Funky Packaging: Koimari Nomanne Porcelain One Cups

11:13John:This is not a gotcha.

11:14Tim:You have to keep buying them over and over again and hope you get all the whole set.

11:20John:So when we open it up, there is a full sheet folded in there with a front and back color sheet that talks all about this design series and talks all about the different designs and what they mean. It's in Japanese and English. So this is absolutely perfect. And it's going to help us a lot today. And then you pull out the cup itself. Oh, wow. That is really nice.

11:49Tim:Yeah. And, you know, for people at home who have had one cups before, you might think like, well, wait a minute, a box, a box for a one cup. And, you know, number one, monkey packaging. Number two, since these are porcelain, they are, you know, probably a little bit more fragile than your average one cup. So they want to make sure these can stand some wear and tear.

12:10John:Yeah. And I have a strong, strong suspicion that these are often gifted as, you know, a type of a gift or omiyage. And having the beautiful small box to hold these porcelain ceramic one cups is really, really a nice touch. So do you have yours out as well, John?

12:30Tim:I do. I do.

12:31John:so tell me about yours okay so mine is a very beautiful blue and white design and it is called in it is called in japanese fuyo day and that means the lotus hand so it's the lotus hand pattern and it's a design that originated in china oh and that's that pattern that that style is something that I've seen many times over the years.

13:02Tim:I'm sure that a lot of our listeners have seen this style before, probably on like maybe on teacups and stuff like that. Yeah, it's a classic indigo blue and white.

13:17John:It looks like old school porcelain. There's like a key design around the bottom and some flowers that are meant to invoke lotus flowers. And it's absolutely beautiful. I really, really love it. So that's the story of mine, blue and white, classic old school porcelain. Which design did you get, John?

13:37Tim:So I've got the tachibana. It's listed as being a Nabeshima style tachibana. And mine has kind of yellow citrus fruits on it, on a tree. It's a nice little drawing of trees with citrus on it. And I went and took a look at some of the language on this. It says that the tree is bearing fruit of everlasting life. Oh. Yeah.

14:05John:Yeah. So it's not just any fruit.

14:07Tim:This is some high quality fruit.

14:11John:You can't get that fruit at Whole Foods, I can tell you that.

14:14Tim:No, I don't think you can.

14:17John:So Tachibana is an ancient variety of citrus. So I read it's like an old version of like a tangerine or something like that. Probably, yeah. Yeah. So we have the Tachibana ancient citrus and we have the lotus hand in my cup. And they're both really beautiful. So your design has like yellowish, orangish citrus fruits on a tree with green leaves in the background. The one thing that's common among both of all these cups is what I mentioned about the Kou Imari porcelain in general, which is kind of vibrant colors on a white background. I think that's something that is indicative of the style. So we both have that, a beautiful white background that really makes the design pop, doesn't it?

15:06Tim:It does. It does. It looks great. They didn't mess around here. They made something really beautiful. Yeah.

15:13John:Now looking at the bottle, I noticed that there's something that is a little incongruous with ancient designs, which is a few QR codes here on the back.

15:27Tim:You know, a blend of old and new. Yes.

15:31John:So the first QR code is called the Saga. And this is a sticker that they put on the back here. And this QR code goes to the Saga Sake Brewers Association and just is kind of a home base for their, you know, their regional style and homepage for what they want to promote as far as what Saga Sake means. And I think that's really great. So they're working hard to promote their regionality and their prefecture and their regional style. So that's one QR code. And then there's the traditional distributors label on the back as well. And this is distributed by New York Mutual Trading here in New York, LA Mutual Trading on the West Coast.

16:14John:and this has a QR code as well. So you can also get the stats and the tech sheet for this product. And it's got like the alcohol and the volume size, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, so a couple of QR codes along with our ancient porcelain. I love that.

16:33Tim:You know, got to bring that modern touch. The Saga, that's a great name for it. Oh yeah, and then on top, We have another modern bit, a sticker that says GI Saga, another one of those geographical indicators.

16:51John:You got it. So Saga sake is protected by that GI certification. And yeah, so they've got this labeled on all sides, making sure we know this is from Saga if the porcelain wasn't a dead giveaway. And on top of that, there is a plastic cover on this, which means that if you open the sake and want to seal it back up, it comes with this removable plastic cap that you can use. I think we talked about this cap before when we talked about one cups. Yes, we have.

