The Kobo Chronicles: LED Yume Yeast

8:32John Puma:Yes, you have.

8:34Timothy Sullivan:And to the, to the president's face, president of the company. What was his reaction to that? I think nonplussed is.

8:46John Puma:That's not the reaction you want.

8:49Timothy Sullivan:Yeah. So Michelle is a big fan of this brand. Is she not?

8:53John Puma:Oh, she is a huge fan of this brand. The biggest. Yeah.

8:58Timothy Sullivan:So the classic Naruto Tai Sake is which one?

9:02John Puma:It's that. It's a Shiborotate Ginjo. Nama Genshu, if I'm not mistaken.

9:09Timothy Sullivan:Yeah, Genshu.

9:10John Puma:Yeah.

9:11Timothy Sullivan:And it's in that really cool aluminum can.

9:14John Puma:Right. Just don't call it an oil can, apparently.

9:17Timothy Sullivan:Don't call it an oil can to the president's face. It's something they're really, really known for. And this is a different product from their lineup. And they're calling it the LED sake. And I have a little information for you about how this yeast was created. It was made in Tokushima. So this is a yeast that is only used in Tokushima Prefecture.

9:45John Puma:All right.

9:46Timothy Sullivan:And it was based off the work from the Tokushima Prefectural Industrial Technology Center. And they did work with researching irradiating yeast with UV LEDs. And what this does is it creates mutant strains of the yeast when they zap it with the LED light. And I also read that it's the blue wavelength in particular. that they're applying to this yeast and then when the yeast is reproducing it changes its dna a little bit and they get different different strains of the yeast and they found one that they thought was particularly good for making sake very interesting i like that so they took the existing yeast and like bombarded it just to kind of see what it was not just to see what it would

10:42John Puma:too, but to see what effect it had. And I imagine they did a lot of these experiments. And this is one that gave a positive result.

10:51Timothy Sullivan:Yes. And I mean, things like mutant and irradiate are not the words we traditionally use in marketing sake, right?

11:00John Puma:It's a first for me.

11:03Timothy Sullivan:It's going to be really interesting to taste this. Have you had this before? I actually have.

11:09John Puma:I had this in Tokushima last year, as a matter of fact. I happen to be in Tokushima. And number one, Tokushima is a wonderful prefecture. The city is absolutely delightful to walk around in. The food is wonderful. The people are friendly. People don't know about Tokushima. People don't go to Tokushima. They should. It's wonderful.

11:27Timothy Sullivan:So you visited this prefecture and I've never been there. So you're one up on me.

11:35John Puma:Aha.

11:36Timothy Sullivan:You scooped me, Puma.

11:38John Puma:If only I went to the brewery while I was there. I would really scoop you.

11:44Timothy Sullivan:So the name of this yeast is LED Yume Kobo, which means dream yeast.

11:52John Puma:Ooh. Dream yeast.

11:55Timothy Sullivan:because I guess it produces a dreamy sake. I don't know.

11:59John Puma:I hope it does. I'm excited to find out.

12:03Timothy Sullivan:Now, should I read a tasting note to tell us what the promise of the flavor is before we open?

12:10John Puma:Sure. Let's find out what the marketing says.

12:16Timothy Sullivan:All right. So let's see. Okay. So it says, The various lights of the LED irradiate the existing yeast and develop new yeast through mutations. This allows us to produce a completely new type of sake, sour, sweet, and tropical. It's designed to have a very high acidity and a sweet finish. Drink the sake chilled in a wine glass and you'll get a sour aroma like yogurt, a slightly sweet aroma like apple, which will whet your appetite. Oh, all right.

12:54John Puma:Yes. Wonderful. That sounds great. Yeah. I kind of want to give that a shot now. That's very interesting.

13:01Timothy Sullivan:Yeah. Yeah. Before we open, let's talk about this label too. Yeah.

13:07John Puma:For us in the West, we primarily experience Neurututai through their flagship can product, that Shiboratate Ginjo Genshu. and that is a squat white can with some kanji on it not a lot else going on this on the other hand is a very elegant looking bottle it's one of those um longer neck you know kind of fatter bottom bottles that i've been seeing a little bit more of these days does it is there a name for this

13:42Timothy Sullivan:Did you just say this bottle has a fat bottom?

13:44John Puma:It does. I'm covering the ears of my bottle when you said that.

