The Winter of 2022 in Japan saw records amounts of snow. Because of that snowfall I decided to cut my trip to Akita prefecture short and head towards Niigata city instead. Even thought it was snowing in Niigata prefecture as well, the news reports showed it was a lot less than in Akita. So I gambled and went to Niigata city. Niigata city was covered in snow as well, so first I hurried towards my hotel. I had a couple of sake places of interest scribbled in my notebook, and while relaxing in my room for the night, I found out that many places decided to close up shop because of the snow. Except for the brewery I am writing about today: Imayo Tsukasa in Niigata City.
Besides the fact that the incredible people of Imayo Tsukasa decided to stay open during the snowstorm, this brewery is within walking distance from Niigata station and you can even easily book an English brewery tour on their website. So, on the day of the tour I traversed the heaps of snow, and after a 10-minute walk I arrived in front of Imayo Tsukasa brewery.
Starting at 14:00, the tour guide took us for a stroll around the brewery. It’s not a big brewery, but it was amazing to walk around all the different areas, especially because they were actually making sake at the time of the tour! Large hoses were lay across the floor, where freshly filtered sake was pumped to giant tanks for maturation. The tour guide explained the process of making sake in great detail, and answered all my questions with much enthusiasm.
Imayo Tsukasa is a brewery that makes sake in both a modern and a traditional way. While walking around the metal fermentation tanks, I was quite surprised to also see cedar fermentation tanks as well. Niigata is well known for their rice production, and this brewery only uses locally grown rice. This gives them a lot of different options for making sake with different kinds of rice, giving the sake a variety of flavours.
The tour takes about 30 minutes to complete, and end with a hallway which displayed old posters, bottles and such. There is also a chance to get your photo taken while wearing a brewer’s happi-coat. Of course, this was something that I couldn’t pass up.
There is a tasting area located in the gift shop. You can’t really miss it. You can taste a couple of sake for free, but the paid tasting is very much worth it! It will give you the ability to try almost all of the sake they produce. From Junmai to Daiginjo, Sparkling to Taruzake and even a Nama sake was available to try!
One to definitely try is their Imayo Tsukasa Koi sake. It’s a Junmai Daiginjo sake, bottled at 17% alcohol in a very eyecathing bottle, styled like a koi carp. It’s a full bodied, fruity sake, and won awards at the International Wine Challenge. Seeing that this sake was over a hundred euro’s a bottle, I felt very lucky to be able to have tried it!
After I was done, it was difficult to choose which bottle I wanted to bring back to my hotel. Every sake was very tasty, but eventually I decided to bring back a bottle of Junmai Ginjo. I hope that every person that reads this blog will remember it if they find themselves in Niigata city. And if so, go book a tour and enjoy their sake!
Imayo Tsukasa
〒950-0074
Niigata, Chuo Ward, 1-1 Kagamigaoka
15 minute walk from Niigata Station
Add a comment