What is Kijoshu ?

Sake is made with only three ingredients: rice, rice koji and water. Kijoshu replaces some or all of the water with finished sake. Usually in sake brewing, each ingredient is divided into three and added separately in stages to create the starter mash that enables fermentation. Kijoshu typically adds two parts water but substitutes the third for sake. This of course makes it more expensive than other sake.
 
During sake brewing, yeasts break down the sugar in the rice and convert it to alcohol. When sake is added in place of water, the additional alcohol causes the yeast to become less active. This means the mash will contain additional sugar, making kijoshu sweeter than regular sake.
 
When drinking kijoshu consider imbibing it as an aperitif, or digestif. Small quantities sipped slowly.
 
Kijoshu has not been around long (although some sources dispute this). 1973 is the official date of inception. It was developed by The National Research Institute of Brewing .
 

At SuperSake we have three Kijoshu. Gozenshu is the most approachable and the least sweet. The Niida Honke is on the sweet side (and glorious to taste we might add). The most exotic is the Imada. The batch we have is the first ever produced. The price in Japan of subsequent releases are much more expensive. The sake added in the final stage is 30 year old daiginjo. Fantastic.




Gozenshu Head toji Maiko Tsuji second from left. Kuramoto Soichiro Tsuji second from right.


Very limited only 6 bottles left
Imada Fukucho Legacy 500ml




An island in the inland Seto sea near Imada Fukucho shuzo

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/miho-imada-sake

 Limited
Niida Honke Kijoshu 2020 720ml

Different ages of Niida Honke Kijoshu.



 




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