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Sake brewery teams up with temple to recreate 450-year-old recipe

16 October 2024 By Eloise Feilden

Sake brewery Yucho Shuzo Co, based in Japan’s Nara Prefecture, has followed a recipe originally used by medieval monks for its latest release, with just 352 bottles created.

Yucho Shuzo Co’s latest sake, Kofukuji Tamonin x Mizuhana 1568, is a collaboration with the Jojoin branch of the Kōfuku-ji temple. Kōfuku-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples in the city of Nara, Japan.

The sake has been brewed using a recipe first written in by temple monks in 1568. Yucho Shuzo Co tasked itself with recreating sake made during the Muromachi Period, and has collaborated with the temple to source both the recipe and some of the sake’s ingredients.

Production of the sake uses groundwater pumped up from a branch of Kōfuku-ji temple. The sake is also prepared in earthenware pots, replicating techniques used in medieval times.

Monks in Buddhist temples historically brewed sake as a means of financial security for the temples themselves. Similar practices have been held in European monasteries, a practice which is still performed today.

The sake is sold in light-blue 500-ml Mino ware bottles, with a matching sake cup for 13,200 yen, according to The Asahi Shimbun. A total of 352 bottles are on limited sale at Kofukuji temple’s Kokuhokan (National Treasure Hall) in Japan’s Nara Prefecture.

Kofukuji Tamonin x Mizuhana 1568 is the latest release in a series of sakes made using ancient techniques described in historical documents.

In other news, sake has begun to influence European producers, particularly those distilling Scotch. Pernod Ricard-owned Chivas Brothers has launched a new spirit which combines blended Scotch whisky and Japanese sake, created specifically for Asian markets. Read more here.

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