- [Announcer] tasteMAKERS
was funded in part by...
(soft piano music)
- [Narrator] In the hands
of those who take pride
in what they do, something
unique can be created.
Edward Jones is proud to
support the craftspeople
who define the Maker Movement.
(rhythmic upbeat music)
- In this episode
of tasteMAKERS,
you are going to
meet Yoshi Sako,
a sake brewer in Oakland,
California who is
producing small-batch sake
using only rice from this field.
(rhythmic upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
I'm Cat Neville, and
for the past two decades
I've been telling the
story of local food.
In that time, American
food culture has exploded
in tiny towns and big
cities from coast to coast.
In tasteMAKERS, I explore
the Maker Movement
and take you along
for the journey
to meet the makers
who define the flavor
of American cuisine.
(upbeat music)
Tucked inside a collective
of makers here in Oakland,
California, Yoshi Sako
is hand brewing sake
that's meant to
be food-friendly.
And judging by the
incredible array of places
that carry Den Sake on their
menus, he is hitting the mark.
(mellow guitar music)
- I was working in the
restaurant industry
for a long time,
as a sake buyer or sake
director, sake sommelier,
and I started to teach sake
class, and I was thinking,
how I can gain my
knowledge more,
you know, I study about sake.
I visited couple of
sake breweries in Japan
and did apprenticeship
for one month.
And I came back and,
you know, I was like,
"Okay, let's do it here".
That's how I started,
like a test brewing.
- He did a couple of
test brewings in his
friend's backyard
and realized, "Hey, this
is actually pretty good".
So that's when it kind
of really was born,
this idea of, "Okay, I
want my own brewery".
(mellow guitar music)
- Once I started it,
little by little, you know,
I kind of realized,
"Wow, this is hard.
"This is hard".
But, because I already started
it, I have to keep going.
So, just, that's why
I'm here now (laughing).
(machines whirring)
For the sake making process,
basically, we make steamed rice.
After that steamed rice is
carried into the cold room
to cool down to the
ideal temperature
and that steamed rice is
carried into the Koji room,
which is little
more heated room.
It takes about 50 to 55 hours
to cultivate the Koji mold.
So Koji is basically,
it's a fungus.
That fungus break
down the starch and
convert it into sugar.
What kind of Koji you make,
that's directly reflect
to the flavor of the sake.
So, it's been one of the most
important process, sake making.
We steam rice for two
different purpose.
One is for Koji making, and
one is for putting directly
into the fermentation tank.
We add water and together
water and the Koji rice
and the steamed rice takes
about 25 days to finish
the fermentation and we press
the mash and it becomes sake.
That press machine
is super old school,
and it requires manual labors,
and it takes, actually, three
days to press everything.
So, by pressing using that
way, sake becomes a little more
rounder, softer, and
tastes good too (laughs).
(upbeat music)
(door clacks)
- I've never seen
anything like this.
I've been in breweries, in
distilleries and wineries.
This is completely unique.
These tanks are full of water.
- Full of water, yeah.
- And how heavy are they?
- So, one drum is
about, like 500 pounds.
So, both together,
about 1,000 pounds.
- So, a 1000 pounds
are on this side,
and you're gonna leave this
hanging for about a day or so.
Correct?
- So, I started yesterday.
I hang only one drum yesterday.
Yesterday was the
first day of pressing,
and today is the second day,
I hang two drums after
restocking all the sake mash.
Then, leave it til tomorrow.
Then I remove all the sake lees,
leftover rice solids, then
start another pressing.
- [Cat] And so you just
are using massive amounts
of pressure to get every
single drop of liquid
and flavor out of
those rice grains.
- [Yoshi] Yeah.
- And so, it's coming
out of the bottom.
And then is it going into
that other tank back there?
- Yeah, exactly.
- Then what happens?
- So, two tanks was juice, is
gonna go into this big tank,
one tank and the other
two tanks juice is gonna
go into the other,
1,000 liter tank.
After that, I leave it
for about five days.
