After writing the last post I decided I wanted to write about another amazing place in Niigata. This place is a must visit for every sake lover, and it is conveniently located in Niigata station itself. This place is called Ponshukan, a sake store which has a lot of locally produced sake. That may not sound that special, but this place also has a tasting area, where you can try over 100 different kinds of sake!
I once described the tasting area of Ponshukan like the FEBO of sake to my friends. For non-Dutch people: the FEBO is a snack bar famous here in the Netherlands for being able to get pre-fried snack from the ‘wall’. This ‘wall’ is a big vending machine like contraption where you put in some money, grab the food and enjoy a quick snack without any hassle. Ponshukan has a similar concept: you can try a lot of different sake by placing a cup in one of the machines that line the wall, put in some money and you can try your sake!
Ponshukan is located near the South Exit of Niigata station. Locating this store is quite easy: look for the statue of a man wearing a blue coat and holding a sake bottle in the air. Enter the store and walk all the way to the back. There you can enter the tasting area.
At the counter you will get instructions on how to use the machines, you will get a small cup for trying sake and you are able to buy coins for the machines. The giant wall of sake vending machines might looks quite intimidating, but thankfully the machines have both Japanese and English writing one them. The sake at the tasting area are all from breweries that are located in Niigata prefecture. Seeing as Niigata is a big producer of rice, it is not out of the ordinary that there are quite a lot of breweries there as well.
The machine will list the type of sake, a QR code with brewery information and a general idea of the flavour profile of the sake. If you are still unable to decide which sake you would like to try, around Ponshukan you can find a Top 10 ‘Most popular sake’ list, and also a Top 10 ‘Staff recommendations’ list.
500 yen will get you five coins. Most sake will cost you one coins but there are sake that will cost up to 3 coins. Take your time to find a sake that sounds interesting, and take your time tasting them. If you are a fan of warm sake, no problem! Near the counter there is a tub of warm water where you can place your cup to warm it up. It’s worth a shot to try the sake both cold and warm!
The available sake that are able to be tasted will rotate every once in a while. When I was there, I tried many different ones, but there were a couple that stood out to me. One of them was a sake from Fukugao Brewery that was ripened in Whisky barrels. Even though it was a Futshu-shu, it was quite complex. The combination of both sake and whisky flavours made me want more. And thankfully, the sake are of course sold in the shop. Just remembers the number of the machine, and looks for it while browsing the shop itself. Ponshukan has everything a sake fan would need: glasses, cups, books and of course a wide selection of sake.
Ponshukan is a very fun experience for all sake fans and I would recommend everyone to visit it if you are in Niigata. There are many sake to try, so take you time and enjoy. Let me know your recommendations below in the comments, so I can hopefully try them as well the next time I’ll visit.
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