The one and only liqueur!
The "only one" taste we have pursued.
<Part 2>

Kenichiro Yashiro decided to enter Japan's largest plum wine competition as a last-ditch effort to promote Kiuchi Umeshu, a plum wine made from Kiuchi no Shizuku.How was the plum wine made by a sake master really received?

writer：Ryoko Kuraishi

Kiuchi Umeshu (plum wine) on display with the certificate of 'Tenka Gomen' awarded at the 2009 Tenma Tenjin Umeshu Competition.It is a testimony to the fact that it is the best plum wine in Japan.It currently produces around 40,000 litres a year.

Kiuchi Umeshu is a confident plum wine made using beer spirits, only available here in Japan, and with a focus on plums from Ibaraki Prefecture, the plum capital of Japan.
Developed by Kenichiro Yashiro, the toji (master brewer), it combines the aroma of herbs and hops from Hitachino Nest Beer's white ale with the refreshing taste of Shirakaga plums, making it truly superb.
So why is it not selling?


'Because many sake breweries have already released plum wine soaked in sake.
Even if we claim that our plum wine is soaked in spirits, people don't understand the difference.
It was frustrating that even though we tried to promote the good qualities of this plum wine, it did not penetrate the market.


It was then that I happened to learn that a plum wine competition was being held in Japan.
The Tenma Tenjin Plum Wine Competition is held every spring at the main shrine of Osaka Tenmangu Shrine, where plum blossoms bloom.
It is Japan's largest plum wine competition, bringing together all the best-kept plum wine from all over the country and from all over the world, and presenting it to a large number of visitors.


Twelve brands selected by public vote from among the plum wine entries go to the final judging, and the best plum wine in Japan is decided after a blind tasting by a panel of 16 judges.
Incidentally, this is the sixth year for this competition, and this year 308 brands from all over the country participated.

This is the only authentic handmade beer workshop in Japan, which opened in 2000.There are eight kettles for brewing beer.Reservations are required and must be made in advance via the website.You can also enjoy the beer experience and soba lunch as a set.

I think it was 2008 when I first heard about the competition and I really wanted to enter it the following year," Yashiro says.
But then the brewing of sake had just started and in the meantime I completely forgot to submit the entry form."


A staff member found the entry form on Ms Yashiro's desk and submitted it for her.The staff found the application form on Ms Yashiro's desk and submitted it for her.
In the competition held in spring 2009, 162 brands of plum wine were entered.
Unbeknown to Ms Yashiro, the judging proceeded and before she knew it, more than 12,000 public votes had been cast to select the top 12 brands.
The final judging took place and it was on 23 February that she received the news of the award.


I was so happy.
It is truly encouraging for those of us involved in brewing.
Above all, we were happy to be selected as one of the top brands in the public vote.
Because it meant that the public had recognised that our plum wine was delicious.
That day, I went home and celebrated with my family.
At work, we were too busy shipping sake to celebrate (laughs).

The labels for handmade beer are, of course, original!You can bring in your own design and have it printed on label paper.

Kiuchi Umeshu (plum wine) made a name for itself when it became the best in Japan.
The volume of shipments jumped up to ten times the previous level.
The number of shipments jumped tenfold and offers from ume farmers also poured in.


'Actually, it would cost a lot less to brew with plums from other prefectures, but the basic premise is that we have to stick to plums from Ibaraki Prefecture.
As a brewery with a long history, we are proud of the Kiuchi Brewery name, and there are many people in the prefecture who say they have been fans of ours for many years.
We make our sake carefully so as not to betray their expectations.
That's all I can do."


In all processes, if you want to cut corners, you can cut corners as much as you want.
It is up to the maker to decide how far he or she wants to go in terms of precision.
We don't cut corners, we take our time and are very careful.That is our way of doing things, says Mr Yashiro.


Another motto of the Kiuchi Brewery is 'individuality'.


For example, in beer brewing, the herb-based 'White Ale' is now a Kiuchi standard, and our unique brand using ancient rice has been well received in the US.
One of the reasons why Hitachino Nest has become so well-loved is that it has been able to properly express Kiuchi's unique character.
In the case of sake, it is not possible to bring out the individuality of the ingredients as in the case of beer, but we still want to polish it up and pursue a taste that is 'uniquely ours'.

Three years ago it also won a gold medal for sake at the National New Sake Competition.Kiuchi Shuzo's flagship brand, Kikumori, is a mellow, aromatic and confident product.

By the way, this pursuit of originality 'like no other' is largely due to the influence of Toshiyuki Kiuchi, the director of the company.
It was Mr Kiuchi's idea to start brewing beer, and he also came up with the idea that beer spirits could be made from beer yeast.It was also Mr Kiuchi who came up with the idea that beer spirits could be made from beer yeast.
According to Mr Yashiro, "ideas that I would never come up with on my own" are born from Mr Kiuchi, the brain behind the Kiuchi Brewery.


When asked where ideas come from, Mr Kiuchi replied: 'I never imitate what others have done.He answered immediately: "I never imitate what others have done.
I always think of something different.


If you want to do something new, you have to look at the world's leading regions.
If you only look at Japan, you will find that there are many things that are common knowledge in Japan that are not common knowledge in the rest of the world.


For the past 10 years, Kiuchi Sake Brewery has been opening its brewery to the public and holding events that combine sake, food and entertainment.The Kiuchi Sake Brewery has been opening its brewery to the public for the past ten years, holding events that combine sake, food and entertainment.
The event, called "Kuraku Kai", is organised each time with musicians, chefs and other special guests.
The event has already been held 21 times and has become a popular event, but it was originally initiated by Mr Kiuchi as part of his research for a restaurant to be opened on the premises.
Who comes, where do they come from and how do they get there?
Based on the customer traffic data obtained by the Kuraku Kuraku no Kai, the Naka-ya restaurant was opened using a Taisho warehouse on the premises.

The Kura Rakuraku no Kai is a sake brewery open event with guests associated with the Kiuchi Brewery.Guests can enjoy a collaboration between their performances and Kiuchi Brewery sake.

After the opening of the restaurant, a 'Handmade Beer Workshop' was launched to encourage people to enjoy beer more than just eating it.
This is a hands-on facility where visitors can choose the base beer style, alcohol content, bitterness and hops of their choice, and create their own personal beer.
The idea is typical of sake breweries, which, even if a restaurant opens, will not focus primarily on food, but rather on sake.


As a businessman, Mr Kiuchi always wants to try things that no one else is working on or doing.
There are many restrictions on distilleries, so I want to clear them one by one and expand our sales channels overseas," he says, with an eye on markets outside Japan.


On the other hand, Mr Yashiro, who as a craftsman is working through trial and error to give shape to Mr Kiuchi's ideas, is committed to brewing sake with even greater precision, saying: 'I want to challenge myself every day to find ways to make both sake and plum wine taste more 'uniquely ours' by adding even more innovations to them.I want to challenge myself every day to create a more 'unique' taste for both sake and plum wine".


The collaboration of ideas and techniques probably produces an original taste that is 'only at home'.
In its 190th year of existence, the brewing of long-established sake is likely to evolve further.
Kiuchi Brewery's next move is likely to attract even more attention.