After five days, all those
white, kind of sediment
will stay at the bottom,
so I take out only clear part.
- Okay.
- So, that becomes the product.
We gonna do bottling.
Then, some products
will be pasteurized
and some products will
be sold as unpasteurized.
It's called Nama.
- Now, my favorite part,
we're going to taste the sake
and we're gonna
taste the pasteurized
and the unpasteurized,
side by side.
- We'll start with
unpasteurized, with Nama.
- The aroma of sake is rich.
There's a lot to
it and, you know,
the ingredients are so simple.
Oakland tap water,
sushi rice, Koji.
- And yeast.
- And the yeast.
- Yeah.
(soft bright music)
- It's delicious.
- Great.
- There is so much
depth of flavor,
and it has a round mouth feel.
It coats your tongue,
but it really does have,
kind of like, that sense
of banana and mango.
- Yeah tropical, a little bit.
- Absolutely.
It's delicious.
(soft bright music)
So this is much more crisp.
It doesn't have that roundness
that the other one did.
- It's real sharp.
- It's more austere,
I would say.
- Yeah, yeah.
I would say Nama
is more expressive,
more bold, you
know, more vibrant.
(light guitar music)
- Yoshi sources his
rice from only one farm
and that is here at Rue &
Forsman Ranch near Sacramento.
Not only does Michael Bosworth
grow about 10 varieties
of rice, he also uses
the farm as a haven
for migratory birds.
(mellow guitar music)
- Growing up on a farm,
you're always wanting to see
how you can use
what you're growing.
What other
applications are there?
I mean, obviously, we
can make great sushi,
we can make great Thai food,
but, you know, to
make a beverage,
we'd never done anything like
that before and so, you know,
I'm always excited to
collaborate with people
that are passionate about food.
And Yoshi is definitely
one of those people.
And I think he has a great
approach to making his sake
and, you know, it's just an
exciting collaboration for us.
(pleasant music)
- What variety of rice
do you grow for Yoshi?
Cause you have,
like, 10 different
varieties under cultivation.
- Yeah, that's right.
So, we grow a variety
called Calhikari for Yoshi.
It's a variety
that was developed
by the Rice Experiment
Station and it's a real great
Japanese type
short-grain variety
that can be used for sushi
and, obviously, now sake.
Holds up well, it's got
great flavor, great texture
in the mouth and, you
know, a nice aroma.
It's just, you know,
really delicious.
- So, I was really struck by
the partnership that you have
with the Nature Conservancy
to essentially act
as a weigh station
for migratory birds.
How did all of that come about?
- They developed a pilot
project, a pilot program
man, it was five
or six years ago,
and we participated in it.
It's something that, you know,
we thought had some
real potential.
What they did is they
looked at, you know,
various timings of
flooding a field and depth
and, kind of, cultural
practices, what
you did after you
harvested it, with the
straw and everything
and really looked at that and
looked at the bird response
and they tracked that and
they were out here every day
counting birds and they
came up with a great program
that said, "Well this
is the way to it, right.
"This is the timing
that's the most important.
"This is the water depth
that's the best for the birds
"and this is the management
from the farming side
"that's the best", and then
they scaled that program up,
and we've been huge
supporters of it ever since.
- [Cat] So, what kind of
birds do you see here?
- All kind, I mean there's,
obviously, you know,
you're gonna have the
traditional birds,
ducks and geese and
things like that,
but when we started
having lower water level
for the migratory birds,
you get dowitchers,
you get sandpiper, you
get avocets, stilts,
so many different, you
know, shore bird species
than, I guess, you
would typically see.
- That's so cool.
- Yeah.
(wings fluttering
(bird caws)
(light guitar music)
- A lot of people probably
familiar with wine
and so, you know,
as alcohol beverage
to pair with food, sake is
kind of similar to wine.
You know, sake also, you
know, can be drunk with food,
same as wine.
And the biggest difference
between wine and sake is
wine's backbone is acidity,
you know, the acid
from the foods
and sake's backbone
is more amino acid,
that creates more umami
flavor, more savory-ness.
