Have you ever wondered where to find the best saké in Toronto? Compared with New York and many US cities, Toronto’s selection isn’t amazing, but compared with Toronto, Montreal’s selection is junk.
So every time I visit TO, I pick up a couple bottles you can’t find in Montreal. And the last time I went, I spent a day running around the city, from Spadina and King all the way up to Finch. The sakés I’m looking for are generally Junmai Daigingo sakés, the saké thought to be the highest quality with the rice milled very fine so that it takes much more rice to make a batch – kind of like how it takes far more grapes to make ice wine than table wine. They usually have a purer, cleaner taste, with less of a yeasty aroma.
But that doesn’t mean they’re always better. Sometimes you want a floral or fruity aroma (lychee or Asian pear, anyone?) or a sweeter taste, or even a creamy texture of a nigori (unfiltered) saké. As with wine, there’s a saké for every occasion, and you wouldn’t waste a great Junmai Daigingo on a takeout Thai. It just wouldn’t stand up to the spices. But how about a sparkling saké? Sure!
And as there are wines for everyday drinking, there are sakés for everyday drinking. When I had the Hakutsuru draft saké on Japan Airlines for the first time, I realized it was much better than the Hakutsuru draft I’d had in Canada (maybe it’s like guiness – thought to be better in Ireland).
On the plane, it came in a can (another thing I thought it’d have working against it, but didn’t) and there was a freshness to it. It wasn’t too sweet or too dry. Turns out that the can is to shield it from light, which can affect the taste.
The main difference, I think, is that it was a nama saké, an unpasteurized saké, which to some makes it a health product. Instead of being pasteurized to destroy any potentially harmful bacteria picked up during fermentation (saké ferments like a beer), it’s a living product. It should be stored in the fridge once opened. Actually, it should be in a fridge when purchased, but it seems than bottling reduces this need(?) as this nama saké I found in Toronto does not say to keep refrigerated.
With a higher alcohol percentage than wine, maybe it’s more stable? You don’t need to keep liquors in the fridge, but you should for fortified wines like vermouth (though most people don’t), which makes me think it more of a freshness factor than a safety factor.
All that to say I wanted to compare these two new products for part 1 of my extensive Toronto saké trials. The Nishinoseki Durama Cup Saké on the left is a pasteurized Junmai saké with no addition liquor added (aka undiluted). The Kikusui “Funaguchi” saké on the right is a Nama Genshu (unpasteurized, undiluted) saké.
Both are only made with water, rice and koji. But the Durama is much lower alcohol, which you definitely taste. It’s more refreshing, though not as healthy (all those good gut bacteria, including Bacillus, Staphylococcus and Lactobacillus that aren’t lost to pasteurization). It’s easy drinking. But the Kikusui is a bit sweeter and has more flavour overall (more microbes mean more flavour!).
These should both be drank cold. They go great with rice or anything soy or teriyaki sauced. Just stay away from sushi rice, since the theory is that the vinegar in sushi rice conflicts with the saké. But hey, no one’s watching.
The Kikusui nama draft isn’t available at the LCBO yet, but expect it soon.
Coming up in Part 2 of the Toronto saké hunt, some of those high quality Junmai Daigingos I mentioned…
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