It was my son's birthday earlier this month, so we went to Nagano Prefecture for a visit during this holiday weekend!
I think I have been to Nagano Prefecture a hundred times, but this was my first time in Nagano City.
I found a great liquor store called "Shinshu Kuraudo" in the very magnificent Nagano station 💡.
They have sake from all over Nagano 😘.
They also have a corner shop, so if I hadn't come by car, I would have gone in there lol.
A cute bear wearing an apple 🍎.
The kids picked out a cup of sake with a cute illustration of Alkuma-chan 🍶.
The taste was very refreshing!
It has a gorgeous ginjo aroma and a crisp aftertaste.
It's very easy to drink and has no habits, so if you're traveling by Shinkansen, this is definitely the one you want to drink on the train on the way home.
I bought a few other bottles, so I'm looking forward to opening them 😊.
Happy birthday to your son, Hiro 🎉🎂!
The stuffed Alkuma is so cute ❣️ I didn't know he was such a major character 😆 The weather was great and you had a nice trip 🎶.
So sorry, so sorry... 🍶🍶🍶🍶
Nagano Business Trip Part ㊹
Tomorrow is the last night of my business trip to Nagano 🌃 as I have to pack up and head back to Ishikawa Prefecture 😀 44 check-ins 🎉 for Nagano's business trip sake.
The last day in Suwa, I bought a cup of Alkuma which I don't remember when I bought it 😇.
The aroma is mild and not very noticeable, but on the palate it has a gentle rice 🌾 flavor and sweetness😊 followed by a nice crisp acidity 😚👍This is a delicious sake 🥳.
The label said "Don't drink too much!" but it was so good that it killed me instantly 🤣.
The fourth picture is of lunch with my junior staff at the end of a business trip to Nagano 😊Tonkatsu Maruichi is famous in Suwa. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the meat is 3~4cm thick, but it was tender and full of juices 🥰.
Good morning, Maechen 😃.
Finally, it's your last night 🥹44 memories will remain in your liver 😆 Finally, "Don't drink too much!" Might be too late 😁.
The pork cutlet you were aiming for! Looks thick and delicious 😋.
Thank you for your hard work, Maechen 😊.
Did you get the "don't drink too much" after you drank a lot of Shinshu sake 🤣It's cute ❣️
I enjoyed your Shinshu sake review😊🙏.
Good evening, hoshiaki 🌃😀.
You drank 44 different kinds of sake during your stay in Nagano 😊and I will upload the rest of the sake I bought and brought back to Ishikawa 😚☝️
@Mizuhashi, good evening 🌃😀
Thanks to @NaganoSake, I survived my long business trip😇Finally, Tonkatsu which I had with my 🐸junior back in Tokyo was my last lunch 😢I'm taking it easy on Saturday and Sunday 😴.
Good evening, Jay & Nobby 🌃😀 😀
Cheers to Alkma on our last night in Nagano 🍶Not too late to "don't drink too much" 🤣 still have some Nagano sake in the fridge 😍!
This pork cutlet was so juicy you could drown in a lake of gravy 🐷🥰.
Good evening, Mr. Manachy 🌃😀
I survived my business trip to Nagano for about 5 months 🫡I was helped by good sake and food 😚👍I was in great shape thanks to the large amount I consumed 🤣🤣🤣👍
Good evening, Pon-chan 🌃😀
I really don't want you to "drink too much" on the last day 🤣Alkuma is so cute 😊We have some Nagano sake to take home, so please stay with us for a while longer: 🙇♀️🥳.
On the second day, we moved to Nagano to a campsite with the best view of the starry sky in Japan.
The sky was somewhat cloudy, and we wondered if we would be able to see the starlit sky...
We stayed in a bungalow, so we only slept there.
We went to Iida City.
Iida City seems to be a town of yakiniku (grilled meat), and there are many yakiniku restaurants, but all the popular ones are full of reservations.
After an hour of searching around for yakiniku refugees, we finally found one 😅.
Kikusui Honjozo Nama-Stored Sake
It has a sweet taste and is easy to drink. It has a mild sweetness and is a delicious Honjozo.
The barbecue restaurant is diagonally in front of Kikusui Brewery.
The third picture is not in the brewery, but it is the warehouse of Kikusui Sake Brewery. It looked more like a factory than a brewery.
T.KISO, good evening 🌛I didn't notice it at all💦Thank you 🙏It's rare and complicated to have the same brand name even the same kanji 😅Kikusui in Nagano didn't appear in the brand itself😱.
To be served at the restaurant for a family dinner party.
The sake is a completely local Kikusui lineup. A great local product with no other sakes.