17:23Tim:And while the cap is very surprisingly good at keeping the sake inside, I would say maybe don't 100 % say, oh, well, it's sealed now. It's covered, but sealed is a strong word. I would kind of treat this as a little bit open once it's open.

17:43John:Let's take off the plastic cover. Sure. All right. All right. Yeah, and there's the foil pull tab. Yep.

17:51Tim:Now in the States, a lot of cups, we have the little tab, like a beer tab, and then it just opens up a small hole. In Japan, generally speaking, you've got the pull tab where it takes off the entire top covering.

18:06John:That's right. So that's what we have here. The pull tab is like off to the side. And when we pull on it, it's going to pull the foil off the entire top of this cup. So are we ready to do that? Should we pull the trigger?

18:20Tim:I think we are ready to pull the trigger or at least the pull tab.

18:24John:All right. Okay. Ooh.

18:30Tim:There we go. This is... Okay. This cup looks like, it looks like somebody poured me a sake in a very fancy four slim cup. When I put it down on my table and I look at it, I was like, wow, look at that.

18:44John:yeah so the the walls of this cup are relatively thick so this this looks like to me this looks like a tall slim teacup or something like that yeah it's very beautiful and i want to note that the lip of the cup is also slightly rounded so that the metal has the metal of the foil can wrap around and really seal this in. So there's a little lip to the edge of this cup, and I'm sure it makes it very pleasant to drink out of as well.

19:19Tim:Yeah. You know, maybe I was wrong about this lid. Maybe it will do a little more than I thought.

19:23John:Hmm.

19:25Tim:All right. I think we need to stop here, though, because we're getting perilously close to the idea of drinking this sake, and we cannot do that until we have talked about what is in the cup. So this is a Junmai from Koimari Brewery over in Saga Prefecture. It uses Saga no Hana rice, which I'm going to give my amateur opinion and say that probably means flour of Saga. It has been milled down to 65 % of its original size. It's using yeast 701. Relative of the old seven. and sake meter value of plus two, that meter of dry to sweet. So expect something very, very slightly dry. Acidity at 2.5. Tim, I could be mistaken, but acidity of 2.5 is a touch on the high side, is it not?

20:18John:A little on the high side, but let's reserve our judgment for the tasting.

20:22Tim:We're just talking about the numbers, Tim. That's all.

20:24John:Yep. There's crunch in the numbers.

20:26Tim:There's crunch in the numbers. And then, of course, the alcohol by volume is 15%. sounds like a nice thing to have on a train.

20:34John:Yeah. A very fancy train. This would be for the first class car, I think. Exactly.

20:41Tim:All right.

20:42John:Well, one other thing we should make clear is that the five different designs, I think they all have the same sake inside. So John and I are tasting the same sake, even though we have different designs on our glasses.

20:56Tim:Yeah, it would be interesting if the cups actually changed the way the sake tasted because of what they print on the outside. but I don't think that's going to be the case.

21:03John:All right. Well, here we go. I'm ready to get this smell. Let's get the nose.

21:08Tim:It's hard to get the nose on a one cup, I find.

21:13John:I do smell something. Me too. So to me, this smells just a little bit creamy and a little bit ricey as well. This is going to be a classic Junmai. So we're not getting much tropical fruit here. I think this is going to be one of those more lactic or rice-forward sakes, which is a pretty classic style to put in a one cup.

21:39Tim:I think so, too. Yeah.

21:42John:All right. So a lovely little bit of cream or maybe butter.

21:47Tim:Ooh, that would be nice.

21:48John:On the nose, yeah. And then some rice, that Saga no Hana sake rice. All right. smells good to me it really it really is a pleasant aroma it is it is and yeah there is that that

22:03Tim:that that riciness not like a not aggressively ricy but just like faint subtle pleasant all right let's let's have a give it a taste cheers oh well that was surprising oh my gosh yeah that

22:22John:That acidity is there.

22:24Tim:It's the very impressive. Boom. Wow. It's a lot more, I'm going to say, more tart than I was expecting from the aroma.

22:34John:And I'm shocked.

22:37Tim:I'm legitimately shocked by this.

22:40John:It tastes good, but it's tart. You're right. It has this tart high acidity. and I was expecting something much more down to earth basic with the with the aroma but it has

22:57Tim:this really bright acidity I like it me too I just wasn't in any way expecting it that's I'm just

23:09John:Oh, wow. That's really good.

