Guest blogger Kevin Vercrouse is the manager of one of our Naples stores. He recently traveled to California to visit some wineries...and Sake maker Takara.

We started our California experience crossing the Bay Bridge into Berkeley, California, for the Takara Sake House.  We headed upstairs where we met with our guides Hidetaka “Tak” Iinuma and Kenzo Shimotori.  Our tour started with a quick 15 minute video on how Sake is made before a tasting and a tour of the facility.

After the video we were treated to sushi, with Sake paired by the experts who make the Sake itself.  The Sake was paired very well, the food was excellent, and we tried Sake from both the plant we were visiting and the plant in Nada, Japan. 

One thing I learned was that Sake served warm needs to be warmed to perfection.  At the local Japanese steak houses I’ve been to, they place the Sake pot on the grill for the whole dinner, and I have never really enjoyed the Sake. I learned that this method of serving would cause the Sake to lose most of its flavor, hurting its appeal to the consumers.  With the experts heating it, there was a noticeable difference, and it might possibly now make it onto my table at home.  Another interesting part of the lunch was the Mio, sparkling Sake.  This Sake is brand new; very light, fruity, and quite interesting.

Lunch was followed by another video, this one very in-depth about the Sake process.  Our guide to this video was the Takara Sake House Toji.  Toji is the title for the head Sake brewer.  This would be the person deciding when the Sake is ready for the public.  The video was then followed by a tour of the brewery and warehouse. 

Brown Rice, known as Sakamai, is the rice used in the production of Sake.  The grains of this rice are much larger and softer than the rice we eat.   Takara purchases all of its rice, with twelve tons delivered every day.    

The next step is milling and polishing the rice.  This is done to remove the surface of the rice, which contains proteins and fat that are harmful to the flavor of the Sake. Premium Sake must be milled anywhere from 30 to 60 percent of its original size.  Takara takes pride in making sure all the imperfections are removed so they mill at least 70 percent of the original size.  The rice is then washed to remove any residue left in the milling process.  After being washed the rice is soaked in water, since Sake is made up of 80 percent water this is very important.  The time the rice is soaked is up to the Toji: it could be minutes or it could be overnight.  Steaming the rice is the next step; this helps to facilitate the work of the Koji and sake yeast.  Koji is an enzyme that is added to the rice; it converts the starch to glucose.  

The rice with the Koji (Koji Rice) is now put in a big vat with Sake yeast. This is called the Moromi or “Main Mash.”  The Sake yeast eats the glucose, producing alcohol.  Sake is unique among fermented beverages because saccharization and fermentation occur simultaneously, yielding Sake with 20 percent alcohol. We had the privilege to try the Moromi; it is very creamy, not something
I would highly recommend. The final product is much better.  After fermentation the Sake is pressed separating the fresh Sake from the Moromi. The clear liquid is now filtered, removing excess proteins and starch. 

The Sake is then pasteurized and placed outside in tanks to age for 3 to 6 months.  The reason Takara built its Sake house in Berkeley was for the cool breeze off the San Francisco Bay.  They age all their Sake outside, saving on the cost to keep the tanks cool enough. They age the Sake in very tall tanks, the tallest Berkeley would allow, and from the top of the tanks you have a beautiful view of the Bay!

Now that the Sake has been aged, it’s time to ship them to stores.  Production at Takara is about 2000 cases a day. They ship most of what is made daily; they don’t warehouse very much product.  What is shocking is that six employees make all that Sake.  Another very interesting thing to me was the fact that at random steps there was a woman who checks every batch to make sure it meets Takara’s high standards.

Before we left the Sake house we had a few minutes to look at their museum of 19^th century Sake-making equipment. They have the whole process and everything used in the process in this museum.