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Dassai is the most famous and popular sake brand in China.
It is considered the "Rafi" of sake and has topped the sake popularity list for 6 consecutive years, and this list was selected by the most influential sake website in Japan, "Nihon Sake Monogatari Basic".
It is Japan's state dinner wine and was used to entertain former U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many big-name merchants also use otter festivals as official activities, such as the well-known clothing brand Uniqlo, the world's largest musical instrument manufacturer Yamaha, high-end car brand Mercedes-Benz and so on.
Those who know the otter festival also know that it likes to name the wine by number, such as 23, 39, 45, 50, etc. What do these numbers represent, and what is the difference between these wines?
1. What is the meaning of the numbers 23, 39, 45, 50?
Sake is brewed from rice and water, and these two ingredients have a profound impact on the quality and flavor of sake.
The numbers 23, 39, 45, and 50 of the Otter Festival are related to sake-brewed rice.
Sake-brewed rice is different from the rice we usually eat. In Japan, about 95% of the rice is commonly eaten, and about 5% of the rice used for sake brewing, of which 1% is called Shuzo-Kotekimai, also known as high-quality sake rice.
Sake rice has a central white, peripheral translucent structure, because the starch of the rice grains is concentrated in the middle of the sake rice grains, while the outer layer is fat and protein; compared with ordinary rice, fat, protein and starch Are more mixed, more evenly distributed, and the color of the rice grains is more consistent.
This structure of sake rice is important because what is needed to produce sake is the starch in the center (this part is very absorbent and easily absorbs the koji into the interior), while fat and protein need to be removed. The only remaining "heart white" after polishing allows sake to taste optimally and will have fruit aromas such as bananas and apples.
Before the Japanese brew a sake, the first step is to grind rice, grinding away the "rough" part of the outermost layer of rice. The degree of grinding rice is expressed by "polished rice step", the outer layer of rice is ground off 60%, the polished rice step is 40%; grinding off 70%, polished rice step is 30%.
Obviously, the Otter Festival 23, 39, 45, 50, the meaning of which is that these alcohol rice steps are 23%, 39%, 45% and 50% respectively.
In traditional Japanese, "a few cuts" is also used to indicate the polished rice step, such as "three cuts and nine points" is 39% of the polished rice step, and "two cuts and three points" means 23% of the polished rice step.
It is generally believed that the smaller the step value of polished rice, the greater the difficulty of grinding rice, and the higher the grade of sake (excluding special circumstances). When the outer layer of rice is ground more, the slower the milling speed and the easier it is for the grains to break. Broken rice is bad for sake brewing and needs to be cleaned up so that there are fewer parts that can be used for sake brewing.
According to the brewing ingredients and the step of polished rice, sake can be roughly divided into 8 grades, from highest to lowest:
2. What is the difference between Otter Festival 23, 39, 45, 50?
01. The status of wine
Otter Festival 23 is the distillery's high-end range, which includes regular products (the first 3 items listed below) and limited products:
Otter Sacrifice Mill Pioneer Two Cut Three Points
This is the highest masterpiece of the Otter Festival brand, which was born at the end of 2012. The reason for its introduction is that since the advent of the Otter Festival, Japanese sake breweries have successively launched top works of highly refined rice brewing, breaking through the polished rice step to less than 10%. After the otter festival was not willing to be accepted, it took 10 years to develop this "Otter Festival Mo き その先へ" and regarded it as the ideal form of high-precision rice works.
Although it is also marked as two or three points, it does not disclose its true polished step. Everyone speculates that this polished rice step is definitely more than 23%, and as brands such as Laifu, Shou Gui, and Bole Xing vigorously challenge the lowest record of polished rice steps, there is no reason for the otter festival to stop.
Otter Sacrifice Distant Heart Separation Two Cut Three Points
The upgraded version of the otter festival is the same as the fermentation and brewing method, and the polished rice is the same, the only difference is that the method of "far-reaching separation" is used to squeeze the wine.
In the past, otter sacrifices used a continuous vertical press (Yabuta), although the pressing speed was very fast, but in the process of applying pressure, a part of the rice residue flowed into the wine, and the taste of the wine changed. The most advanced of the traditional methods of sake pressing is the bag hanging method, although no pressure is applied, but because it takes a long time, it will cause the sake to produce a subtle oxidation reaction.