13:54Timothy Sullivan:I think that this is one of the standards.

13:55John Puma:I'm just calling it as I see it, Tim. I don't know.

13:59Timothy Sullivan:The bottle shape that I know doesn't have a specific name, but it is wider on the bottom and not the higher neck. I didn't say it had a fat bottom. I said it's wider on the bottom. But it has a longer, narrow neck, swan-like neck. Very beautiful.

14:15John Puma:Yes, that's very nice. And then the label is very colorful. It's very colorful. And contrasting with the congee-filled label of their mainline product, there's none on the front of this one. It's just a bunch of colors and patterns and even a bit of a different texture. Some foil on here. It looks very lovely. Did they ever say in anything that you've read what they're trying to represent with this?

14:44Timothy Sullivan:Well, I am putting two and two together looking at this. And the information I read about the LED light, remember I said they use the blue wavelength in particular?

14:55John Puma:Yes.

14:56Timothy Sullivan:And the blue on this design is the one that gets the foil. So the blue line on the label is like sparkling and glowing with the foil treatment. I think these are all the different wavelengths of light. I think that's what this represents in a very abstract way. But the blue one gets the special treatment. And on the side, it says LED in the foil as well.

15:24John Puma:In the blue foil, yeah.

15:25Timothy Sullivan:Yeah, I think that refers to the blue wavelength.

15:28John Puma:That stands to reason. I like it. Yeah. But yeah, very colorful, very striking bottle here. And if you don't mind, I'm going to give everybody at home a quick rundown of the stats for this sake. As Tim pointed out, this is the Naruto Tai LED sake. It is a Junmai Ginjo from Honke Matsuura, which is, of course, in Tokushima, which is on Shikoku Island. And the ABV here is 15%. The acidity is 2.5, which sounds high to me. That's high. That's very high.

16:12Timothy Sullivan:Yep.

16:13John Puma:We've got Awa Ichiba Yamada Nishiki rice from Tokushima. Now, Tim, we know what Yamada Nishiki rice is. We know what Tokushima is. What is Awa Ichiba?

16:24Timothy Sullivan:Awa Ichiba refers to the location. So this is Tokushima grown Yamada Nishiki.

16:32John Puma:Very nice. Very nice. Well, they take that Awa Ichiba Yamada Nishiki from Kokushima, and they fill it down to 58 % of its original size. And then here's where things get a little extreme. The sake meter value is minus 20. If you're wondering how they were going to deal with that 2.5 acidity, I think we know where they're going. I think that they're going to try and meet somewhere in the middle with this very, very low SMB and that very high acidity. What do you think, Tim? Yeah. Yeah.

17:02Timothy Sullivan:That sounds right. And of course, the yeast is our LED dream sake yeast.

17:08John Puma:Yes. Well, I didn't think I needed to mention that.

17:10Timothy Sullivan:Well, I...

17:11John Puma:But I appreciate you being thorough.

17:15Timothy Sullivan:I'm very, very thorough. Someone might start listening in the middle. You know, they might miss our introduction.

17:23John Puma:If you just started the show, please go back to the beginning of the show. You don't have to go to the beginning of like episode one of Saki Revolution, but for this particular episode, just do me a solid and go back to the beginning. We put a lot of work into that. All right. Tim, let's open this one up.

17:39Timothy Sullivan:Got the stats? Yes, we got it. Let's open it.

17:43John Puma:Please do. All right. So we've got it in the glass. Yep.

17:49Timothy Sullivan:I've got the Naruto Thai LED sake in the glass. Let's give it a smell.

17:55John Puma:Yeah. Hmm.

18:00Timothy Sullivan:It smells fruity to me.

18:02John Puma:Tropical. It may just be that they imprinted that word for me there, but. Hmm. Yeah. Very, for me, very tropical. on the nose.

18:16Timothy Sullivan:Yeah, it smells a little like jammy and mango. Not too much melon this time. I mean, you and I love to talk about melon, but it's not as melony.

18:29John Puma:It's not very melony at all. It is much more of that mango. Maybe a little pineapple? Yeah. Are you ready to get this one a taste? I am.

18:46Oh, it's interesting.

18:49John Puma:That is a blast of a fruit.

18:52Timothy Sullivan:Yeah. Yeah. It almost tastes like a starburst.

18:58John Puma:This is not subtle in the least.

