York there are two types of Tenmei available. one is their Junmai and the other is there Junmai Ginjo. Today. I have their Junmai Ginjo it utilizes a Yamadanishiki for both the Kakemai and the Kojimai.

Timothy Sullivan: 14:19
Yes. So the kakemai, that is the rice that is going to be the starch component. And then the Koji Mai is the rice that they’re going to use for making the Koji, the molded rice. But in this case, it’s the same variety for both.

John Puma: 14:33
Right. And it’s the same polishing ratio. Both of them are 55%. hence your Junmai Ginjo, um, as a sake meter value of plus two The acidity is 1.6 and this is a genshu that has an ABV of 16%.

Timothy Sullivan: 14:49
Ah, that takes me back to our, genshu episode.

John Puma: 14:52
Right. It does very recent time, recent memories. Um, so the interesting thing about the sake to me is number one, it uses a blend of two different yeasts, which you may see blends of different rices kind of often, but you rarely see blends of yeasts. Uh, I think so two different yeasts in there. And then the sake is aged for a year. Unpasteurized at freezing temperatures. After a year, they flash pasteurize it and it is sold. So that, I think that’s a little interesting, a little different than your, their run of the mill. sake to have it aged for a full year

Timothy Sullivan: 15:34
Yeah, the, the normal flow would be to press the sake, pasteurize it right away, then age it at a cool temperature for about six months and then pasteurize it again and then bottle it. So they’re aging at a freezing temperature for a year unpasteurized. So that’s very unusual. It probably lends some fresh richness and a brightness to the sake So I’m super curious when you taste it, what you’re going to think about that, but that’s really unique.

John Puma: 16:03
Yeah. Um, why don’t you give us a rundown of what you have and then we’ll start the tasting.

Timothy Sullivan: 16:08
Sure. So I am tasting Naraman Junmai Daiginjo. This is a super premium sake Again, it’s from, Yumegokoro Sake Brewery, the alcohol. Oh, the label says I’ve never seen this before. The label says 15 to 18%.

John Puma: 16:29
Tim, I have questions. Um, that’s that’s broad.

Timothy Sullivan: 16:34
a big range. That’s a big range. You could average those and get. in there in the middle there somewhere, but normally it says John right, 15 to 16% or 16 to seven, like I’ve never seen that, that big of a swing 15 to 18% alcohol. we’ll have to, we’ll have to taste it and see. How full the alcohol tastes, the rice milling rate for this is 48% remaining. The sake meter value is a very, very light plus three. So should be very neutral, not too sweet, not too dry. And the acidity for mine is also 1.6. Yeah. I think I would have tried this when I was there, but I’m super excited to get this open and try it again. But I think we should start with your brewery.

John Puma: 17:30
Oh, right. Um, We’ll do by the way the bottle does have a nice little sash on the neck that explains that this is a one-year aged, uh, Hiire. So one year age I guess. and let’s get her opened up. Oh, wow. All right. So. One of the things I really love about this sake is the aroma. this is technically a food friendly sake but it has such a wonderful fruity, not very acidic just really, really nice aroma. It’s one of the things that you can just just bring in that aroma over and over again, and it never gets boring. It never gets tiring. It’s still very much as exciting as the first time you, um, as the first time you smell it. and then the flavor is just super unique. It’s got this really wonderful. Um, fruit-forward beginning to the taste. but then there’s this really satisfying richness that comes in the middle of the tasting. And then it just has a little bit of a bite that goes with that, that kind of like that richness is like an umami kind of richness, and then it just kind of drops off, fades away and you want more because it’s because it does, it did deliver such a really, really satisfying front. Very very nice. sake. and I have tasted this with some stronger flavors, like cooked salmon, like, uh, baked, baked, or fried salmon, you know, where it’s kind of gets a little oily and, and the flavors can be kind of a lot sometimes, but this. Cuts right through all of that. You still get all of the flavors that the sake offers, which I think is wonderful. And, and it doesn’t get in the way of the food either. It, it stands up to food really well, and it, and it also stands its own ground. It’s really nice.

Timothy Sullivan: 19:46
Yeah. Looking at the stats for your sake like 55 polishing, pretty low SMV. And you know, it sounds like it would be kind of a softer package, like not a big, big impact sake little bit more. Yeah. A little bit more gentle and round

John Puma: 20:01
and a lot of the time when you have something like that, when it’s something that’s softer or more gentle, I get worried that that food is going to bowl it over. But that’s, that’s not the case here. And I don’t know exactly what they’re doing. That’s kind of helping it, helping it overcome, but it really, really does.