The telecentric separator combines the advantages of both by rotating the 600L mash at a high speed for 1 hour (about 2,700 rpm) to separate the meal and the liquor, creating an elegant aroma without damaging the taste of the wine. Due to the high cost, only a very small number of wineries in Japan have this technology.
20%30% of the Festival
This is the wine that made the otter festival famous, born in 1992.
The original idea of the sake brewery was to make 25% pure rice daisyaki sake, genmi has entered the polishing machine, but I happened to hear that a large sake brewery was selling 24% of the pure rice daisin sake, so I quickly asked the staff in charge of polished rice to grind out 2% more. It has taken 6 days and nights to grind from the beginning of the genmi mill to the 25% of the polished rice, but it will take 24 hours to grind away the extra 2%. To make this wine, the step of polishing rice alone took 168 hours.
20%3 minutes of hot sake
In 2017, otter festival launched a two-cut three-point specially designed for warm drinks, in order to cope with the obvious problem of alcohol choking after sake is heated, the alcohol content is also relatively low, only about 13% abv. Generally, high-end pure rice gin brew is suitable for ice cold drinking, but this one is specially made into a "hot drink version", which is very rare!
20%3 mins, Hayada
To celebrate the collaboration between the famous fashion design brand Anna Sui and fashion designer Yamamoto Kansai, Otter Festival has launched a special packaging limited edition "Otter Festival Hayata" specially designed by Yamamoto Kansai.
"Hayata" is the name of Mr. Hayata Yasuyoshi, a professor at the Faculty of Agriculture at Meiji University in Japan, to commemorate Mr. Hayata's invention of a special sterilization method - injecting specially treated bubbles (carbon dioxide nanobubbles) into the body of the wine and then removing them, which also has the effect of stabilizing the quality of the wine, but not as harmful to the quality of the wine as heating. This wine is also sterilized in this way.
Otter sacrifice fine mill two cut three points far away separation microfiltration turbid wine
A limited edition that is only available for sale in December every year, it is a limited edition fine wine specially made for Japanese New Year gifts. It is recommended to drink it within 1 month to taste its unique rich aroma and light honey sweetness. There is a hoard of microfiltration residue formed during the dissociation process under the bottle, so before drinking, the fine filter residue should be transferred and integrated into the wine.
Otter sacrifice fine mill two cut three points foam turbid wine
Christmas limited edition. It is produced using the same in-bottle secondary fermentation as Champagne, which brings strong bubbles and an active taste, excellent acidity mixed with some slightly sweet, near-perfect aperitifs. There is a hoard of mash under the bottle, please slowly turn the mash into the wine body before drinking (flipping too fast will cause excessive pressure in the bottle).
Otter Sacrifice et al. 23
The Yamada nishiki used in the otter festival has 24 quality grades, and the other side of this sake refers to the lowest grade of rice that is not rated. Since Yamada Nishiki's production could not keep up with demand, he tried to use inferior quality "equal outer rice" to make sake.
According to the distillery, the taste and aroma of this wine are very similar to ordinary two-cut and three-point, but the aroma is not long enough, and the aftertaste is slightly inferior.
Otter Festival 39 is an advanced series that includes:
30% 9 minutes of The Festival
This wine is characterized by a light and refreshing style, full of fruity aromas, especially the unrestrained tropical fruit flavors, the entrance is round and plump, the long aftertaste is sweet, and there is a little spicy feeling as a balance. Close to white wine in taste.
Otter Sacrifice Distant Heart Separation Three Cuts Nine Points
The three-cut nine-point version also has a far-reaching separation version, the quality is much higher than the regular version of the three-cut nine-point, and it can even catch up with the regular version of the two-cut-three-point, and the price is also kind.
Otter sacrifice three cut nine points foam turbid wine
The second fermentation in the bottle can taste the unique aroma of pure rice daigin, but the taste is more smooth and delicate. This one has a heavier alcohol flavor and a stronger aroma in the bubble cloudy wine series.
Otter Festivals 45 and 50 are the introductory series. It is worth mentioning that in March 2019, Otter Festival announced that Otter Festival 50 was discontinued, and Otter Festival 50 was changed to Otter Festival 45, becoming a new entry-level regular product. This range of products includes:
Otter Sacrifice 45
Compared to the Otter Festival 50, its sake rice is 5% more ground, and the cost is higher, but the wine will be more delicate and transparent.
