So what exactly is premium Sake?
Maybe you’ve had a cup of hot Sake and thought it wasn’t really your thing – that’s because Sake that’s served hot usually isn’t premium – it’s pungent and not very distinct and charismatic in its flavors. The Japanese government has classified what exactly makes a Sake “premium”. In Japanese, this is called “Ginjo’ and it requires a long list of very specific procedures and methods in its production in order to warrant the name.
For once, at least 40% of the rice must be milled away. The rice milling greatly influences the taste of the Sake, and premium Sake must be made from rice that is milled well and very thoroughly.
Also, you must use special rice (not table rice by any means), special yeast, low fermentation temperatures, longer fermentation periods and other very time-consuming techniques must be utilized. Great care must be chosen to utilize clean, natural spring water.
To be completely frank with you, consider it like this; Ginjo sake is to non-premium Sake what a good single-malt scotch is to regular scotch. It is what superb agave tequila is to regular tequila. If you see the label “Ginjo” on a bottle of Sake, you’re about to drink what is better than 90% of all Sake sold regularly. Lean back and enjoy the experience and flavor.
That’s the sort of premium, Japanese-made Sake we provide for you. That, and nothing but the best.
Real Sake is like the purest water from a mountain spring.
It is a spirit made from nothing else but spring water and the best, milled grains of rice. It is closely connected to Japanese culture and it is, quite simply, the nectar of the gods themselves.
Rice-wine? Not really…
First as you probably know, Sake is not wine. Sake is not vinified – it is brewed, like beer. Thus, Sake is made in Sake “breweries”. But it’s not really beer either. A time-honored brewing procedure including very high-quality yeast (in the form of the Koji-mold) that works to break up the rice grains and free the sugar molecules to ferment them into alcohol. With an alcohol percentage of 14-17 Vol %, Sake is stronger than both beer and wine. However, it also has more than twice of the different taste nuances of wine – there is an entire new world of flavors for you to discover.
…but it is like wine!
The culture surrounding the drinking of Sake is not dissimilar from the culture surrounding wine. Sake is to be sipped cold or at room temperature to enjoy the various flavors and aromas. A Sake-list can be a perfect complement to a fine meal, much like a Wine-list. Much like Wine, you can find both cheap varieties of Sake and expensive varieties of Sake. More expensive brands and types of Sake will use higher-quality resources – rice, yeast and water – and spend long periods of time milling and polishing away much of the grains of rice (up to 60-70% of the grain is milled away in some cases) for a better Sake. Longer and more thorough milling results in higher quality of Sake – and therefore a higher price.
Now that Sake is becoming popular and the benefits of a bottle of premium sake compared to say – a bottle of beer – are being made clear, this is your chance. Now that people across the world are asking for Sake, you can provide them with the Sake they want – real, well-made premium Sake.
Why is Sake such an interesting business?
It is an international boom, as you can see the graph, annual exports of sake has been reaching an all-time high slowly but surely.
For a number of reasons. Sake has never been more appealing to foreigners than it is at this very moment. Sake is a sponsored export by the Japanese government – as an importer of Sake, you will receive huge bonuses as far as service (from us and from others) and pricing for premium-quality Sake goes. Sake is being enjoyed not only in restaurants and in tasting events or Japanese-themed occasions – it’s also being enjoyed in casual settings instead of other types of alcohol. People are curious, people are open to try new things like Sake, all over the world. In short, this is THE time to invest in importing Sake to YOUR nation.
Because many importers and retailers sell Sake much too expensively and there is virtually no market for Sake that isn’t sold to the restaurant community or specialized, Japanese stores. People who know Sake know what Sake is worth, and they know not to pay three times the market value for a bottle of standard Japanese Sake. There’s a market gap in most countries here – a market gap that can be filled by offering premium-brand Sake at reasonable prices to domestic customers and clients.
If you’ve read through our entire letter and thought; “Well, this all sounds real good, but is there a way that I can actually try some of this without any huge risk to our business?”
Of course there is.
As we’ve mentioned before, we’ve prepared a sampling case of our most popular brands of premium Sake for you – ready to ship upon your order confirmation. This is a sampling case meant to really illustrate the diversity of Sake and show you what we have to offer you. You’ll be delighted by the quality and you’ll be interested in purchasing more – immediately interested in further business with us.
This market gap is waiting to be filled – take action and discover what we can offer your business. You will have your sampling case of premium sake within short period of time and be ready to discover the difference between Japanese-made premium Sake and what you’ve tasted before.
