Autumn is a season that somehow makes you hungry.
The smell of grilling Pacific saury is wonderful.
So is the aroma of seared mushrooms.
There's fatty returning bonito, and chestnuts and ginkgo nuts start appearing too.
When the summer heat finally retreats and a slightly cool breeze begins to blow at dusk, it's a curious thing: rather than gulping down chilled sake, you want to take your time with a glass while nibbling on something delicious.
That is when "hiyaoroshi" and "aki-agari" appear.
The two terms are often used interchangeably, but strictly speaking they mean slightly different things.
"Hiyaoroshi" is sake that is pressed in spring, pasteurized once, aged in the brewery over the summer, and shipped in autumn without a second pasteurization.
In the old days, room temperature was called "hiya."
Because the sake is "oroshi" (released) while still "hiya," it's called hiyaoroshi.
"Aki-agari," on the other hand, is not the name of a brewing method.
It describes a sake, however it was made, that was a little young in early spring but, after a summer, has lost its rough edges and gained umami, so that by autumn you think, "This has become a good sake." In other words, hiyaoroshi can be counted as a kind of aki-agari.
For people and sake alike, the passage of time sometimes works in a good direction.
A sake that was a bit too lively in spring sits still in the dark brewery for a whole summer.
And curiously, what was rough becomes round, the umami of the rice swells, and the acidity melts into the flavor.
Sake is not finished the moment it's made.
Time makes the sake.
Drinking autumn sake reminds me of that simple truth.
This time, I've chosen three from the autumn sakes we carry at TABi TEBAKO.
They're all "autumn sake," yet each has a completely different character.
And that's what makes it so interesting.
1) Kiminoi Junmai Aki-agari (Brewery: Kiminoi Shuzo, Niigata)
Ships to: Japan, Australia
This is the autumn bottle from Kiminoi Shuzo, which has been brewing sake in this snowy region since 1842.
Kiminoi's sake has no showiness to it.
It doesn't try to surprise you with aroma, nor does it confront you from the first sip.
But a sake like this is wonderful on the dinner table.
By resting the spring-born sake through a summer, the youthful flavor settles and the rice's umami gains roundness and depth.
In the mouth, there's first a gentle umami, and then the acidity quietly brings it into balance.
And the finish after you swallow is clean.
Salt-grilled saury, returning bonito, seared mushrooms.
Take a bite of an autumn dish made with soy sauce or rich fats, then take a sip of this.
The sake doesn't push ahead, and the food doesn't linger alone.
Sake and food each make the other a little more delicious.
That, I think, is what a sake for the dinner table is truly meant to be.
Chilled is good, room temperature is good,
and if the night has grown a little cool, gently warmed (nurukan) is good too.
It's a sake I want to quietly set in the middle of the autumn table.
2) Kariho Junmai Ginjo Aki KAWASEMI (Brewery: Akita Seishu, Akita)
Ships to: Japan, Australia, Taiwan
When people think of Akita sake, some may picture a hearty rice umami.
But this Aki KAWASEMI is a little lighter.
It's brewed with Akita's own sake rice "Akita Sake Komachi" and Akita-born yeast, then slowly aged at low temperature in the brewery from spring through summer.
And so autumn arrives.
The aroma becomes vivid and the umami concentrates just right.
Bring the cup to your lips and you'll find the roundness of an autumn sake, while the lightness of a junmai ginjo remains.
In short, it isn't heavy.
That's what's great about it.
Just because it's an autumn sake doesn't mean everything has to be rich and heavy.
October, when the days are still warm.
In the evening, once it's cooled a little, take it out of the fridge and start drinking it cold.
Sashimi works, and so does salt-grilled fish.
As the temperature slowly rises, hidden umami begins to show itself.
The first glass and the last glass have different faces.
Being able to enjoy changes like this is what makes sake fun.
Gazing at the kingfisher (kawasemi) on the label, sipping slowly on an autumn evening.
That's the kind of enjoyment this sake suits.
3) Karakurenai no SHIRAKIKU (Brewery: Shirasugi Shuzo, Kyoto)
Ships to: Japan, Australia
Now, the third bottle has a slightly different flavor.
Shirasugi Shuzo, in Kyotango, Kyoto.
What's fascinating about this brewery is that it brews sake not with special sake rice, but with the rice we normally eat as a meal.
This "Karakurenai no SHIRAKIKU" also uses Koshihikari rice from Tango.
What's more, it's brewed entirely with yellow koji.
It's an autumn-only hiyaoroshi, aged from spring through summer.
Shirakiku's sake has a sense of playfulness.
But it isn't simply doing something unusual.
In the mouth, there's the generous sweetness typical of Koshihikari, balanced by just the right acidity.
Aging rounds out the flavor, layered with a faint floral brightness.
It may be a little different from what you'd imagine from the traditional word "hiyaoroshi."
But that's the good part.
Sake has a long history, but there's no reason it must always be made the same way as in the past.
It's great with white fish carpaccio.
It's great with slightly oily fish.
It's also fun paired with dishes using cheese.
A bottle that doesn't confine itself to Japanese food, letting you freely enjoy the autumn table.
-------
Autumn is a short season.
Just the other day we were complaining about the heat, and before you know it the wind turns cold and soon you're longing for warm sake.
Aki-agari and hiyaoroshi are sakes you can only meet in that brief window.
They don't have the bursting youth of new sake.
Nor the deep years of long-aged sake.
Just one summer.
Yet in those few months the sake becomes rounder and richer in umami, and as if timed to the season when food becomes delicious, the sake comes out delicious too.
It's often said that sake has four seasons.
Since we drink in a country with four seasons, it's not a bad idea to drink what you can only drink at that moment.
Grill some saury.
Sear some mushrooms.
Slice some returning bonito.
Then open a bottle of aki-agari or hiyaoroshi.
That alone makes our autumn nights so much richer.
Uchida
https://www.instagram.com/oceans_good
☆Monthly sake recommendations
Every month, DIPLOMA holders Uchida and Seo introduce recommended sakes based on a monthly theme!
☆Buy online & in store!
Our TABi TEBAKO shop always carries more than 50 kinds of sake and over 10 kinds of remote-island craft beer! Our online store offers a carefully selected range of our most popular sakes, with shipping to Japan, Taiwan, and Australia. If you're visiting Tsukiji in Tokyo, please drop by our shop!
🗾 Shop map