19:02Timothy Sullivan:It's very rich and juicy and sweet, but the acidity comes on the finish for me. Like it's bright and acidic on the finish.

19:11John Puma:Yeah, it is. bear with me for a moment the the og there were to tie that that genshu is well known for just being like a big intense like blast of nama assault and this is like it's got that pow to it but this is fruit and sweet and sour it's a very different style but the the core energy that this brand brings, this take no prisoners, here's the flavor, appears to be present. Yeah.

19:43Timothy Sullivan:It's not shy. Neither of their sakes are shy. Yeah.

19:48John Puma:Yeah. They're just going big or going home and they're going big here.

19:52Timothy Sullivan:I think one of the biggest differences between the classic Naruto Tai that we featured before and this one is that the alcohol percentage is different. The Naruto Thai in the can, the Nama Genshu, is just so bombastic and high alcohol. This is juicy, sweet, high acid, but the alcohol is only at 15%. So it doesn't bowl me over in that same way. Let me know if you think this is a fair statement, but I think that if you are a lover of juicy white wines, that you would really like this.

20:29John Puma:what do you think yeah it does have that high acidity white yeah white wine is like a riesling it's like pow you know or like a muscat like almost kind of thing it is uh just big and vibrant that's a lot of fun to drink i don't think it's something you can just like absently keep sipping because it is so intense you know you're you're gonna get a little bit of like maybe palate fatigue for a bit it's it's just that's a lot it's almost tired this is not a nama but it does um in some always feel like one. It's because it's so vibrant.

21:01Timothy Sullivan:Well, the thing that is really exciting for me about this sake is that it does push the envelope. You know, we don't want sakes to always be the same or never innovate. And it sounds like with this mutant yeast, they were able to innovate in a way and make the sake more expressive. And And it is, in my opinion, it's leaning more towards a wine-like sake. And I don't think that's a bad thing. I think that will attract a lot of wine lovers to sake.

21:33John Puma:Yeah, it definitely could. And as somebody who enjoys some wine from time to time, this is definitely really nice. Yeah. Now, we have to ask ourselves what we would pair with this

21:48Timothy Sullivan:because it's a very unique sake. Okay. It's got the sweetness going on. It's got the high acidity. It's got that kind of muted tropical fruit. And I do have some pairing recommendations from the distributor. So should I read those and we can react to them? Do a live react?

22:15John Puma:I think that'll be fun. Let's go for that.

22:18Timothy Sullivan:Okay. So the first one is cheese risotto. Cheese risotto.

22:25John Puma:I cannot opine.

22:29Timothy Sullivan:Because of the cheese. Because of the cheese.

22:32John Puma:For new listeners. Sean does not eat cheese.

22:35Timothy Sullivan:Sean Puma does not eat cheese. That was a misfire on my part. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.

22:41John Puma:It's fine. Tim, what about you? I think it would be great. Okay. So that one works.

22:48Timothy Sullivan:Risotto is often cooked with cheese and white wine. And I think that it gives that a little bit of acidity to cheese risotto. Cheese risotto is irresistible in my book. So I think that's wonderful. They also say Caesar salad. Okay.

23:06John Puma:I'm here for that. And I think that this would go really well with that.

23:11Timothy Sullivan:Yeah. They said fruit platter.

23:14John Puma:Sure.

23:15Timothy Sullivan:Yeah. I don't sit around with a fruit platter all that often.

23:20John Puma:Me either. And so I'm like, yeah, I guess that would work. Sure.

23:25Timothy Sullivan:Yeah. And also in the dessert section, they also say cheesecake with blueberry sauce.

23:31John Puma:That's very specific.

23:35Timothy Sullivan:I'm not a big fan. Scott will tell you, I'm not a big fan of blueberry in general. But just plain cheesecake, I could see this. It has the sweetness to put a foot into dessert territory. But I don't think you need to – like this isn't so sweet that I feel like it's a dessert sake. What do you think?

23:55John Puma:I don't – no. I don't think it's there. I think that the Caesar salad kind of made my eyes light up a little bit. That sounded nice. I have also found the recommendations, at least I think these are from the importer as well. I see also roast beef here. That's an interesting idea. That's like a heavier flavor. And I think that the high acidity on this would perhaps be tamed a little bit by it. I think that's a fun way to have it. That'd be interesting.