That's the biggest difference.
And, especially here, people
are used to eating food
with beverage with high
acidity, like wine.
So, I decided to raise
acidity on my sake,
so that people here,
they don't really have
to switch their brain to
pair drinks with food.
It's easier for them,
I think and also,
the food I eat here is a
little bit different from food
that Japanese
people eat in Japan.
Here, it's a little
bit more protein-rich,
little bit more fattier,
so need the acidity
to cut through it too.
So, it's two reasons
I kind of like decided
to raise acidity for my sake.
(pleasant music)
(cars whizzing)
- So, I'm standing here in
the heart of San Francisco
with Beau Timken, who is
the founder of True Sake
and how many years have
you been doing this, 17?
- This is the 17th year.
So, we were the first people
to open a dedicated sake store
outside of Japan.
- So, how did you
get to know Yoshi?
- Yoshi's done sake programs
for different restaurants,
and we just know each
other through that
and I knew Yoshi
was very passionate.
His wife, they're a team and
that team is making fantastic
sake right now that I'm
very proud of selling,
and I'm very proud of, you
know when people come in
and saying, "Let us
taste something's
"that's made in America"
and Yoshi's done,
just such a great job.
Makes me very happy for him.
- Yoshi, here in the heart,
essentially, of wine country,
is making a sake, specifically
with a higher level
of acidity, to pair with
food and that's kind of what
he's hoping for.
Do you see other brewers,
kind of, taking that approach?
- Sure, I mean, that's
the way it is in Japan.
So, you're brewing
for your village.
You're brewing for what you
eat and what you're made of.
Yoshi, his village is
Oakland, California,
but it's also super food
centric, food savvy people.
So, he's making sakes
that go well with burgers,
go well with pasta, go well
with all these alien foods
to the sake world, but they fit.
He makes sake that
has body, has acidity,
but it's for everything.
I mean, snack food.
Yoshi's sake with potato chips,
forget about it, I'm not joking.
It's great.
(soft serene music)
- So, Soba Ichi, which is
right here on the same property
as us, they were one
of our first customers.
They serve the sake and
it's great, because people
drink it here, they
like it and, you know,
they're able to say, "It's
made right over there".
So, people always think that's
really interesting and cool.
- Our specialty is soba.
Soba is Japanese
buckwheat noodles,
which is very traditional
or popular in Japan.
It's a great collaboration
with Den Sake and our food.
- Besides serving the sake
as a drink, the chef, Koichi
also uses the sake kasu,
which are the pressed lees,
and he uses it to make,
actually, a cheese appetizer.
He mixes it with cream cheese
and you can really taste,
kind of the sweetness
from the sake.
It's kind of neat that the
byproduct from making the sake
doesn't go to waste.
Chefs are able to use it
in dishes they prepare.
(soft serene music)
- Our next stop is here
in Healdsburg, California
at SingleThread Farms,
where Japanese ethos
is woven throughout the
entire, incredible experience.
(soft serene music)
So, explain the menu here.
I mean, obviously it's
rotating with the seasons,
but just, generally,
when people come in,
what kind of experience
are they going to have?
- So, it's 11 courses.
Ideally in good weather you
start with a glass of champagne
on a rooftop, kind of relaxing
and watching the sunset.
Then you come down and we
have what we internally
refer to as the hassun course,
which is an array of
small bites, fresh fish,
fresh produce from the
farm and then, you know,
10 courses from there,
really all kind of rooted
very closely, thematically
with their place,
historically in kaseki
cuisine, but of course,
our rendition on it.
- And so, how does sake
kind of weave its way
into the wine program?
- It's usually, actually,
later on in the menu
with, kind of, more
aromatic, more savory dishes.
Often times, pairing with sake
can be slightly challenging.
They don't have that same,
sort of, high acidity,
mouth-watering,
crisp quality to them
that a lot of white wines
can give you very naturally.
And so Den Sake, you know,
that really gets a little more
total acid to it.
