Simply Beautiful The title of this entry is taken from American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Still Will I Harvest Beauty Where It Grows.” The subtitle is a reference to our presence at a lecture by Dr. Hiroshi Konno, which was delivered at the Japan Sake and Shochu Information Center (JSS) in February of this … Continue reading “I Tell You Beauty Bears an Ultra Fringe”: An Evening with Japan’s National Fungus
The pejorative word devil is sometimes applied to things that are quite good. Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary is a case in point. Consider its definition of mausoleum: “The final and funniest folly of the rich.” See what we mean? Then there is that nefarious musical instrument once widely denigrated by the holier-than-thou types as … Continue reading Amorphophallus konjac Beer
In our last blog entry of 2024, we introduced our readers to the Backbeat Radio show, on which our website was mentioned and our choice for Backbeat’s best song of the year was played. It is a drinking song called “Nickel of Wine.” The music is quite appealing, but it was the lyrics that struck … Continue reading Drinking Songs
Eminence Grise, Jean-Leon Gerome Last week we discussed Kyokai yeast #14. This week we will switch from the specific to the general. Noteworthy sake is the result of a number of factors coalescing at the right time and in the right way. The strain and quality of the rice used, the all-important water, that UNESCO-recognized … Continue reading Who Has Seen the Yeasts?
Have you ever lifted a glass of nihon-shu to your nose, sniffed, and asked yourself why it smells like bananas? Has the brewer decided to jazz up his product and give it a bit of confectionary appeal by adding a little banana extract perhaps? Well, in the ungrammatical words of that hit song from way … Continue reading “Yes! We Have No Bananas.”
Just before the holidays last year we were given this bottle of sake from Toyama, which caused us to think about that prefecture and its production of nihon-shu, and to open the bottle, of course. The latter was a very pleasant experience, and, as is our custom, a sensory evaluation will be included later in … Continue reading A Taste of Toyama: Sanshoraku’s Junmai Ginjo
Grilling the Tongue Last week we reported on an extremely dense and delicious nigorizake from Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. This week we will focus on a Sendai specialty, as well as something else we consumed there. It is hard to spend any significant amount of time in the city of Sendai without encountering a restaurant specializing … Continue reading Grilled Tongue and Raw Whale
Drinking Japan 