Sake Brewery launches
Spring is on the horizon, signaling new beginnings. Seed packets are showing up in grocery stores along with bright and cheery flowering primulas — irresistible for a bit of needed colour — and wineries are busy pruning vines in preparation of this year’s bud break. We’ll be seeing a few new restaurants, and key changes in the coming months, including several wineries that have changed hands. Stay tuned.
And in the local brewing industry comes not another line of craft beers, but sake.
Welcome Kizuna Sake, the Okanagan’s first sake brewery. Spearheaded by entrepreneur and restaurateur Tatsuo Kan of
Kojo’s fame, alongside sake master Yoshiaki Kasugai, the project has been quietly in the works since last year, as the two worked out the nuances of the business, while perfecting their product. Based in Penticton and launched this past January, Kizuna produces five styles of sake and they’re quickly making their way into the hands of bartenders, Michelin-star chefs in Vancouver, and independent liquor stores.
Kan and Yoshi, as they are known, met while the latter was making sake in Richmond and supplying Kan’s restaurants with the koji for his menu’s ramen broths and teriyaki marinades. The two forged a friendship and business relationship, and when the Richmond business came up for sale, the transition to the Okanagan seemed right. (Even though Yoshi had offers from New York and Dubai to make sake, it was Kan’s passion for creating a sake product just clicked with Yoshi.)
Sake, pronounced sah-kay, is a traditional alcoholic beverage in Japan, and enjoyed from small cups. It’s meant for sipping, not shooting (it’s not cheap tequila) and while it’s traditionally served with Japanese cuisine, it can be enjoyed with many types of foods.
Some mass-produced sakes have the addition of distilled alcohol, and you may be familiar with those, often served hot in sushi restaurants. Kizuna is different. This is pure sake made from rice, water, koji (fermented rice) and yeast, with no nasty headache-producing additions.
Fermented in stainless steel tanks, the elixir takes around two months from start to finish. The quality of rice is also important in sake making and Kizuna uses California rice polished to 60 percent, a ratio known for producing a finer, smoother flavour profile. Water quality is also important in sake production, and the hardness of our region’s water adds a perfect note of minerality. “This is art,” says Kan.
I was recently privy to a private tour and tasting at Kizuna’s Penticton production facility, sampling their lineup of five handcrafted sakes. Junmai, one of my favourites, is full-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and delicate floral aromas, excellent with sashimi or sushi.
The Nigori, which literally means “cloudy” is a rustic, unfiltered sake. It’s delicately sweet with a fruity nose that would pair well with spicy foods, such as Kojo’s red spicy ramen with crispy tonkatsu chicken, or (as Kan recently enjoyed it) with red-sauce pizza.
Next was their Sparkling sake, also unfiltered and naturally fermented, producing delicate, elegant and refreshing bubbles with a brioche-like flavour profile — a great aperitif — perfect with oysters on the half shell, and a product I can envision pairing with ripe Okanagan orchard fruit for a riff on Kir Royale.
The Shizuku is a premium sake, using the free-run collected from what drips through the unpressed hanging sake bags. This unique and unusual process takes five hours to collect from each bag and the result is an elixir both elegant and complex with a creamy mouthfeel and very clean smooth finish.
For “dessert” comes Kizuna XO, with a higher alcohol content of 14 percent. Its warm caramel colour comes not from resting in oak — as you might expect — but through temperature changes and time during fermentation. Smooth and delicately sweet, it reminded me of Gjetost cheese, that caramelized cheese from Norway — absolutely delicious.
For those that prefer no alcohol, check out Kojo’s Amazake, a superfood made from fermented rice and water, and also made at the brewery. Drink it as-is or add it to smoothies or salad dressings.
While Kizuna’s license to sell their sakes was approved this past January, their tasting license and license to sell their product at Kojo’s and Koya is still in the works. In the meantime, you can find a few of their sakes in Penticton at JAK’S, Martin Street Liquor Merchants and Fairview Liquor Store, or check out their website for more information, kizunasake.com
As they toast in Japanese, kampai!
With fork and pen in hand, and a passion for culinary adventure, Shelora Sheldan, writer, cook and curious traveller, goes in
search of the delectable.