Just Valuing the five tastes
”Banjo Jozo” is a brewery located in Nagoya city, Aichi prefecture. The owner of the brewery inherits the name ”Kuheiji”, and the current 15th generation owner has similarly inherited the name, Kuheiji Kuno. They started brewing ”sake” at the time of the ninth generation Kuheiji. When Nakata made his visit, Kuheiji Kuno explained about the ingredients of ”sake”, the various types of ”sake”, types of ”sake” rice and the ”koji”. In the brewery, he showed us a huge steaming basket used to steam rice. It was custom made by a local carpenter. ”We use only one kind of yeast. Even for ”daiginjo”, we don’t use special yeast or have a special method of storing. The difference between ”daiginjo” and ”ginjo” is how much the rice is polished. Degree of rice polishing influences the acidity of the ”sake”. We do nothing special. We just value the five flavors of the ”sake” itself,” Kuheiji Kuno commented.
Making ”Kamoshibito Kuheiji”
The current ”toji” is Akihiro Sato, a former classmate of Kuheiji Kuno. Sato was an engineer before Kuheiji recruited him into ”sake” making. The brewery is a family owned establishment, but many of their ”kura” workers are still in their twenties.
In 1997, they started selling their premium label, ”Kamoshibito Kuheiji”. As the word ”Kamoshibito” implies, it is a premium ”sake” with a rich aroma and strong taste. It fully expresses the sensitivity of the brewer, and is definitely worth a try.