Timothy Sullivan: 20:21
Yeah. I have a thought on that. I think that sake in general has higher alcohol. And when you taste a sake like yours, the alcohol doesn’t come out and seem out of place or burn or anything like that. But it is high enough that I think it allows sakes to stand up to food in a way that maybe a wine that’s 11% alcohol might have a little bit more of a challenge with. So I think the alcohol level in sake has actually something to keep in mind when it comes to pairing. It’s not. A weak watered down drink.

John Puma: 21:01
no, not especially not this, this genshu.

Timothy Sullivan: 21:04
Even if it’s soft, it’s got some, some weight to it there, and that helps it pair really well with food.

John Puma: 21:10
so if enough about me and my wonderful Tenmei experience I need to know about this Naraman, Daiginjo that you got this luxurious sake that you brought this week.

Timothy Sullivan: 21:20
Alrighty. Here we go. All right. So this is a Junmai Daiginjo

John Puma: 21:38
Hmm.

Timothy Sullivan: 21:40
let’s see here. Ooh. It smells fresh and it smells grassy. It smells like a meadow. Like normally you’re thinking about, Oh, it’s going to smell like it’s a Junmai Daiginjo it’s going to smell like pineapple and tropical fruits. No. It smells a little grassy and like wildflower meadow. He really, Oh my gosh. It’s lovely.

John Puma: 22:10
Well, I would hope so being somewhere between 16 and 18% alcohol,

Timothy Sullivan: 22:14
Okay. We do have to laugh about that.

John Puma: 22:17
I’m going to get as much mileage out of that as I can.

Timothy Sullivan: 22:20
15 to 18% alcohol. Okay. So very lovely meadow, grassy aroma. there’s a little hint of something fruity there, of course, but it’s a really, really nice aroma. Let’s give it a taste. Mm. Has richness on the palate and it tastes it, I taste more towards the 18% than the 15%. So

John Puma: 22:55
if like each bottle is randomly it’s actually, Oh, here it is. Just like the ramen most of the bottles are 16%, but occasionally one bottle is 18% and you’re not going to know until you finish the bottle. It’s a red dot the bottom. That’s the 18% bottle I’ve heard all around.

Timothy Sullivan: 23:12
we should, uh, patent that idea right away.

John Puma: 23:17
You can sell it to one of the local breweries here York, Brooklyn, kura. If you’re listening, we’ve got an idea.

Timothy Sullivan: 23:26
Yeah. So there is. A richness to this and the alcohol comes through a little bit more weighty, but it’s not unpleasant in any way. It’s just has that more rich, bold edge to it. And the flavor is not at all fruity. There’s just a hint of umami there, richness. And I don’t know what the aging situation on this sake is. But I wouldn’t be surprised if maybe they aged it a little bit longer than usual, just because it has that depth of flavor that really comes out when you do age a sake uh, the finish is pretty crisp and dry. It doesn’t linger for a long time. So it’s got a very rich coating palate and then a dry finish. And the, again, the alcohol feels a little bit higher, It’s got a whole combination of things going on and all this wrapped up with a 48% rice milling rate. So that lends itself to the smooth, smooth character. So when that milling rate gets lower and lower in my mind, that really translates to a textural element. You can get these silky smooth textures in the sake as that rice milling rate goes down, down, down. So a really, really lovely but I have to be honest, this is something that I would sip on over time

John Puma: 24:57
Hmm. So this is not a, you’re not going to disappear this bottle. This is not

Timothy Sullivan: 25:02
no, no this is not something that I would make the bottle disappear, like magic water. This is a little bit more sipping savoring, and it’s got a richness to it. We can compare it to desserts. There’s some desserts you can power through and you’re like, you’re ready for another one and you’re totally not full. And there’s other desserts where you have two bites and you’re like, That is rich. Like I don’t know if I can get through this or maybe not you, John.

John Puma: 25:31
Um, Tim, you and I have different opinions on desserts, apparently. Um, any dessert that I enjoy enough to eat. I enjoy enough to eat an unlimited amount until I’m forced to stop. I have, uh, I have, uh, an impulse control problem. It would seem

Timothy Sullivan: 25:49
Well, I have a huge sweet tooth as well. What’s what’s your, I’m just curious. What’s your favorite dessert of all time?

John Puma: 25:54
I can’t just pick one. Um, but if I absolutely had to, it’s probably going to be a souffle.

Timothy Sullivan: 26:03
a souffle.

John Puma: 26:04
Yeah. I it’s either going to be a souffle or just some kind of like gargantuan chocolate layer cake.

Timothy Sullivan: 26:11
Mm.

