Aramasa Private Lab Amaneko (13th Gen) 亜麻猫 Spark Junmai 60% Seimai Buai

Rice - Akita Local 🌾
Prefecture - Akita 秋田県
Brewery - Aramasa Shuzo 新政酒造
Alcohol - 12%
Color - Cloudy
Aroma - Muscat 🍇, Citrus, 🍐, Calpis
Taste - Light
Umami - Light
First impression - Fresh, Sparkling
Body - Light
Sweetness - Medium
Tail/length - Short
🍐 🍐 🍐 🍊 🍊 🍊
Notes - As I always said, “Everytime should be an Aramasa Time.” I have always enjoyed Aramasa 🍶 and felt that I have not gotten enough of them as it is extremely difficult to get hold of 1 even in 🇯🇵. I have only seen them in restaurants or izakayas but never in a bottle shop. Was having dinner @ushigoro_yakiniku at Ginza and this was probably the only 🍶 that caught my attention. It is not my first time trying the Amaneko Spark as I have had that in Singapore last year and have also posted it on my IG. The Amaneko Spark is a spin off from the regular Amaneko Sake and is an active cloudy unpasteurized sake that undergoes secondary fermentation in the bottle. You need to be careful when opening it as 1/3 of the content will burst out if you just open the cap all at once. The technique here is to open the cap, let the gas escape a bit, closed the cap and do this repeatedly until the content do not gash out when it is fully opened. This 🍶 is brewed using white koji (Shochu Koji) on top of regular sake koji and white koji produces a lot of critic acid which explains the sourness. The finishing is crisp and very sharp.

As the 🍶 is naturally sour, it is awesome to go with yakiniku where the 🥩 is cooked to perfection over a stove directly in front of you. I always felt that I need something sparkling or sour to reset my palate whenever I am eating a lot of 🥩 so that I can taste the difference between the different parts of the 🐮 that I ordered. The bubbly feeling also helps to get me ready for more 🥩.

An excellent 🍶 from Aramasa.