23:12Tim:That's really nice.

23:14John:If you think about, do you remember Sweet Tarts, those candies? I do. It has a little bit of that.

23:22Tim:Of that tart.

23:23John:Sweet tart candy hint to it, but it's balanced with a grounding in rice flavor. So 65 % rice polish, but the acidity of 2.5 really comes through. Yeah. And it's such an interesting sake.

23:43Tim:Yeah, this is fun. This is nice.

23:45John:So this is a one cup, and I'm going to say the fact that it's a one cup combined with this fun acidity here.

23:52Tim:What do we think for food?

23:56Tim:I have some ideas, but I think that I want to hear what you have to say.

24:03John:Well, with this high acidity, my thoughts go immediately to something with citrus in it. So I was thinking like if you've ever had a lemon chicken that is really lemony, I think like a lemon chicken would go really well with this. So rice, lemon chicken with that lemon sauce, that would be amazing with this. Also, a salad with a citrus vinaigrette or those salads that have a little wedge of orange or grapefruit in them, something with citrus and salad I think would be a great pairing as far as the weight is concerned. Nothing too heavy. That's my idea. What do you think, John?

24:45Tim:For some reason, my brain immediately went and started craving tempura. I wanted something a little bit oily. Like, you know, I don't know exactly why, but I feel like it's going to cut through that a little bit nicely. However, I am also very sold on your citrus idea. That sounds wonderful and matches my cup, as a matter of fact. But I can really go for something that's a little bit, you know, a little bit on the more oily side of things. So I think tempura, I think a little bit more of the, maybe your more oily fishes, like fishes, your more oily fish, like salmon or tuna. That sounds nice. Yeah.

25:29John:Well, my cup has the lotus root flower on it. So maybe I could do, I could do lotus root tempura and you could do the tachibana citrus salad. While we're enjoying sipping on this cup, I have a little kind of a description of the project from the brewery. Now, the brewery is owned by the Maeda family, and the current Kuramoto owner is Kumiko Maeda, who is one of, she's a Toji owner and Kuramoto.

26:06Tim:Okay. And Toji and Kuramoto and all that. Yes. You don't see that many of those, but it's pretty great when they are able to handle all aspects of the brewery. That's pretty exciting. Double threat.

26:19John:That's amazing. Yeah. And this project has a name. It's called Nomane.

26:27Tim:Nomane.

26:28John:Nomane. And it was launched by Kumiko, who's the fourth generation owner of Koimari Brewery. And the impetus behind this was to introduce the quality of Japanese sake and the traditional beauty of Imari and Arita porcelain to as many people as possible. So the name Nomane means let's enjoy a drink in the Imari dialect.

26:58Tim:Cool.

26:59John:And this was inspired by a relatively recent trend in cup sake, which is normally produced in glass cups. And this is just a wonderful collaboration with a local pottery manufacturer to promote not only the sake of the region, but also the beautiful porcelain and ceramics that they have. And they're also tying in the connection to the Saga Prefecture appellation using sake rice 100 % grown in Saga Prefecture. So they've got all—this is a full court press of promotion for Saga Prefecture. Right?

27:39Tim:Yeah, they're putting it all on the line.

27:41John:Oh, my gosh. I'm finding myself going back and sipping and sipping. And normally when we're recording, we'll take a sip and we'll go on, blah, blah, blah. But I'm just finding myself just keep reaching back for this cup. It's so elegant to hold. And the acidity is the surprising component of this sake. I was not expecting that at all. Oh, my gosh.

28:05Tim:And I've had a couple of different sakes from Koemari before. And this is not like anything else I've tasted from them. I've never known them to play with this high acidity stuff. And maybe, you know, maybe we just don't get their, you know, their Jun Mai's or what have you. But this is a super fun, interesting thing. I want to see more of it. Like, it's really good. I think there's a, you know, they've been dipping their toe in the market here and I'm glad to see it. But I would love to see them do more. Like, this is great. Right.

28:37John:And John, I don't think you'll be surprised by this, but this Komari Nomane cup also won a prize for attractive Japanese souvenir contest.

28:49Tim:Oh, no kidding. Yes.