It's really amazing
how well I can slot it
into a lot of our
different courses.
- You're pairing the Den Sake
with a dish here on the menu.
Can you tell me about the dish?
- So, the dish is traditionally
a white fish dish.
Often times we're using
coastal black cod from here
off the California coast.
It's been smoked over
cherry blossom wood
in one of those
earthenware vessels.
There's one called an
ibushi gin or smoker.
We take the lid off table
side and kind of put it
in the center and it
wafts all this wonderful
cherry blossom wood smoke, kind
of all throughout the table.
And, for tables that
haven't quite gotten
that far on the menu,
it's also kind of awesome,
because they're like, "Oh
my gosh, what is that smell?
"I can't wait to
get to that course."
Kind of builds anticipation.
- Well, that's what I love
is that it feels like here
there are kind of like
these little extremely
thoughtful surprises
around every corner.
The idea that you can
choose this handmade cup
and it's completely unique.
The fact that you're serving
the sake out of vessels truly
made in Japan and it's
this very, kind of, hushed
and quiet environment that
allows people to fully,
I think experience the flavors
and the sights and the sounds.
- Absolutely.
A lot of people say it's almost
like there's a dance going
when you dine here.
Things kind of just
come and go and waft by.
We really try to appeal to
all the senses and such.
(soft strings music)
- Here at Quince in
San Francisco, wine
is the major star
of the beverage program and
because of its high acidity,
Den Sake has made the list.
Let's check in with
their sommelier now.
(pleasant music)
This is a restaurant that
is very, very wine-focused
and Yoshi kind of like, got
the door open to be included
in your tasting menu, right?
- So, we have one tasting
menu for the evening,
and then we offer a wine
and sometimes other beverage
pairing, so we kind
of came to a dish
that needed something
a little different.
So, this dish came out.
It was called wild nettles.
It had potato, oyster,
basically, kind of a different
version of a chowder.
So, we were tasting all
of these wines with it
and nothing was really
working out for us.
- And so when you
tasted that Den Sake,
what were the flavors in
that sake, in particular,
that worked with
this particular dish?
- Oddly enough, there was
this banana and tropical note
in this sake that I just
kind of fell in love with,
and for me, it was a
very textural pairing.
That's what we were missing
with wine or other beverages.
It kind of just
enveloped the oyster.
It had enough acidity to cut
through the creamy aspect
of the dish and that
banana note kind of worked
with the wild nettle, which
is a notoriously difficult
ingredient to pair with.
- Like, artichokes or
something like that.
- It's something like that.
Artichoke, eggplant,
those kind of ingredients.
The Den Sake, it came in here.
It was perfect.
It was received well.
That's what makes
that sake so unique,
is that it can kind of cut
through those richer elements,
which you would normally never
be able to do with a sake.
(light pleasant music)
- Here at Rintaro, which
is actually one of Yoshi
and Lani's favorite restaurants,
their sake is on the list,
but what's more exciting
is that the lees from
their sake making process
actually makes an
appearance in the kitchen.
So, I'm standing
here in Rintaro.
Yoshi and Lani, they said
this was kind of like
their favorite place
and like, they used to,
when they lived closer
to the restaurant,
they would be here every week.
- Yeah, they were just
absolutely regular customers
and they would come late
and they would drink a lot,
and they would sit at
the yakitori grill,
and when he started
experimenting with making
his own sake, he would
bring us his lees,
like the sake pressings.
They were always
really flavorful,
really aromatic and delicious.
So, I've been using them
for a long time, actually.
- So, what do you
do with the lees?
- The thing that I do
mostly is preserve fish.
I use it to cure black
cod, sometimes to cure
the local king salmon.
We also occasionally
make a soup out of it.
It's kind of like a miso soup
and rather than adding
miso, you add the sake lees
and I've got a sake
lees pickled wasabi.
(soft serene music)
- Next up, we're
stopping by Umami Mart
to chat with Yoko about
how best to serve sake.
So, there are an
array of glasses
to be able to enjoy your sake.
