IKKON STYLE
Master liquorYuki Aoi
2018.05.30
How to enjoy IKKON,
3rd liquor master Yuki Aoi
Yuki Aoi, a freelance announcer and Japanese sake coordinator who is active on television and radio, introduces how to enjoy Japanese sake at IKKON.
―By the way, why did Aoi think that she wanted to be a good liquor?
Originally I am very curious (laughs). What did alcohol mean when I was 20 years old? Not only sake, but that was the challenge of beer, whiskey, brandy, tequila. When I traveled to Mexico during my college days, I bought a tequila with three friends, but it was clean and completely different from drinking in Japan. I really understood that liquor comes from the local climate. Then I met shochu in Kagoshima and got hooked.
Sake has been drunk since I was a student, but I started studying more than ten years ago, because I wanted to know more about it because I participated in an experience of rice planting, rice harvesting, and brewing planned by Sakakura.
―How about sake from Fukushima?
Fukushima has a lot of sake breweries that are very high even when viewed nationwide. The characteristics are fruity and juicy, and there are many types that can feel sweetness and umami. It is popular with young women and recommended for those who have made Japanese sake. Also, if you try a little bit of sake, you can say, “It ’s delicious!” And the image of sake changes. I also love it and take it well.
―The sake that IKKON tried this time is from Suzuki Shuzo. It’s a sake brewery in Namie Town, Fukushima Prefecture, the home of Ohori Soma Yaki. (After the Great East Japan Earthquake, I moved to Nagai, Yamagata Prefecture, and continued making sake using miraculously left yeast)
Sake produced by the sea, mountains, water, soil, and local climate, and a vessel created by nature. Both are the local food culture and tradition. If you have local sake in a local vessel, you can feel that kind of connection. Of course, it would be great if you could taste it locally, but I think it would be great if you could have more opportunities to experience such a story without having to travel.
―Thank you very much.
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Yuki Aoi／Japanese coordinator
I am qualified as a master liquor and shochu advisor and am struggling every day to convey the charm and importance of Japanese food culture. Named “Sake Samurai” by the Japan Sake Brewery Association.