Otter Sacrifice 50
It has been discontinued and should soon be withdrawn from the stage of history.
Otter Festival 50 bubble turbid wine
The second fermentation in the bottle, it is recommended to refrigerate and store, and drink as soon as possible after opening the bottle.
Note: In fact, there is also a otter sacrifice 48 - otter sacrifice cold to make an early trough. However, this wine is specially prepared by mixing 80% Otter Sacrifice 50 plus 20% Otter Sacrifice 39.
02. Sake rice
With the exception of "Otter Festival, etc." sake, all products of Otter Festival are brewed using Yamada Nishiki rice.
Yamada Nishiki is known as the king of rice in Japan. It typically has a heart white of up to 80% and a straight profile, making it suitable for high-polished rice gin brewing. Moreover, even with the same polished rice step, Yamada Nishiki's protein ratio is almost the lowest.
In addition, Yamada Nishiki has good low-temperature solubility characteristics, which is also very suitable for brewing that requires low temperature. The resulting wine usually has the characteristics of "thick, firm, concentrated, clean and aromatic".
Photographed in "The Complete Picture book of Japanese sake - Western Japan", the characteristics of japan's main sake rice
This kind of rice is good, but the price is not cheap. In Heisei 23-27 (2011-2015 AD), Yamada Nishiki (Japanese unit of measurement, 60 kg) was twice as large as edible rice.
The "equal outer rice" used for otter sacrifice is the "Yamada Nishiki and other outer rice" that is judged to be "equal (outside the grade)" due to problems such as uneven particles. Generally, 5-10% of the isobaric rice will be produced when planting Yamada Nishiki.
03. Type of sake
Otter Festivals only make pure rice daisei sake, so whether it is otter festivals 23, 39, 45, or 50, they are the highest level of pure rice daigin sake.
04. Drinking period
When the bottle is not opened, the serving period varies depending on the type of sake.
It is best to drink the sterilized pure rice daishin brew within 8-10 months after bottling, so most of the products of the otter festival should be drunk within this time.
And unpasteurized sake, such as Otter Festival 23 microfiltration turbid wine, Otter Festival 23 foamed turbid wine, Otter Festival 39 foamed turbid wine, and Otter Festival 50 sparkling turbid wine, have a shorter drinking period and are best drunk within 6 months after bottling.
After opening the bottle, no matter what type of sake, it should be drunk as soon as possible; it is really impossible to drink, store for up to 2 weeks and be sure to clean the bottle mouth and cap.
05. Serving temperature
As a pure rice daigin, most of the Otter Festival's products are suitable for ice-cold drinking to around 10°C. Because pure rice daigin is often fruity, aromatic and light. Like aromatic white wines, this sake is most suitable for cold drinks, so that it can maintain its rich aroma and refreshing taste, to achieve a clear effect, but the temperature can not be too low, otherwise the aroma can not be played out, the performance will be greatly reduced.
For Otter Festival 23 Microfiltration Turbid Wine, Otter Festival 23 Sparkling Turbid Wine, Otter Festival 39 Sparkling Turbid Wine, and Otter Festival 50 Sparkling Turbid Wine, the optimal serving temperature is 5-10°C.
There is also a special case, which is the Otter Festival 23 warm sake, which is heated to 35 - 37 °C, and the sweet aroma of flowers and dried fruits will burst out, giving the sake a special ripe aroma.
06、 Wine glasses
Most sake in otter festivals recommend using white wine glasses to enjoy the aroma.
For otter festival 23, 39 and 50 sparkling wines, flute cups or tulip glasses (glasses for sparkling grapes) can be used.
In addition, Otter Festival 23 microfiltration turbid wine can be used to decorate the appearance of a cool looking wine glass.
07. Meal pairing
As a sake brew, most of Otter Festival's products are suitable for light meals such as Japanese-style dishes, light vegetables, and fresh fish and shellfish flakes. Dishes seasoned with lemon or grapefruit are also OK.
Otter Festival 23 Microfiltration Turbid Sake is recommended with dishes that use the original taste of white fish meat and kaiseki cuisine, and it is also good to accompany fruit towers.