Junmaishu Aizu
Clear water and thorough low-temperature management. Brewing sake with a fresh flavor.
At Aizu Shuzo, the next-generation brewery head is steadily emerging.
It has been roughly thirteen years since Keita Watanabe, a graduate of Tokyo University of Agriculture's brewing science program, who also studied at the Fukushima Sake Academy, joined the brewery. He is now fully immersed in the craft of sake brewing.
"I want to make Japan's most delicious sake! I want to create sake that pairs with food and brightens the atmosphere of any gathering. Aizu has the crucial ingredients to make that happen: the water and the rice," Watanabe passionately declares. "Nameless, yet delicious sake. That is my ideal."
His guiding philosophy is that sake with too much overt personality is not something one can drink continuously. Therefore, why shouldn't there be a sake whose very lack of distinct features is, in fact, its greatest feature?
One of the most critical elements, water, is drawn from the brewery's well. This groundwater is an "ultra-soft water" with a hardness of 0.8 to 1. Sake brewed with this water, without exception, possesses a soft mouthfeel, with an umami that gently and smoothly permeates the palate.
It serves as a keen reminder of just how profoundly important water is to the final taste of sake.
Aizu Shuzo