28:51John:In 2007, this project won a prize as one of the most attractive Japanese souvenirs. And I think it's well deserved. I would give this as a souvenir. I love this thing. Yeah, absolutely.

29:04Tim:Yeah.

29:05John:So this has been around for several years, this Imari Cup One Cup project. And I think I bought one of these in Japan years ago just out of pure curiosity, but I don't remember which one I bought. I don't remember what happened to the cup, but it is so wonderful that it's now coming to the States. Like that's the big difference is that these cups are now being exported to the U.S. You can buy them here now. And the description here says that when you're done drinking, you could use the cup as a vase or a pen holder.

29:44Tim:I mean, I plan to use this as a cup to drink sake out of when I'm done drinking sake out of this.

29:49John:Yeah.

29:50Tim:Because I think it's a really nice cup. but yes i guess it could also be a pen holder if you were so inclined yeah i went through a phase where i collected one cups me too yeah i think everyone does i mean they're so they can be so cute right yeah and then you come up you come to this place where you have way too many and you realize you're not using them for anything except maybe decoration and then at that point you still have too much for decoration and you need to make some decisions yes i did a purge a few years back

30:24John:and i kept some sentimental one cups and i have i do use a one cup as a pen holder on my desk but it is the original hakai san the old school hakai san futsushu one cup that they made years ago Yeah. They've since redesigned it and changed it, but I have one of the original ones from almost 20 years ago that is the old school design. And just as a nod to my connection to Hakai-san, I have that as my pen holder on my desk. And then in my china cabinet, I have some one cups that are just too cute to give away.

31:07Tim:Too cute. I understand. I understand.

31:11John:There's some really cute ones out there.

31:12Tim:So will this one dethrone your Hakai San cup as the new pen holder?

31:17John:I don't think I'm going to turn this into a pen holder. I'm with you. I want to use this to drink out of from time to time.

31:25Tim:Yeah.

31:26John:And I love that it has the little lid. But you're right. The lid is not watertight. No. So this is just a gentle covering. But if you're keeping something chilled in the fridge and it's not going to be jostled around, it's perfect. Yeah. And this is great. But you know what? The problem is, is that now I want to collect all five. So this is a problem.

31:50Tim:Yeah. This is, this is where the issue lies. You see, you look what happened. You got one cup and you're already like, I need them all.

31:58John:Yeah.

31:59Tim:I got to collect them all. We are very fortunate that this is actually not a gotcha because then you would have bought like 25.

32:05John:This is a gotcha moment.

32:07Tim:Yes. Wonderful. Wonderful.

32:11John:John, do you feel a little elegant? Do you feel bonita? I do, actually.

32:17Tim:And I have to say, I still don't feel funky. I do not. Okay. I stand my ground and say, this is maybe not funky. But honestly, the sake ended up being the funkiest thing with that high acidity. It was really interesting and fun. Yeah.

32:32John:Maybe this could be a secret underground funky sake episode parading as a funky packaging.

32:40Tim:We had no idea. My favorite thing is when we, I love when we have these sakes and neither of us have tasted them before.

32:48John:And we're like, oh, what the hell?

32:50Tim:It's always a lot of fun.

32:52John:Yeah. Well, just one last reminder to all our listeners is that if you've been listening to us talk about these designs, be sure to check out our show notes. We'll have beautiful photos of all the designs and you can check these out for yourself because a picture is worth a thousand words. John it has been

33:10Tim:I don't think we said a thousand words so that's good

33:15John:Well John it's been great to taste with you and I am so happy to try a sake that both you and I have never had before makes for very fun and exciting tasting and this was just great and I really think this packaging is going to be very successful here in the states and I hope all our listeners check it out I want to say thank you to all of our listeners and especially our special community on Patreon. If you're enjoying Sake Revolution and you'd like to support this podcast, the best way to do that is join us on Patreon. You can visit patreon.com slash sake revolution to learn about supporting our show and joining our monthly live happy hour, which is so much fun.

34:03Tim:It is.

34:04John:Yes. It's always a great time. Yeah, so please check it out and we hope you'll join our community.

34:10Tim:Yes, and we want to hear from you. So you can contact us over at feedback at sakerevolution.com and give us that feedback directly. You can also get at us on social media. Tim will happily take your DMs over on Instagram and other platforms. So I hope everybody's got a cup handy. so until next time please remember to keep drinking sake and

34:36John:konfai