米
Kome · Rice
Sake begins as grain. Yamada Nishiki, Gohyakumangoku, Omachi — each rice holds a different sweetness, a different spine. Polish it, and you decide how loudly the fruit will speak.
The three words
Kome, Koji, Mizu - Essential elements of sake brewing
麹
Koji · Koji mold
Koji is Aspergillus oryzae, a living mold — not yeast. Spread over steamed rice, it unlocks starch into sugar. Without koji there is no sake; yeast (kobo) only arrives after this quiet work is done.
水
Mizu · Water
Most of the bottle is water. Soft mountain water from Niigata or Hyogo shapes a sake as surely as the rice. KOKOMII is named for these three — kome, koji, mizu — and for the glasses they reach, from Hong Kong outward.
From the shelf
Aramasa, from Akita
Also in the cellar
Juyondai through Ohmine
The houses
Ten kura we keep returning to
The cellar
Ten houses — seventy-nine bottles at original list prices.
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Brands
Ten houses — Juyondai through Ohmine, with Japanese names beside the glass.
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Sake 101
Polishing ratios, grades, and how to pour a quiet glass.
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Pairings
What to drink with hotpot, sashimi, roast chicken, and mango pudding.
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