The sake is low in the mouthfeel and opens slowly. The aftertaste is not too strong and enhances the taste of the food.
By the way, Saruko-no-Spring is a spring in Iida City that has been selected as one of the best 100 springs in Japan.
Aroma: Fairly weak
Mouthfeel
Slightly sweet to dry
Slightly sweet to dry
Alcohol 15%.
Rice used: Miyamanishiki
Polishing ratio 55
Taste 3.6
Purchased at a souvenir store in front of Iida station
Enjoy it on the Iida Line
I started the evening with the intention of drinking the rest of the "Rairaku" that I opened last time, but I drank more than I imagined I would, so I opened a spare one-cup of sake as well.
Junmai Ginjyo Saruuko-no-Izumi Alkuma Cup
It has a full, sweet rice aroma, a sweet aftertaste that seems to be caught in the bottom of the mouth after it enters the body, and from there, the apple sensation that you can feel with a pleasant aftertaste that finishes cleanly.
I bought this one on a business trip to Osaka the other day at the Hanshin Department Store on the way to my hotel, where the brewer came to the store and offered a tasting 😁.
When I tasted it, it seemed a little dry due to lack of water from sweating, but when I drank it again, it had a sweet apple flavor that is typical of Shinshu sake!
I couldn't get Shinshu salmon, so I had Fukui salmon as sashimi 😋.
The fourth picture is a beer given to me by my mother-in-law as a gift from Australia 🍺.
The aroma was quite strong with a hint of cemedine, but the taste and flavor was good enough to go down your throat 😋.
Hi, Gyve.
You have a good stock of one-cup sake 😲.
I'd like to try some of the Shinshu sake, which is also highly rated at Sakewa 🎵.
Beer is also great especially in the summer 😊I love foreign beers too!
Hi Gyve, good morning 😃VBB beer, I miss it ‼️ when I went to Australia a long time ago, a local friend said he did VB over Coke over water👍and Alkma, too cute 💕I can't get enough as a one-cup lover😍.
Hi Jive 🐦.
Alkuma cups are cute 😻 Shinshu sake is a delicious cup not to be underestimated! And I see you made the rounds on your recent business trip to Osaka 🤣.
Hi Gyve 😃
Eh! Did I drink this much last time 😳⁉️ often 😅I thought I didn't have that many buses 😓It's important to have a spare bottle of alcohol ready 🤗.
Hi, ma-ki-chan!
I've been looking for a way to get some of the sake from Shinshu, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to find it in my area 😁.
I really wanted to buy a bottle of shigou, but I'm planning to visit Shinshu in August, so I'd like to catch a lot of it then ✨.
Hi Wakata!
I didn't know this beer was that big in Australia 😁.
I didn't know it was that major in Australia 😲.
Alkuma is cute, I think he's one of the most successful local yurukyara ✨.
Hello, Pon-chan ☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀.
Contrary to the cute appearance of Alkuma, the alcohol inside is a bit hardcore with "Saruko-no-Izumi" 😁.
I always want to keep it because it's so cute, but the problem is that it puts a lot of pressure on storage 💦.
Hi Jay & Nobby ☀☀☀☀!
Yes 💦 sometimes when you take it out of the cellar to drink it up, it's not even half full 😁.
That's when one-cup or small bottles are great ✨.
Purchased at Hankyu Umeda Main Store 9th Traveling SAKE
Kikusui Shuzo is the brewery that revived Takane Nishiki, and the cup of sake I purchased after being allowed to taste various kinds of sake was
Miyamanishiki🤣Well, it is a sake rice created by mutating Takane Nishiki through radiation treatment, so I chose it because it was light and easy to drink.
I chose it because it was light.
It is good that it can be drunk in one go.
200ml is a bit much.
It has a gorgeous aroma but a clean taste.
The slight sweetness does not interfere with the meal 😁.
Good evening, Lutemi 🦉.
It's lightweight and cute so I'm sure I'll pick it up 😊I'm also glad it's a bit much ❣️ and "Don't drink too much!" on the side. 🤣I think I'm going to be making a lot of comments while drinking it 😁.
The top aroma is that of junmai (pure rice). When you drink it, it has the umami of rice and a little dryness, and it is crisp and clean. The taste has a classical image with a slight alcohol aftertaste, but it is not bothersome. The aroma is pleasant and fruity. It is easy to drink and is better with food than on its own. It goes well with the chicken tatsuta bento (bento boxed lunch box) at other bento shops. Is it similar to Ichidrop Nidrop? It tastes better when it is well chilled. The alkuma was cute.
Miyamanishiki
Polishing ratio 55
Alcohol 15%.