John Puma: 26:12
big, like that is with just, just, just chocolate with chocolate and chocolate. Just a really, really rich chocolate cake is something that, um, I really enjoy. And this flies in the face of my sake tastes obviously. but you know, desert’s a different animal Tim, it’s a completely different game.

Timothy Sullivan: 26:32
Yeah, well, we can get to dessert revolution later, but do you like the, do you like those, those cakes that are like the lava cakes that are like flowerless and those super dense ones? Or do you like, or do you like, uh, like devil’s food cake with lots of buttercream? Like that kind of thing, like a birthday? Yeah. All of the above.

John Puma: 26:55
I mean, if I do I have to choose, this what’s happening? I don’t, I don’t want to choose. I want to have both. I absolutely love both of those things. They were wonderful.

Timothy Sullivan: 27:06
Yes. I’m. I’m going to throw my hat in the ring for chocolate pudding. That is my favorite dessert chocolate pudding or chocolate mousse. If you want to be

John Puma: 27:15
Chocolate mousse is great chocolate pudding. Uh, I have a thing where I enjoy a chocolate pudding pie, but like a Graham Cracker crust. So think of just having like chocolate pudding on a Graham Cracker, that’s really what I want.

Timothy Sullivan: 27:32
right.

John Puma: 27:32
you know, the show’s about sake

Timothy Sullivan: 27:33
yeah.

John Puma: 27:34
Have

Timothy Sullivan: 27:36
making an analogy between dessert and sake I think if this sake was a dessert, this would be a rich dessert and some people not us, but some people to. Down throttle when they eat a rich dessert. And I think that people who wanted a light easy sipping sake this Naraman Junmai Daiginjo with a mysterious alcohol percentage would, would not be it, but it’s lovely. It is so good.

John Puma: 28:08
I have to say that as this Tenmei is coming up to room temperature and as is often the case with, with a lot of different sakes but it’s something I’m very much noticing here is that umami in the middle is really coming a lot more pronounced. And the alcohol also is kind of going with it, not a bad way. It’s really well balanced. So it’s fine. but the fruit in the beginning is kind of diminishing a little bit. and then the umami is really taking center stage. This is not a bad thing at all. It’s just sake at different temperatures is going to taste, uh, very differently. And this is how it’s evolving as it warms up a little bit. This is really nice.

Timothy Sullivan: 28:50
Hmm. this kind of has an autumnal feel to it. This sake it’s not bright and spring, it’s a little bit more warming and the umami is a little bit more savory. It makes me think of autumn. Yeah, really delicious.

John Puma: 29:04
So that was a really nice virtual journey over to Fukushima. I do really want to get over there one day. I’ve heard wonderful things and now I have a ramen adventure that I had to go on.

Timothy Sullivan: 29:19
And if you don’t get the ramen with the Mark on the bottom of the bowl and win the prize, I’m going to be very disappointed in you. Okay. Quitters never win. That’s true. Yeah. Well, I’m so glad to hear that you are interested in going to Fukushima. All my visits there were absolutely wonderful. I encourage you to go. And maybe if we’re lucky in the future, we could do an episode someday from a Fukushima brewery. I would really love that. Wouldn’t that be fun? Yeah. So John, tell me for people listening out there, where can people find you online?

John Puma: 29:58
Well in addition to my Reddit and Discord adventures, you can find me on most social media platforms as TheSakeNotes. TheSakeNotes is going to be both my wife and I and our sake adventures. JohnPumaNYC is going to be just my day to day goings on. what about you, Tim?

Timothy Sullivan: 30:19
I am at all things, UrbanSake So you can find me at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter @UrbanSake And my website is UrbanSake.com Yeah. So pretty easy. And you may find a dessert posting or two in there who knows.

John Puma: 30:34
ready for it.

Timothy Sullivan: 30:37
All right. Well, I want to thank all of our listeners so much for joining us today and for tuning in. We really do hope that you’re enjoying our show. If you would like to show your support for Sake Revolution, there’s one way you could really help us out. Please take a couple of minutes and if you don’t mind, leave us a written review on Apple podcasts. It’s a great way for us to get the word out about our show.

John Puma: 30:58
And another great way to get the word out about our show is by telling your friends and coworkers and getting them to subscribe. And then you should also subscribe, but we know you already do this way, the podcast will show up on your device of choice every single week.

Timothy Sullivan: 31:17
And to learn more about any of the topics or any of the sakes we tasted in today’s episode or any of the desserts we talked about, you can talk as always, Pudding. be sure to visit our website, SakeRevolution.com and there you can check out all the show notes.

John Puma: 31:40
And finally, if you have a sake question that you need answered, you have desserts suggestions that we need to hear. Reach out to us. The email address as always is [email protected]. Until next time, please remember to keep drinking sake kanpai