As with seasonal fish, seasonal sake is something often overlooked, or unfamiliar. Most Midwesterners are used to sake served warm, and cold sake is still new and unfamiliar.

Namazake is still fairly rare in the United States, especially here in the Midwest. Namazake is unpasteurized sake, fresh off the press and not aged.

I have been fortunate to taste a vast variety of great sakes, but this Taiheikai Shiboritate namazake genshu nigori is just amazing!

It's amazing because it is a namazake, but it is also a shiboritate (undiluted with water) and a nigori (unfiltered), which brings this sake to life literally, because it is actually alive.

It is alive because it is still fermenting, and that is why the bottle cap has a hole — so that gases can escape. Otherwise, the bottle would explode.