Savoring Japan One Sip at a Time
While hiking an ancient Japanese pilgrimage trail, one Member found enlightenment of a different kind.
Charles Stewart had to travel a long road before he discovered one of his passions in life. The cybersecurity expert and former executive with the tech security firm FireEye was walking Shikoku’s famous 88-temple pilgrimage route when he became intrigued by sake, Japan’s oldest libation.
The American had enjoyed Japanese beer and whisky, but he knew little about premium sake. That changed after he sampled some in Ehime Prefecture and later heard about a sake appreciation course by Briton Rod Walters, a teacher with the Sake Sommelier Association. Stewart returned to Matsuyama to take the class and developed a taste for fine sake.
“I got an interest in it to use it for business, so it’s a great way to entertain clients by introducing a nice sake or going on a brewery tour together. It’s a way to build a relationship,” says Stewart, who originally came to Japan with the US Navy and joined the Club in 2012.
Stewart has since immersed himself in the subject of sake through brewery visits, festivals and classes. He has also become a certified sake sommelier himself and shares information about his hobby on Twitter, where he’s known as the Sake Sipster.
Keen to help promote a struggling industry (sake consumption in Japan has dropped by more than half since 1989 and now accounts for less than 7 percent of all alcohol drunk), Stewart chipped in to a crowdfunding campaign for a band of young sake enthusiasts in Gunma Prefecture. The group’s sake sampler set, called Wakaze, was fully funded and the brewers aim to sell the sets in France.
“I’m not a big drinker, but I love to do tastings, whether it’s craft beer or whisky or sake. These guys are putting their heart and soul into these products,” says Stewart, who received a tour of Hijiri brewery in Gunma, which dates back to 1841, and made some new sake friends.
Choosing a brand of sake can be daunting to newbies, especially when having to navigate terms like junmai daiginjo, a refined sake classification that refers to the ingredients (rice, koji fungi and water) and the amount of milling performed on the rice.
Some sake offers fruitier notes of melon while others taste earthier. Stewart, who turns 47 this month, prefers his sake on the dry side and his favorite labels include Harushika from Nara Prefecture. He says he is often asked for sake recommendations and suggests people experiment at the stylish Dassai 23 Bar near Tokyo Station.
“Go for a ginjo, that’s the easiest way to find something you’ll be able to drink, then a daiginjo or a junmai daiginjo. Make sure it’s a premium sake,” he advises. “If you can’t tell one sake from the next, I would say, ‘Let’s go sake drinking, and you’ll understand.’”
Words Tim Hornyak
Image Shinichiro Higuchi