Kind of explain to me
why these are designed
the way that they're
designed in order
to enhance the flavor
and aroma of the sake.
- Those are meant for hot sake.
One of the reasons why is
because they're easier to heat
in a bath of water,
or the tokkuri is,
and then the ceramic is
easier to hold, if it's warm.
- And then, how about
these? These are so fun.
- So, those are wonderful
because you have the stem,
so if you're having a
chilled sake and you really
don't want the heat from
your fingers to transfer
to the sake, this
is a nice option.
Just like a wine glass
too, for the stem.
- So, there are also
wooden boxes that are used
for drinking sake?
- Yes yeah.
They're called masu.
I have one right here.
Masus are wooden
boxes made from cedar.
Commonly, you're gonna see a
flute like this in the masu,
and then they'll pour
the sake into the flute
and then they'll
let it overflow.
And this is an expression
of plentifulness,
of, you know, being
grateful to whoever it is
you're pouring for, like an
overflowing of, you know,
of bounty and kind of,
you know, gratitude.
- And again, it's like sake
is a wonderful beverage.
You can put it in just a
straight up wine glass,
but being able to use
all these different ways
to consume it, it adds
just one more level of,
just kind of, fun to it,
frankly.
- Yeah.
(pleasant music)
- Yoko, actually, she
does have this bar
and the Den Sake is
your biggest seller.
- It is, yeah.
It's delicious.
People really seem to relate
to the flavor profile.
Once, you know, you
pour it for people,
they really remember it.
There's kind of this,
like, you know, distinct
Den aroma that he's cultivated
in the past seven batches
at this point.
- Yoshi, he's
learned complexity.
Sometimes some
Namas are too big.
Yoshi's Namas have
great food partner.
It has strength.
It's solid.
He only has limited
ingredients, right?
He's got Oakland water man
and he's got rice
from up in Sacramento.
And he's working
within these confines
and he's making sake that
tastes like Japanese sake.
(light bouncy music)
- Having been his friend
before he started making sake,
when he still was in
the restaurant industry,
what did you think as he
was making this transition
to producing a local product?
I mean, that's a
huge leap to take.
- It seemed hard, cause I know
that, like a lot of really
traditional Japanese products,
there's so much technique,
and so much history and culture
and skill that's
acquired over, you know,
generations and generations
and generations.
But, the fact that he
was such a sake devotee,
to begin with and he's
got such an enthusiasm.
- It's worked.
- It's worked
extremely well, yeah.
- I can't believe he's
only been open for,
not even two years.
- Yeah, it's impressive.
It's impressive,
because of him and like,
his single-mindedness,
which I think
is why it's a good sake.
(pleasant music)
- It's been about a year
since he released batch one
and it's been amazing.
It's just taken off more
than we ever thought.
The James Beard
nomination was humbling.
The first time, ever, a
sake producer was nominated.
- Sake making, you
know, in the beginning,
I just wanted to see how
it's going, how they do it.
Then, little by
little, I kind of like,
I started to, having more
motivation in the going deeper
to the sake making process.
You know, once I started the
test brewing, I realized,
"Wow, this cannot
be just a side job.
"I have to fully
put myself into it".
I started getting know
about the ingredients,
how I can treat them to
create my ideal style sake.
I kind of started to
having more, you know,
confidence about, you
know, what I can make,
but it's never ending.
I'm still learning every day.
Every time I make sake,
I learn something new.
(pleasant music)
- For more information
on Den Sake Brewery,
as well as all the
other incredible makers
we featured in this series,
just head to
wearetastemakers.com.
Thanks for joining
me here in California
and I'll see you next time.
Connect with us online
at wearetastemakers.com
through social media
on these handles.
(bright lively music)
- [Announcer] tasteMAKERS
was funded in part by...
(soft serene music)
- [Narrator] In the hands
of those who take pride
in what they do, something
unique can be created.
Edward Jones is proud to
support the craftspeople
who define the Maker Movement.
(dreamy music)
(upbeat music)