Osake Craft Sake, a flight on Granville Island

(Japanese 101 lesson of the day: Junmai-shu is a variety of sake, which is
considered pure rice wine without any added distillates.)

On Tuesday I had the pleasure to visit the Osake tasting room on Granville Island. I'd wandered past the tasting room several months earlier, on a visit to The Liberty Distillery, just around the corner on Railspur Alley, and had been meaning to visit ever since my first walk past. In short, the idea of an award winning, small batch sake right here in Vancouver was just too compelling for me not to be addicted to at first discovery; especially considering products of the far east have been on my to-do list for some time now.

Knowing pretty much nothing about sake, other than that it's made from rice and often compared to wine, I tried a five dollar sampling trio of three of their products. Not only is the flight considerably low price, they also let you choose the three products you'd like to sample - a very nice touch. As such, I chose their two Fraser Valley products, made from rice harvested in Abbotsford; the Fraser Valley Junmai, and Fraser Valley Junmai Nigori.

I noted from the first sample that the products were served chilled; a surprise as I am used to ordered house sake which has been warmed, much like tea. On tasting my first sample, the Fraser Valley Junmai, I immediately noticed that it was much more fruity than the house sakes I've tried at various sushi restaurants, or Guu. The Nigori, as well, which was my last of the trio was notably more citric, but rather fruity compared to the sake I'd tasted previously. The Nigori also appeared surprisingly cloudy, almost like a wheat beer.

(The translation of Nigori is cloudy, which refers to the unfiltered and cloudy appearance of
Nigori Sake. Nigori is sweeter than standard sake.)

In between the two Fraser Valley sakes, I also sampled the Junmai Nama Genshu - which caught my interest as an award-winning wine. Again, it was quite fruity, but noticeably drier than the other two samples, and with a creamy, smooth texture.

In short, the experience was enjoyable, and pleasurable. I don't know much about sake, or what kind of variety is available, but these three products were all great. The Nigori was my favorite; being somewhat tangy and refreshing. I could easily imagine myself enjoying it as a substitute for a sipping one on a nice spring day. Twenty five dollars will fetch you a 375 mL bottle of the Nigori, while the Junmai Nama Genshu is available in both 750 and 375 mL bottles, for thirty five and twenty two respectively.