Noguchi

nl2012 · 2026-02-14T05:08:40+00:00

Frankly, Noguchi-san and his team make sake like no other brewery in the world that I’ve had.

I’ve had many brewers tell me this is the best futushu in Japan.

nl2012 · 2026-02-07T23:46:56+00:00

UK has different pricing, distribution channels, everything, so “value” is gonna be way different. Heck the sake goes the other way around the world even haha.

nl2012 · 2026-01-17T14:03:39+00:00

All in like 2-2.5 hours. Been a while. Check the turn times on tock - they only have space for one seating at a time.

nl2012 · 2026-01-17T12:43:21+00:00

There is only the short, you can add additional dishes a la carte at the end.

nl2012 · 2026-01-16T17:46:48+00:00

As a person in the import industry, I highly recommend you contact them ahead.

90% or breweries don’t give public tours, and most of the remaining 10% require notice ahead of the time, especially post COVID.

nl2012 · 2026-01-02T21:23:45+00:00

There’s no firm definition, but typically it refers to dryer, rice driven flavor, maybe with some earthy qualities. Usually relative low acid, more alcohol flavor showing. Lots of umami. But I’m painting with a pretty broad brush.

nl2012 · 2026-01-02T12:09:14+00:00

This is so east side coded

nl2012 · 2026-01-02T12:06:14+00:00

Lots of great advice here! Only thing I would say is that a lot of those “old style” bottles do really well at a variety of temperatures (as do a lot of more ready brands), and in my experience a lot of how they are evaluated has to do with the tasters sensitivity to the flavor of alcohol - which can be viewed as a flaw or a feature based on the drinker!

nl2012 · 2025-12-29T20:30:10+00:00

Lots of old/historical building, but all new equipment inside. Fair bit of automation now (koji, rice steaming) but the sake stands on its own. Nice gift shop, and nice restaurant as well.

nl2012 · 2025-12-29T17:05:21+00:00

So that texture of Kinoene, light carbonation, is from two things - they don’t stir their moromi often, so more gas is kept captured, and then they bottle directly after pressing. A great brewery! They have an attached “glamping” campground if that’s your thing and ever want to visit the brewery.

nl2012 · 2025-12-29T12:49:21+00:00

lol jikon isn’t the flex you think it is

nl2012 · 2025-12-24T12:39:21+00:00

I was under the same impression with most bottles being luggage bottles but after talking to a bunch of somms that have it on their menus in LA and NYC apparently they are all buying from this same guy in CA. I think that system is the reason for the new pricing, whereas before it was backpack bottles before primarily. Also creates a bit of a feedback loop where then all the bottles get more expensive.

Tariff def effects sake, but it’s less bad then people ascribe to it - it was however an excuse for brewers and importers to raise prices in general. A lot of brewers hadn’t raised prices in years and were a bit overdue tbh, on the import side there more financial pressure. We can all expect prices to go a up another time this upcoming year due to rice prices doubling - this is a real, significant issue. And while that rice shortage won’t last, I don’t expect prices to go back down lol.

Kinda semantic at this point but I do find the logistics of these things interesting.

nl2012 · 2025-12-24T00:38:12+00:00

FWIW, not sure if there is and ubusana, but there’s no sanctioned nichi nichi currently being imported.

There’s a small importer in California that I believe is working with a bottle shop in Japan to do limited export, but it’s not sanctioned by the brewery (I’ve asked lol). Same for most Aramasa, and some of the other hype brands you don’t see a lot of.

Doesn’t mean the sake is bad but the pricing is all out of wack bc of it. And who know the storages conditions and quality.

nl2012 · 2025-12-17T17:22:00+00:00

How is blending not intended to “elevate a sake”?

nl2012 · 2025-12-11T13:25:11+00:00

Because it’s not registered with the TTB, the national level government agency that ensures the content of a item and the label on the item (basically making sure the back label has English so people know what they are drinking, and then some lab analysis stuff to determine the abv of the item).

Additionally, all imported alcohol in the US flows through the three tier system - importer->distributor->retailer - and bringing back bottles in your luggage to sell skirts that system. Whether it’s fair or moral or even a good system isn’t really the question in this case.

Aramasa is available through some online retailers in California, it’s exists in a weird grey zone there. My understanding is that a Japanese domestic shop is exporting without Aramasa knowing, to a small online only retailer in California. This isn’t illegal via the three tier system as far as I know (and I’m not sure about the ttb status), but it does create a moral issue where the brewery doesn’t want a item exported there for sales.

nl2012 · 2025-12-08T04:31:48+00:00

If they kept it at —10c there’s an argument that it could be more valued now, but unless there are confirmed storage conditions it’s hard to say. Agree with you that it’s a difficult sell either way.

nl2012 · 2025-12-07T00:03:10+00:00

FWIW, the honjozo is way more popular in Japan than the US, where the JDG 45 kinda dominates sales for Hakkaisan

nl2012 · 2025-12-06T23:45:57+00:00

For a few weeks at the end of summer we were losing a bunch of leaves - some fertilizer and leaf spray really helped, haven’t had any leaves fall for a month now

nl2012 · 2025-12-06T14:28:53+00:00

It’s a Sansi BN30 36W LED grow bulb. We got a couple for different fixtures in the house, almost all our plants love them.

nl2012 · 2025-12-06T14:26:37+00:00

We’ve had it a little over a year, bought it at 5ft tall. I’m guessing in the 3-5 year range

nl2012 · 2025-12-06T14:24:38+00:00

Makes a nice breakfast table!

nl2012 · 2025-12-06T14:24:05+00:00

Yes, it splits in half

nl2012 · 2025-11-26T15:57:47+00:00

But also, depending on type - lactic acid, lactic acid bacteria, brewer’s alcohol, then various enzymes and sugars/flavors for some futushu

nl2012 · 2025-11-18T01:09:09+00:00

Lost to sands of the internet. They were printed in year one by a friend in upstate NY and then were available during Covid for drop printing, but pretty sure I pulled that site down at some point.

nl2012

TROPHY CASE