{"id":3792,"date":"2014-03-11T11:27:53","date_gmt":"2014-03-11T02:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/?p=3792"},"modified":"2014-03-11T11:29:45","modified_gmt":"2014-03-11T02:29:45","slug":"special-feature-ajet-sake-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/2014\/03\/special-feature-ajet-sake-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Feature:<\/b> AJET Sake Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to everyone who came and made the two sake tasting days<\/a> a success. For those who didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come, here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a rundown of what went on January 25th<\/sup> and 26th<\/sup>. Feel free to use this itinerary to go on your own!<\/p>\n

Follow us virtually on this map<\/a>!<\/p>\n

We met at Mikage station at 11:30 am, and walked the few steps it took to get to \u00e3\u0081\u00af\u00e3\u0081\u00aa\u00e3\u201a\u201e<\/a> (restaurant specializing in creative Japanese dishes). The place was cozy, nestled in one of the side streets. After shedding our shoes and being seated, we got busy ordering from the four lunch options<\/a>. It was an easy bill to split, as meals were priced at either 1000 or 1500 yen (comes with a side of miso soup and pickles). I ordered the tempura donburi set and each morsel was definitely worth every yen. The house specialty of Awaji stone grilled chicken also looked amazing; grilling is done on a personal hot black stone. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing like a pseudo mini cookout to incite some lively conversation. Despite being a little late to the reservation, our patient waitress thanked us for our patronage with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153service\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (complimentary) dessert. It was tofu (I think?), but tasty. I am completely serious when I say that that was the best Japanese dining experience I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had in Japan. Many of us left with their meishi in hand.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0600-1\"<\/a>Bellies full, we traversed across the railroad tracks to the Hakutsuru brewery<\/a> (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Japan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s number one selling brand!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d)\u00c2\u00a0With videos dating back to at least the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s at every display, we learnt the ins and outs of sake brewing and why Hakutsuru\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sake stands above the rest. This brewery-museum has two floors filled with life-size displays. At the finish line there stood the much anticipated sake tasting room. There were even cake samples in the shop. Some of us took to dressing up in the brewery\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s outfits and posing with massive bottles of sake. Since we were already in the area, we decided to drop by another brewery, the Kiku-Masamune<\/a> brewery (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153TOP BRAND Karakuchi in Japan\u00e2\u20ac\u009d). We watched a ten minute film<\/a> in a mini theatre reporting on the special Kimoto method of creating a sake with a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dry, yet rich taste\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. We ended the day with a quick browse around the shop and more sampling.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0622-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to give special thanks to Ryan Hertel for running the Saturday portion of the event. I had a great time meeting new people and catching up with others, thanks again for attending!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paige Ngo<\/p>\n

photos by:<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0Daniel McLaughlin<\/a><\/p>\n