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PaperclipPerfector  6mo ago (text post)   2925 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for November 17, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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The trick is to find a Japanese friend who enjoys it and asks what's good locally. The national brands (Ozeki, Gekkeikan, etc) are mediocre and overpriced IMO. Assuming you live in greater Tokyo, there's lots of good stuff to choose from depending on your taste. I'm a big fan of dry floral sakes and sakes that you can heat up. If you're not sure what you like, head to brewery that has a tasting.

My "daily driver" is probably Daisekkei -- slightly sweet but not sugar, very delicate aroma, heats well. Delicious on a late summer or eaely autumn day. Now it's getting cold here so it's Nanawarai time -- when heated, it's dry and sharp, almost a bit spicy.

You should also try unfiltered nigorizaki. It's like amazake in thickness, but more alcoholic. Some places also sell "doboroku" which tastes even coarser and is supposedly similar to peasant homebrew sake way back then. Tasty but not something I'd drink every day.

Back in the day I was in a smallish town in Wakayama and they had a local brand called 鶴の滝 or "falling crane" shōchū and I was introduced to it by a woman I worked with. I remember liking it, drinking it お湯割り in winter. My wife's hometown (or near enough) is where they make しろ, which is of course popular nationwide, but they also make all kinds of kuma shōchū (kuma is the place name obviously) and rave about it. The menfolk down there start with beer (never with rice, if you're eating rice you aren't drinking, and vice-versa), then eventually move into shōchū after the first tallboy. I have a friend (American) who swears shōchū is a clean drunk, i.e. he never gets a hangover if he sticks to it. The reason mine (my hangover) was so bad back in the day was probably due to mixing (it was New Years in the Japanese countryside with the whole extended family back so god knows what I actually drank, but really bad sweet Japanese wine was part of it.)

I've had nigorizake and enjoyed it--it was similar in my mind to that Korean makkori but I may be way off. Both were opaque, that might be as far as the similarity goes. I prefer nigori to regular sake actually, but only cold, and in a little box. I've a pair of chokkuri and an o-choko that a ceramic-inclined friend of mine made for me long ago that go to waste most of the time unless I have guests from abroad and want to pretend I'm Anjin-san.

"To health, wealth, and a steady hand."

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