Higashiyama Konteki Tokubetsu Junmai

Higashiyama's Konteki Tokubetsu Junmai (東山酒造 特別純米酒 坤滴) is made of Yamadanishiki milled to 60%. For Konteki, the brewery uses specially cultivated Yamadanishiki rice from Tanaka Masayasu (田中正保) in Tottori Prefecture, resulting in a rich and aromatic taste. Konteki (坤滴) is the flagship brand of Higashiyama Shuzō.

Higashiyama Shuzō is located in the south of Kyōto. The master brewer Hosaka Yasuo (保坂康夫) is a Nanbu tōji (one of the three primary Japanese sake schools). He has more than forty years of experience making sake; he and his team respect the traditional style of sake brewing. The brewery produces four brands: Konteki (坤滴), Rosanjin (魯山人), Rikugen (六玄), and Rakuden (洛伝). Holistically, they all taste very classical and authentic.

Each rice variety has its characteristic flavour, and Higashiyama Shuzō tries to bring that out in their products: Konteki uses specially cultivated Yamadanishiki rice from Tottori Prefecture for Konteki, Rosanjin uses Iwai rice from Kyōto Prefecture for Rosanjin. Those distinctions help establish the differences among the brands. As the brewery filters its sake gently to maintain the original sake flavour, it is not transparent but light amber.

Thanks to its pure spring water called Fushimizu, Fushimi is a famous region for sake brewing. Fushimizu springs from the same water source as the famous Fushimi no Gokōsui (伏見の御香水), selected as the best of the 100 water sources in Japan. It is medium hard water, containing a well-balanced amount of potassium and calcium, which allows for sake fermentation at low temperatures. Eighty per cent of sake is water, so Fushimizu is an essential ingredient for Higashiyama Shuzō's sake.