Gekkeikan is a leading sake brewer and one of the oldest family-owned companies in the world, established in Fushimi in 1637. During our visit to the Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum on our latest trip to Kyōto, we received this bottle of Gekkeikan Cap Ace Junmai Ginjo-shu as part our admission.
Junmai ginjo is a sake that is made up of water, koji mould, yeast and rice milled 40% with 60% of each grain remaining. It’s a pure sake made from rice, as opposed to sake that has had a portion of distilled alcohol added, and a step down from junmai daiginjo which is the highest quality sake and uses rice milled 50% with 50% of each grain of rice remaining.
The Cap Ace is a distinct innovation designed by Gekkeikan consisting of a small container and cup set first sold at train stations. The cup ‘clicks’ onto the bottle like a cap, and its 180 mL quantity is said to be the perfect single serving of sake. According to the company, this ‘sake to go’ format was inspired by the traditional term for an individual serving of sake, a go.
The sake is a transparent pale straw colour with a sweet fermented rice nose. Served chilled, the sake has a medium body with mild notes of fermented rice in the body developing to a brief and light sweetness ahead of a dry finish that leaves a clean aftertaste. Overall, sipped slowly, the mild flavour of this sake makes it one of the more enjoyable unflavoured sake that we’ve tried.
This Gekkeikan Cap Ace Junmai Ginjo-shu contained 180 ml. It was produced in Japan and gifted by the Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum on admission in 2018.