Sake Review: Ontario's Own Izumi Sake

O-nomitai!

Ontario has its own sake brewery now! While locally sourced sake helps alleviate guilt about the pollution related to transporting sake across the Pacific Ocean and half a continent, it raises other questions. The most important one being, can the Ontario Spring Water Sake Company compete with Japanese brewers and their years of experience in the industry?

Packaging

OSWS sells most of their products under the "Izumi" (spring water) label. The Genshu I tried was served in a brown bottle that could be distinguished from a beer bottle only by its sloped neck. The brown paper label has narrow bands of brown on the borders to differentiate it from their other product offerings (which are blue, red, and purple). The overall impression the packaging leaves is that of a step up from a home brewing kit. While some might question a new company for not putting more money into packaging and design, I like the idea that their main focus is the contents of the bottle, not the appearance.

Tasting

After pouring, I noticed a nice yellow colour, almost like a gold tint to the sake. Since I had made the mistake of sanitizing my hands just before sampling, I couldn't detect its scent--curse you hand sanitizer! Nothing could obscure the taste though--boy, is it ever sweet! It is quite possibly the sweetest sake I have ever tasted, and that includes amazake, a non-alcoholic rice concoction with a name that literally translates as "sweet sake." If you've never had amazake, it is almost like drinking liquified rice pudding. After I got over the surprise at Izumi Genshu's sweetness, I tried to get a sense of the taste, and could only come up with two words, apple cider. At 17% alcohol content, it is on the stronger end of the scale for sake, but it is completely disguised in the flavour, so be careful if you are trying to avoid feeling too tipsy. The only hint of its high alcohol content was how quickly it warmed the back of the throat.

Statistics

I had a hard time finding stats for this sake, even at the company home page, so most of them are blank.

Sake Meter Value:
Acidity:
Amino Acid:
Alcohol %: 17%
Semaibuai (milling rate):

Verdict

Due to its sweetness, I found that Izumi Genshu Sake didn't pair really well with soya sauce flavoured rice dishes. When is it best served then? I'm not sure if the category of dessert sake exists, but it really seems to offer an interesting ice wine substitute, and a cheaper one at that. Since sweet alcohols and liqueurs are not my style, I wouldn't buy this one again personally, but it is a well made sake of its type. Definitely seek it out and give it a try if you're into dessert wines and digestifs. If it doesn't suit your tastes, remember it can still be used in your cooking, so you really have nothing to lose by trying it.

Links

All links are provided for information purposes only. I receive no affiliate fees.

OSWS Home Page: Their website is definitely worth browsing for the handy bilingual sake glossary and the regularly scheduled brewery tasting tours. I'm going to have to go on one myself. Sounds like the making of another blog post.
Second Opinion: Ratebeer.com

Many great writers loved to drink. I love to drink. Instead of reasoning out this logical fallacy to its conclusion, why not check out a free sample of my novel, The Samurai Poet, and decide for yourself?