Inato Agave Makes Craft Sake from Asian Ingredients for the World

Inato Agave is a brewery based in Oga, on the Sea of Japan coast of Akita Prefecture in northern Honshu, and is led by its representative Shuhei Okazumi. On 9 September, Okazumi held a press conference in Tokyo to announce a new product, ASIAN WISDOM. Riding the wave of strong overseas sales, the company says it developed the sake with the global market in mind from the very start. It went on sale in a run limited to 1,000 bottles at the company’s first solo event, held at Daimaru Tokyo in Chiyoda ward from 16 September.

A New Category Called “Craft Sake”

What Inato Agave makes is a drink known as “craft sake”. It is a category that has spread over the past few years: built on the brewing techniques of sake (seishu), it is made by adding secondary ingredients such as fruit to rice and rice koji. Under Japanese classification it is distinguished from traditional seishu, but the core of the brewing process is sake itself. For European readers, it helps to think of it as sitting somewhere between flavoured wine made with winemaking techniques and fruit beer, an offshoot of brewing.

Five Regions, Five Aromas

At the heart of this sake are five ingredients chosen from across Asia. From Japan comes karahanaso, a close relative of the hop. From Korea comes omija (Korean schisandra), a berry said to combine the five tastes of sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty. From China comes guihua tea, a tea scented with osmanthus flowers. From Taiwan comes Hongyu black tea, known for its aroma reminiscent of cinnamon and mint. And from Indonesia comes clove, sweet, rich and spicy. These are combined with rice and rice koji and made into a single sake.

This mix of herbs, berries, flowers, tea and spice should feel quite familiar to European drinkers used to gin and vermouth. The use of a close relative of the hop also connects it with craft beer, and suggests an intention to position the drink not merely as sake but as an “Asian fermented beverage”.

Riding the Export Wave to the World Market

Inato Agave has grown its overseas sales in recent years, and this new release is an example of that success feeding directly into product development. Although it started as a limited sale in Japan, development looked towards overseas markets from the outset. As sake exports expand, it is worth noting that not only traditional seishu but also a new genre of drinks made with secondary ingredients is beginning to target foreign markets as the “next move”.

For European Readers

ASIAN WISDOM itself was sold only in a limited run in Tokyo at launch, but Inato Agave’s craft sake is already making its way overseas. If you are looking in Europe, try asking sake specialist importers and restaurants for “craft sake” and “Inato Agave”. When tasting, we suggest first chilling it and nosing it in a wine glass, then letting it warm slightly to see how the umami from the rice interacts with the aromas of the added ingredients. The more you enjoy gin, herbal liqueurs or fruit beer, the easier it will be to grasp what makes this category fun. If this new release does reach overseas shores, there is a game waiting for you: guessing which of the five ingredients you smell first.