American-made sake tastes as good asestablished Japanese brands
Original Article (in Japanese, requires log-in):
http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXKZO13092630Y7A210C1CR8000/
As the popularity of Japanese sake is increasing
Using tanks ordered from a Chinese company
around the world, the spotlight is shining on a local rather than importing ready-made materials, heAmerican sake brewery.
was able to cut investment costs by 90%.
In 2016, at an international tasting hosting a
number of long-established craft sake breweries,
an American man was awarded the gold medal for
his Junmai ginjo. The man had lost his job after
the Lehman shock and was determined to makesake.

He ships about 1,200 25dollar 750 ml bottles to 38
states and the UK permonth. He's also currently
considering entering theNew York market.

At first glance, the label and bottle resemble whitewine, but when you put it into your mouth, it's
clearly the refreshing taste of sake. The acclaimed
junmai ginjo, Blue Current, is in the hands ofDaniel Ford (47). "It has a brilliant aroma ofbanana and vanilla doesn't it?"Tour of local sakebrewery
After graduating fromHarvard University, Ford
worked as a financial
system consultant, andresearching DNA, etc. In
2005 he visited Japan andfirst came into contact withJapanese sake. After returning to the US, and with
the Lehman shock hitting businesses hard, he wasout of work, and though he searched for a new job
for two years, realized "independence is better"and decided to become an entrepreneur.

To sell the sake to Americans unfamiliar with thedrink, it's prepared to look like wine.
Gold medal winner
At the London Sake Challenge tasting in August
last year, Blue Current was selected for the gold
prize among 29 contestants including from wellestablished breweries in Japan.
Ford's small brewery is on the East Coast of theUS, in Kittery, Maine, about 10 minutes by carfrom where the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed.
Kittery's climate is similar to that of Tohoku andHokkaido, with a snowy winter suitable for sakebrewing.
The water used for brewing comes from a nearby
lake is soft water, creating a good taste. The rice
is koshihikari from California, 40% shaved ricegrains, tailored for junmai ginjo.
In Japanese sake brewing, complex processes -koji and yeast starters and other preparations areneeded, but Ford deals with most of the procedure
single-handedly. A warm room for fermenting,equipment such as tanks for preparation andstorage were set up by Ford himself.

He had experience already making beer and cider
for fun, but beer breweries were already abundantin the US, and decided on Japanese sake, where
there was still room for growth. He visited sakebreweries in Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima, andlearned about sake brewing through participating
in seminars. In 2015 he began his venture.
His goal was to share American local sake.
According to the English survey company EuroMonitor, consumption of rice wine like sake andmakgeolli is only 0.1% of the rice alcohol market.
According to JETRO, sake produced in the US
comes mostly from large Japanese businesses,with few craft sakes.
Ford's dream is to showcase his sake to Japanesepeople alongside Japanese craft brewers atbustling Japanese restaurants. His fight continues.