I wish they would allow mixed cases too — finishing 12 ishobins (or 21.6 litres!) before they lose their freshness is just too taxing, albeit lovely, a task! As such, a case of each is simply out of the question.

I suppose ShuRaku has all the Tengumai’s on its menu? I probably should just go down there and taste them before going all-in.

Thanks for the insight, btw!

if you’re thinking meats, fattier foods, i would suggest the tengumai yamahai junmai which complements those food profiles. yamahai’s tend to have higher acidity as well. try it at different temperatures–you’ll be amazed at how versatile this bottle can be.

if lighter foods like seafood is on the agenda, then i’d say the tengumai junmai daiginjo 50 would fit perfectly with those culinary plans. more aromatic and lighter acidity means an easy to drink, stellar sipper.

good luck on choosing! too bad they can’t do half and half for a case–or maybe they can?! let me know how it goes!

As luck would have it, I managed to snap up 2 ishobins of Tengumai Umajun at the 39th/Cambie Liquor Store a couple of weeks ago and have been on the hunt for other Tengumai releases, preferably also in the large format, ever since. Not having much success, I finally emailed That’s Life and was told that my best chance would be to special-order it, which, as you probably are aware, requires a minimum order of 1 case (or 6 ishobins).

Before going through with my order, may I ask for your opinion on whether I should go with the Yamahai Junmai or the Daiginjo 50? Which one do you think is more food-friendly?

That’s Life Gourmet, the importer, is bringing in the 720mL version as well, so you might see this size at a specialty liquor store sometime soon. I would check private stores like Liberty or Legacy. The government stores have a limited selection, which is supremely frustrating!

Hope you get a chance to try it soon!
Kanpai!
elise

Keep up the great work on this blog!

Even when I lived in Minneapolis working at moto-i, there was a lot of sake–most of which were and still are, unavailable here in Vancouver, even though our relative size and population are about the same.

Sake is expensive here. We are taxed heavily on imported liquor, which sake is but one of many. This is difficult for the agents who have to sell sake, when there is little to no education about how good it is. A tough sell when a 300 ml bottle of sake is equivalent in price or more to a 750 ml bottle of wine.

So this is our job–to speak the gospel of sake and inspire those who want to expand their horizons beyond merlot and riesling to a far better and nobler drink (in my opinion, of course).

I feel the tide changing at least! Thanks again for commenting! Kanpai.