Dear Sake Lovers,

You might have heard of the King of Sakamai (酒米) , Yamada Nishiki (山田錦),  or other familiar sake rice celebrity Gohyakumangoku (五百万石). Sakamai is the spirit of a fine sake and brewers of the history has been obsessing with the perfect grain for their sake.

When you carefully look at Sakamai kernel under light, there is an oval shaped mass called shinpaku (心白) made of soft starch. To help koji mold reach shinpaku, brewers polish the rice with great care, as over polishing will cause fragile Sakamai to crumble, which in turn converts rice starches into fermentable sugar.

AIYAMA（愛山）- “Love is as Big as Mountain”

Teresake’s founder goes the distance and grow her own Sakamai, nourished by local soil and water. Aiyama is one of the limited sakamai, and was produced by mating between Aifune (愛船) and Yamao (山雄) rice. This special Aiyama,  with exceptionally tall and big grain size, is excellent in quality and is hard to grow. If Yamada Nishiki (山田錦) is the King, Aiyama (愛山) should be the Noble.  

Aiyama creates a complex taste of the final brew, which is sometimes referred as “fantasy sake”. Sake-lovers will find their first sip of this special sake a different flavor compared to their 5th sip or even 10th sip of the same bottle. You will indulge in this fantasy tasting of Aiyama-brewed sake.

Kanpai,

Teresake