24:23Timothy Sullivan:Yeah. Well, let's come up with our own food pairing recommendations too. It's not easy, but this is a muscle that we have to exercise. We have to envision our food pairing options. and the more you do it, the easier it gets to kind of envision what you would have with this. So I really like the idea of a salad for sure. A Caesar salad sounds great. Raspberry vinaigrette would be great. I often go to that with sake. And I think this would pair really well with, pardon me, John, but a cheese plate. This is a sake I would feature in my cheese pairing class for sure.

25:03John Puma:I was just about to ask you that. Yeah. Great. I also, so do you think that something with lemon would clash with this?

25:15Timothy Sullivan:I think the acidity from a lemon-based vinaigrette or a lemon dressing would be great. And that makes me also think of something like a lemon chicken. You know, I love lemon chicken and I think that would go great with this. Okay, so we won't go hungry. And there's lots to pair with this sake.

25:36John Puma:Yes, I agree.

25:39Timothy Sullivan:And, you know, when you see those numbers on the stats, like acidity 2.5, SMB minus 20, it's like, oh my God, what am I going to do with this thing? It's out of bounds in a lot of ways. But tasting it, it's like, oh, this is not that crazy after all. This is not a funky sake for our funky sake series. It is not.

25:58John Puma:No, no, it is definitely not funky. And we don't mean that as an insult. This is not a funky sake. It is a really well-balanced sake. The numbers may make you think, oh my God, this is going to be absolutely insane. But because you have a high number on either side, it's meeting it from the middle in a way. And it's really nice.

26:23Timothy Sullivan:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's the alcohol, acidity, and sweetness all balance each other out. And it definitely leans more on the sweet side. I think if you buy this sake, you should know it's going to be on the sweeter side, but it's not overpowering. It's not out of balance and super unique. And I think it's great that we can have new yeast varieties like this LED Dream Yeast or LED Yume and have it produce these interesting flavors, I think is great. And I'm excited to see, I know that a few other brewers in Tokushima are going to be using this yeast as well. So maybe we can get our hands on another LED sake that uses this yeast and do a taste comparison.

27:12Timothy Sullivan:That would be fun for a future episode.

27:14John Puma:That would be a lot of fun. And there's one last thing I want to talk about here with this. And that is, to me at least, and feel free, I definitely want to get your feedback, But I think that this is a sake we want to definitely serve more on the colder side of things. It does not feel like something that we want to warm up too much. And it doesn't feel like something that's going to love being all that room temperature either. I don't know what your thoughts are.

27:41Timothy Sullivan:It doesn't matter what my thoughts are, John. The back label says serve chilled only. The brewery is telling us serve chilled only.

27:53John Puma:The power of the brewery compels us. Well, I'm glad I brought that up.

28:01Timothy Sullivan:Yeah. So the brewery recommends 51 degrees Fahrenheit. If you go into their deeper notes online, they say that 51 Fahrenheit is the magic temperature, which is quite cold for sake. And so they want this well chilled. And I think that helps hold the integrity of the sake together. Like maybe when it gets towards room temperature, it becomes a little more flabby. But I think when it's chilled, it kind of keeps it a little crisper on the finish. And I would agree with that. So I think chilled is the way to go.

28:35John Puma:All right. Well, Tim, this has been a lot of fun. We had a nice, new, exciting summer. And I like the series. I like that we're putting a spotlight on Kobo.

28:46Timothy Sullivan:Yeah. Who knew that irradiation and mutation could be so much fun? The X-Men.

28:56Timothy Sullivan:anyway well well john it was so much fun to taste with you thanks for sharing this sake with me and i want to thank our listeners as well for tuning in we hope you enjoyed our show now if you are one of our patreon supporters we want to send you a special hi hello and thank you for supporting us if any listeners out there are not in our patreon community and you'd like to join, visit patreon.com slash sake revolution and join us. We have a monthly live happy hour, the first Wednesday of every month. And you can talk to us live in person on zoom and we'd love to see you there. So join us on.

29:37John Puma:And when you have a chance, if you'd like other ways to support our show, please mention us to people, you know, mention us to your friends. Also give us a little shout on your podcast platform of choice, a little review whatever amount of stars you think is appropriate. It goes a long way towards getting our podcast to the top of the relevant charts when people search for sake podcasts, we want them to find sake revolution and this will help it out. So on that note, Tim, raise your glass. Remember to keep drinking sake and KAMPAI!