Tales of Sake Abuse
A friend and fellow SPC alumni shared with me this woeful tale, from down under- Melbourne, Australia, to be exact.
WARNING: This account contains language and images of a graphic nature. Reader discretion is advised.
Probably not. I should just move to Japan, then right?
Well, I don't think that we outside of Japan should be forced to accept these kinds of situations.
And it is reasonable to complain because this is not cheap stuff, and the brewer who brought this sake to life would probably be pretty miffed if he or she knew it was being treated so roughly. Not to mention the farmer, kurabito and everyone else who helped bring this sake to us.
Well then, who is to blame?
That probably depends on where you live, and where exactly you got the sake from.
While we in the U.S. are one of the biggest destinations for the export of sake from Japan, it can be something of a double edged sword for us in that yes, there is a fair amount of premium sake, but a dearth of folks who know how to care for it.
Here in the States, sake goes through the three tier system. Which means that if you are lucky enough to get the good stuff where you live, it means that your sake, after leaving Japan, has been in the hands of an importer, a distributor, and then a restaurant or retailer, and finally, you.
There might even be a fourth tier. I'm looking into this as we speak.
And, the sad part is, caring for sake is not exactly rocket science, according to the list of NoNo's:
The Sake Storage NoNo's:
No direct sunlight!
No overly warm storage temperatures!
No temperature fluctuations!
No open bottles for over a week!
So, as you can see, taking care of sake doesn't require anything too extreme (excluding namazake). But, each time the bottles change hands, there is the chance for one of these NoNo's to happen.
In an ideal world, each of these groups of people who bring us sake would know and respect these bottles like the liquid treasures they are. But do they? Not always. Not where I live, and not in Australia, as my friend above relates. There is an information gap.
Also, there is the consideration that, while demand for premium sake is on the rise, its my experience that some importers, brokers or distributors have over bought, leaving them with boxes of stuff in their warehouse that they try to pass on to (what they hope to be) ignorant customers. They bought speculatively and are now left with old inventory, and the seller is left with this kind of "accidental Koshu." It just happens.
The seller might care, or not care. I've heard of cases of both. Add to this the fact that some importers deliberately ask for bottles from the brewery WITHOUT DATES!
In some cases, all one can hope for is that the last link in the supply chain, the retailer or restaurant is diligent in monitoring the quality of what they are sent, and that they accept returns and notify the distributor when a bad bottle does slip out their doors.
Some restaurants and retailers think that their customers don't know better and sell the old stuff. Truly sad : (
What can we do as consumers?
For one, you can look at the date on the bottle, if there is one. If there are multiple bottles on the shelf, chose the most recent one, of course.
If you are buying by the glass at a bar or restaurant, ask to see the bottle.
Unless it is Koshu, a good rule of thumb should be no older than 18 months.
And, as the saying goes, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." If we are to expect that retailers, restaurants, importers, distributors and everyone else is to treat sake better, we must complain when we come across a bad bottle.
Make your voice heard.
Thanks again to Byron for sharing his tale and for giving the shopkeeper his due for trying foist off bad sake.
WARNING: This account contains language and images of a graphic nature. Reader discretion is advised.
"Here is a story of bitter disappointment. I went to a Sake retailer the other day (who I have purchased from occasionally) and bought a bottle of one of my personal favourite Sake, the Yuki no Bousha Junmai Ginjo. $80 a bottle in Australia. So I get it home, take off its lovely outer paper package and look to see the bottling date was 2008! The Sake hadn't been stored in cool temps either. So I crack it open and its a nasty brown colour with some strange sediment in it. It was like drinking household cleaner... so acidic and absolutely no flavour.
This is a major issue here in Australia I realised. I went around to a few retailers after and they were all selling bottles 2-3+ years old and none were being sold from a cool storage all were sitting on open shelves, some in windows with lots of sun hitting them.
Sake is never going to be a success internationally if people are spending $80 on premium grade sake and getting something 5 years old that tastes like lighter fluid. This is so irresponsible of the importer and the retailer... and its going to effect Sake overall.
So in the interest of preserving my favourite beverage's reputation... I went and spoke to the manager... gave a little polite mini lecture... he smiled and nodded, didn't offer me a refund and still after 3 more weeks has all his Sake sitting on a shelf in the window of his shop with a kitchen right next door that is cooking hot food all day.
This is something I think is going to be pretty common internationally because people are not educated about Sake."
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| photo credit: Byron Bowman Kehoe |
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Anybody who has had that experience of opening a bottle of the premium stuff, something you might've shelled out the better part of a day's pay for, something the toji and kurabito took great in nurturing into existence, took and expectant sniff, and ---@#%t! HINE -KA!!!
NOT AGAIN!
You know what I mean?
Now, now on one hand, it's hard to complain. This sake has come a long way. Can you really expect it to taste like it took a 2 hour truck ride from Nagano to your table?
Probably not. I should just move to Japan, then right?
Well, I don't think that we outside of Japan should be forced to accept these kinds of situations.
And it is reasonable to complain because this is not cheap stuff, and the brewer who brought this sake to life would probably be pretty miffed if he or she knew it was being treated so roughly. Not to mention the farmer, kurabito and everyone else who helped bring this sake to us.
Well then, who is to blame?
That probably depends on where you live, and where exactly you got the sake from.
While we in the U.S. are one of the biggest destinations for the export of sake from Japan, it can be something of a double edged sword for us in that yes, there is a fair amount of premium sake, but a dearth of folks who know how to care for it.
Here in the States, sake goes through the three tier system. Which means that if you are lucky enough to get the good stuff where you live, it means that your sake, after leaving Japan, has been in the hands of an importer, a distributor, and then a restaurant or retailer, and finally, you.
There might even be a fourth tier. I'm looking into this as we speak.
And, the sad part is, caring for sake is not exactly rocket science, according to the list of NoNo's:
The Sake Storage NoNo's:
No direct sunlight!
No overly warm storage temperatures!
No temperature fluctuations!
No open bottles for over a week!
So, as you can see, taking care of sake doesn't require anything too extreme (excluding namazake). But, each time the bottles change hands, there is the chance for one of these NoNo's to happen.
In an ideal world, each of these groups of people who bring us sake would know and respect these bottles like the liquid treasures they are. But do they? Not always. Not where I live, and not in Australia, as my friend above relates. There is an information gap.
Also, there is the consideration that, while demand for premium sake is on the rise, its my experience that some importers, brokers or distributors have over bought, leaving them with boxes of stuff in their warehouse that they try to pass on to (what they hope to be) ignorant customers. They bought speculatively and are now left with old inventory, and the seller is left with this kind of "accidental Koshu." It just happens.
The seller might care, or not care. I've heard of cases of both. Add to this the fact that some importers deliberately ask for bottles from the brewery WITHOUT DATES!
In some cases, all one can hope for is that the last link in the supply chain, the retailer or restaurant is diligent in monitoring the quality of what they are sent, and that they accept returns and notify the distributor when a bad bottle does slip out their doors.
Some restaurants and retailers think that their customers don't know better and sell the old stuff. Truly sad : (
What can we do as consumers?
For one, you can look at the date on the bottle, if there is one. If there are multiple bottles on the shelf, chose the most recent one, of course.
If you are buying by the glass at a bar or restaurant, ask to see the bottle.
Unless it is Koshu, a good rule of thumb should be no older than 18 months.
And, as the saying goes, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." If we are to expect that retailers, restaurants, importers, distributors and everyone else is to treat sake better, we must complain when we come across a bad bottle.
Make your voice heard.
Thanks again to Byron for sharing his tale and for giving the shopkeeper his due for trying foist off bad sake.
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