Kanpai

Miyazaki

Nakanaka – a pleasant surprise

by 1 Comment

Nakanaka is the main brand of barley shochu from the very well respected Kuroki Honten in Miyzaki, which makes a wide range of delicious shochu across two different distilleries, but under the same ownership. Their premium barley shochu, Hyakunen no Kodoku, a 40% ABV barrel aged barley shochu, is arguably the most famous barley shochu in Japan. Nakanaka takes a more straightforward approach with atmospheric distillation and 100% barley.

Soba Shochu: Kagura No Mai

by Leave a Comment

Kagura no Mai, with its plain black and white label with abstract drawings of village life, doesn't shout from you off the shelf. Nor does is grab you out of the glass. It's light and clean with the forward aromas of sake yeast. This leads me to believe it's a low pressure distillate and that the distillery has chosen to use a traditional sake yeast rather than one of the more neutral shochu yeasts.

Day 11: Free Day in Miyazaki

by 2 Comments

On my wander I discovered a tiny chicken nanban restaurant, Ogura, that's apparently quite famous. There was a line around the block. Nothing to do, I joined the queue and an hour I later was eating the best chicken nanban I've ever had prepared and served by sweet old Japanese who don't speak a word of English.

Day 10: Kyoya Shuzo, Miyazaki

by 2 Comments

The drive was stunning along a rocky coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The distillery itself is tucked into a little town – they bottle off-site in order not to disturb the neighbors. As we pulled into the parking lot we were greeted by old ladies peeling potatoes calling out a sing song "Ohayo gozaimas!" (good morning!).

Day 9: Fukuoka to Arita to Miyazaki to Bliss

by 2 Comments

Despite the late night out with friends in Fukuoka the night before, I was up and out of the hotel by 8am to catch an 8:30 train to Arita, traditional home of Japanese porcelain, was was actually the model for Chinese and European “china” as early as the 17th century. Arita is also the home of Munemasa Shuzo, which makes both Nonnoko Kuro and Mizunomai, two very nice barely shochus available in the US.

Towari: a 100% Buckwheat Shochu from Miyazaki

by 3 Comments

If you've tried other soba shochus, you're probably used to their lightly nutty aromas and flavors while still finding them light and easy drinking. Towari takes this in a completely different direction by using 100% soba. Most other soba shochus blend rice and even barley during the fermentation processes in order to smooth out the rich flavors of the buckwheat.