While Japan's national beverage has been steadily losing ground in its home country, at least as far as annual output is concerned, it seems to garner a growing audience around the globe, with several breweries overseas attracting the attention of renowned Japanese brewmasters. It is no wonder that the last few years have seen the publication of several exceptional books dedicated to sake, and each of them appeared to be the ultimate authority on the subject. Nancy Matsumoto and Michael Tremblay raised the bar with this beautiful compendium that's insightful and exhausting to both the novice and those who have already embarked on their journey to sake wisdom.
The 256-page tome starts with a sake primer that covers everything you need to know: the definition of sake, sake rice, the importance of water quality, the brewing methods, grades and styles, serving temperature, tasting methods, storage, food pairing, and much more. Each topic is concise and accompanied by highly instructive imagery and graphics. This introduction alone is worth its money.
The actual book consists of two parts: Part I ("Rice, Water, Earth") is broken down into 14 chapters, each of which sheds light on crucial aspects of sake culture: on high-grade rice varieties such as Yamada Nishiki and Omachi and other heirloom rice strains, on the birth of Ginjō sake, on the mysteries and misconceptions behind rice polishing, on hard and soft water and the craze about the water of Nishinomiya called miyamizu, on terroir, and the latest trend, organic sake.
Part II ("The Alchemists: Yeast, Mold, Makers and Cooks") has nine chapters expanding on yeast makers, mould merchants, master brewers, and the new collectives with a short history of the famous sake gilds as well as an exciting glimpse on female master brewers such as Moriki Rumiko (of Moriki Brewery in Iga), Hino Mariko (of Shusen Kurano in Nagano), Okazaki Midori (of Okazaki Brewery), and several others. Today, some sixty female tōji are registered in the Women in Sake-Brewing Association. The book concludes with insights into Japan's sake bars and bartenders, a mouth-watering section on succulent recipes matched with their perfect sake, and a look at international sake brewers inspiring their Japanese counterparts.
Authoritative, entertaining, passionate, and full of vivid anecdotes - if there were one sake book I'd bring to the proverbial desert island, it would be this one.
