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Fukuoka's 'Biden sake' is becoming popular

Buntaro

運動不足
27 Dec 2003
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"TACHIARAI, Fukuoka Prefecture--When demand suddenly started pouring in for a sake mostly popular with connoisseurs, Tadatsugu Inoue at the Mii no Kotobuki brewery here was baffled.

"But the chief sake brewer soon realized why: the alcoholic beverage is called "Hojo Biden."

"We have always had good fortune," Inoue said of the coincidental, but timely association with President-elect Joe Biden."



 
hojo-biden-sake.jpg


Looks like an honest, reasonable, down-to-earth kind of sake with a hopefully great. Can't wait to try it. ;)
 
"Hojo Biden." is ranked 15th in Fukuoka Prefecture's sake ranking.
That is, there are still many sakes that are better than this one.
The top ranking of sake in Fukuoka Prefecture is "Wakanami".
Kanegae, Okawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Wakanami Sake Brewing Co., Ltd.

And the most delicious sake in Japan is in Yamagata prefecture.
 
In the early 70's , it seemed every bar in Fukuoka had the whiskey with the snake in it. The bottle always had a ton of skin and scale flakes floating around in it and appeared so gross that I never tried it. For military drinkers , absinthe was the dare devil drink. It was served in tiny glasses and just 3 drinks often pet the drinker in a sleep coma for 12 hours or more. After seeing my shipmates so drunk , you couldn't wake them up , I never dared to try it. The rumor was it contained cocaine but it seemed to be the "wormwood" in it that affected the drinker.
 
"Hojo Biden." is ranked 15th in Fukuoka Prefecture's sake ranking.
That is, there are still many sakes that are better than this one.

We were just joking around, Nagashima-san! Although I am sure that the brewery will see an increase in sales. :)

I remember the town of Obama also tried to cash in on their more famous namesake.

Since you seem to into sake, too, I hope you will join @bentenmusume-san and me in expanding our new sake review section:


In the early 70's , it seemed every bar in Fukuoka had the whiskey with the snake in it. The bottle always had a ton of skin and scale flakes floating around in it and appeared so gross that I never tried it. For military drinkers , absinthe was the dare devil drink. It was served in tiny glasses and just 3 drinks often pet the drinker in a sleep coma for 12 hours or more. After seeing my shipmates so drunk , you couldn't wake them up , I never dared to try it. The rumor was it contained cocaine but it seemed to be the "wormwood" in it that affected the drinker.

Isn't absinthe basically herbal brandy? I know it used to be banned in many European countries but it seems to have seen a revival in recent years.
 
Hiroyuki Nagashima said:
"Hojo Biden." is ranked 15th in Fukuoka Prefecture's sake ranking.
That is, there are still many sakes that are better than this one.

The top ranking of sake in Fukuoka Prefecture is "Wakanami".
Kanegae, Okawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Wakanami Sake Brewing Co., Ltd.

I don't mean to disagree with Nagashima-san, but I've enjoyed both 美田/Biden (note that despite the identical spelling, this would be pronounced in Japanese as びでん/bee-den and not ばいでん/bai-den like the president-elect) and the brewery's other offerings like 三井の寿/Mii-no-Kotobuki and they're both quite excellent.

I've enjoyed 若波/Wakanami on many occasions as well, but I don't particularly agree with holding up the results of one site (or even multiple aggregate sites) and declaring that particular brands of sake are "better" than others.

One of the wonderful things about sake is that there are so many breweries across Japan, each offering so many unique varieties, so there really is a sake for all tastes and preferences.

Hiroyuki Nagashima said:
And the most delicious sake in Japan is in Yamagata prefecture.
I suspect you're referring to 十四代/Juyondai here. I will also go on the record as saying that it is indeed an absolutely sublime sake, but (personally speaking) I try to refrain from using words like "best" or "most delicious", as that implies that other sake types are somehow objectively superior or inferior to others, whereas some people might have perfectly valid reasons for preferring different brews.

お酒はやはり趣向品ですから、好みは十人十色で、また気分やシチュエーション、季節によって飲みたいお酒が変わってくることもあるかと思います。
たしかに様々なコンテストやランキングがあって、もちろん参考にしてもいいのですが、飲み手がそのとき、その場面で一番飲みたい銘柄こそが、「一番美味しい」日本酒ではないでしょうか?:giggle:
 
Hahaha. Touché!

Trust me, considering the rough shape breweries and liquor shops/distributors are in these days (by extension given the SoE and its effects on restaurants/izakayas), the last thing I would want to do is disrupt any sales in the sake industry. As far as I'm concerned, they can print Joe Biden's face on the label and declare it the unofficial sake of the 2021 presidential inauguration if it'll help them move a few more bottles. :LOL:

I'll do my part by adding that if anyone out there is looking for another similarly timely sake to enjoy, Houou Biden/鳳凰美田 from Kobayashi Shuzo in Tochigi (just north of Tokyo) is also excellent.

 
I also live in Fukuoka so I'm drinking.:giggle:

By the way, for 焼酎(shochu),
"百年の孤独(100 years of loneliness)" is recommended.
It's expensive and hard to get.:ROFLMAO:
The brewer is Kuroki Honten Co., Ltd. in Miyazaki Prefecture.
 
I'm more of a sake drinker, but one of my friends who is into shochu let me try Hyakunen-no-kodoku one time, and I can agree with Nagashima-san that it is sublime.

Fukuoka is a wonderful city and great place to go drinking with all of the 屋台 (street stalls) and tucked-away restaurants, so I envy you. :giggle:
I'm looking forward to going back someday when the pandemic is mercifully over.
 
Speaking of obama there is also obama onsen in unzen area Nagasaki. That also had many signs with obama and I still have some obama towels from there. Obama Fukui (which I have not been to) had more attention in the media I think.

I am down with sake but I actually like shochu better probably as that is what got busted out at family events.

Another weird thing you may not know about Fukuoka is ice skating goes on there. One of my cousin in law was an olympic figure skater now coach, her daughter does ice shows in Fukuoka.
 
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