Fukucho Seaside Junmai Sparkling Sake, Hiroshima, Japan (500ml)   

Fukucho’s female brewery owner, MihoImada, is also the Toji – a rarity in Japan to have both jobs done by the same person. Miho-san’s passion and curiosity for sake brewing is truly amazing. To date, she has revived a local heirloom rice that was out of use for hundreds of years, created her own hybrid yeast starter, and experimented with brewing sake using white koji. There are around 30 female Toji's in Japan, but when Miho-san started brewing, there were far fewer. Her extreme dedication to her craft encourages the future of women in this industry. This sake is a sparkling style, made through secondary fermentation in bottle. Miho-san uses a little white koji in this sake, resulting in citrus notes and refreshing finish. TASTING NOTES: Crisp notes of lemon-lime and apple aromas with a soft, frothy finish.

SAKE TERMINOLOGY (with thanks to Jon Gauntner's Sake Dictionary)

Junmai - Only rice, water and koji used in production. No added alcohol allowed, and polishing ratio of the rice (seimai-buai) must be listed on the label.

Toji - In  the Japanese sake tradition, a Toji is a master brewer.

Koji - Used alone, “koji” refers to rice innoculated with with the mold responsible for conversion of starches to fermentable sugars.