What a privilege to tour and explore the famed Nada GoGo region with Andrew Russell - a 10 year veteran of the craft, and the rare westerner in the Japanese sake industry. We were staying a couple of days in Kyoto and didn’t have any flexibility on the days of the week. After some email back-and-forth, we jumped on a video call where Andrew was able to put together a customized tour that fit our schedule. We did the tour as a family (adult children) and it didn’t disappoint. I might mention that Andrew‘s fluency in Japanese made for smooth sailing every step of the way. It was also obvious that he has many friends in the industry - as judged by the warm greetings he received along the way. By some stroke of luck or fate, I became aware of Origin Sake Tours because I had decided to consult my “friends” Andrew Russell and Jim Rion, host of the aptly named podcast: Sake Deep Dive. I had never met them, but they indeed felt like old friends since I had been listening to their episodes for at least two years. [Sidenote on the podcast: I have been astounded by their rich knowledge of the history and development of sake as well as the detailed descriptions of what really goes into “raising sake”, from rice, water, koji (as a mushroom farmer, my favorite!), techniques, buying suggestions, and so much more. I highly recommend this podcast. It was our good fortune that Jim came along for the tour as well!] Now, on with the tour… We arrived at the storied Himeji Castle before the doors opened and had the place virtually to ourselves. This was a great way to start the day, since the Castle better resembles a zoo later in the day. This was, of course, not part of the tour, but Himeji-jo is smack dab in the middle of the Nada area. After an hour and a half at the castle, we strolled to the station where Andrew met us. He ushered us around some suggested bento lunch options and we hopped on a train together to our first site. We ventured to a brewery with a good-sized shop and tasting room, outside of which hung the classic sugidama, a beautiful woven globe of Japanese cedar-leaf that announces to all who see it: “Sake found here!” Andrew explained what it was, how it was made and its significance. When it turns brown, the sake is said to be ready to drink. A fitting start to our journey. In the tasting room, we were able to sip 3 different sakes poured by the 92-year-old Toji emeritus of the brewery. Although it seemed a little early to me to be drinking, the first sip convinced me that - in truth - it was the perfect time to start. We were able to easily understand what a difference the rice variety makes with this side by side. This was a modern brewery that gave us a glimpse into modern methods as well as a nice little museum chronology of sake production over the years. We then ventured out into the streets, where Andrew pointed out the unique positioning of Nada between the mountains and the sea, with access to high quality mountain water, fine rice, cool breezes, and a port to access Edo’s thirsty clients. (Later, we would learn about the race that ensued each year to be the first to reach that capital city, its intrigue and deception.) It was quite impactful and humbling to walk among the buildings there, many of which were destroyed in the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995. The second half of our tour took us to a fabulous brewery where they produce barrel-aged sake (taruzake), AND make the barrels on site. Although photos and videos were not allowed, this was perhaps the highlight of the whole tour. The heady smell of the cedar wood was surpassed only by the sight of the barrel-makers carefully honeing and crafting the staves and heads. The most impressive demonstration was seeing the way they prepare the bamboo wraps that hold it all together. SUPER cool visit. And their sake was pretty fine too; it spurred me to seek out taruzake in other parts of Japan during our travels. Andrew introduced us to the Toji there who is a pretty renown individual and part of the secret sake-makers guild. The next stop was at a very traditional Kura where they also had a wonderful museum complete with life-size workers (alá Madame Tussaud’s wax museum). It showed the various specialized stages of brewing in the traditional methods, with traditional wooden boxes, tanks, instruments and barrels. Their sake was varied and gave us even further insight into brewing techniques’ impacts of the sake. Fabulous. As the day waned, Andrew gave us an option to visit another place that wasn’t on our itinerary. And although we were a bit rushed for time, of course we said:“ABSOLUTEY!” We enjoyed another two o-chokko cups and merrily parted ways. In time to catch the train back to Kyoto and a delicious dinner and nighttime stroll through the gorgeous grounds of Fushimi Inari Shrine. We all had a wonderful time and very much enjoyed Andrew’s easygoing manner, his deep knowledge and the day’s conversation about the sake industry, food, production, marketing, global trends, life and its many turns and surprises. If you are drawn to sake or wine or history or culture or esoteric and cool processes, you will not be disappointed to spend half a day (or longer!) with Andrew and Origin Sake Tours. (I was not paid to write this review!)😉
Thank you all very much for taking my tour, and for the wonderful review.
