History

Saijo's water is unusually soft, which historically made brewing slow and unreliable. In the late nineteenth century local brewers developed a low-temperature fermentation method suited to that water, and the resulting style, gentler and more aromatic than the hard-water sake of Nada, established the town's reputation. Seven breweries still operate within a few streets of Saijo station, their brick chimneys and white plaster storehouses lining Sakagura-dori. The October sake festival brings several hundred labels from across Japan to the same few blocks.

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Make it at home

Yield Serves 2Hands-on 10 minTotal 15 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 180ml junmai sake
  • 1 strip unwaxed lemon peel
  • Ice
  • 120ml chilled soda water

Method

  1. Chill the sake thoroughly; soft-water sake shows best between 10C and 15C.
  2. For a straight serve, pour 90ml into each small cup and drink within twenty minutes of opening.
  3. For a sake highball, fill a tall glass with ice and pour in 90ml of sake.
  4. Top with 60ml of chilled soda water and stir once from the bottom.
  5. Twist the lemon peel over the surface and drop it in.

Tip from the editors. Brewing sake at home is not realistic, but serving temperature is: warming soft-water junmai past 45C flattens it.

Where to eat saijo sake

Saijo sake in Hiroshima

Featured by TableJourney as a signature dish of Hiroshima. See where to eat Saijo sake in Hiroshima or the Hiroshima signature dishes guide.

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