Terada Honke Sake Brewery

I know almost nothing about sake. I’ve been to the sake tastings, have listened to the sake importers, have read the sake introductions, and have taken occasional notes on various bottles over the years; but the details about polishing rates, rice varieties, the mineral content of water and the concept of “dryness” never really added up for me. Partially it’s the language, of course. But I also just couldn’t wrap my ahead around a process that seemed to depend so consistently on added yeast: even the most unfiltered and full-bodied sakes were too clean and polished for me to get excited about. And, to be honest, I was always embarrassed by how difficult it was for me to distinguish one sake from another—it was like listening to the same sonata performed by several different violinists, over and over and over again. (I feel the same way about Champagne, if I'm being honest...)

Anyway, last spring I tasted a sake that totally upended my expectations and made me feel what can I only describe as more alive. It was the Musubi from Terada Honke---slightly fizzy and smelling like sweet lemonade made with over-ripe lemons, and with a whack of volatility that made the whole thing wildly pleasurable and rambunctious. Didn’t taste like sake to me, or like anything else I had ever drank for that matter. But it resonated, and my body hummed with that undefinable but undeniable natty energy.

Turns out that there are sakes made without added yeast, and this Musubi is one of them. A year later, and we have finally received a nice line up of bottles from Terada Honke, who, 30 years ago decided to start making sake according to Medieval methods. Though the analogy is imperfect, this is the closest sake comes to the sort of wines we sell in the shop: all the rice is organically grown on the property (almost unheard of in Japan); the rice is very lightly polished, if at all; the fermentation relies on native yeasts (kimoto or bodaimoto methods) and house-cultivated koji; and nothing is ever pasteurized, diluted or filtered.

The result is a range of beverages unlike anything I have ever tasted: full-bodied and tropical, yet also savory and gluggable. I’ll avoid most of the technical details about the different cuvées and focus mostly on how they taste. But if you are curious to learn more, check out this website for a great introduction to sake production and this website for more details on Terada Honke.

peace and love,

Bradford

Here is what we currently have in stock:

Kaikoshu 2005: Kimoto slow-brewed and then aged for 15 years. The tropical qualities that typify the younger wines have morphed into coffee and cacao-bean vibes. Majestic. $78

Katori 90 Namagen: The Kimoto slow-brew produces this silky sake, the most “balanced” of the bunch, with a deft play between maltiness and ripe orchard fruit. If you want to dip your toe in, this is for you. $32

Shizen no Manma: Kimoto slow-brew produces this highly tropical and lactic sake, with delicate sweetness and acidic zip. Gateway natty sake. $45

Musubi: Unpolished rice, sprouted so that fermentation can occur. This is the sake that freed my mind. But just a warning: Not for tourists! Buckle up! $36

Daigo no Shizuku: Brewed using the ancient Bodaimoto method, balancing ripe papaya sweetness with frenetic acidity. For the lovers. $40