Extreme products will be available in “Vinmonopolet”:

Finally, some extreme products will be available in the government owned outlet system for alcoholic beverages, “Vinmonopolet”:

In the recent past we have been having a little bit of extra fun, and now in September it will be possible to see the outcome:

Junmai-shu. This is our only pasteurized sake, and therefore the only one which can come in the usual portfolio of Vinmonopolet. This is a sake made by the traditional Yamahai-shikomi method. (Well all our sake are!) An aromatic sake with good mouthfeel.

Since unpasteurized sake must be kept cool, such cannot get to the standard portfolio at Vinmonopolet. We think this is regrettable. For starters Vinmonopolet does not offer refrigerators or cold storage in their stores. In addition, no wholesalers/distributors with delivery agreement with Vinmonopolet has cold storage.

This means that Norwegian consumers do not have access to unpasteurized sake. Unpasteurized sake is more lively than pasteurized. In many ways it speaks with capital letters, or without filter if you will.

To try to do something with this, we challenge our customers to order directly from the outlets. This is referred to as special orders. This is done by the individual customer at Vinmonopolet outlets. We will then send the stuff by Post. The two to three days delivery time for this shipment is acceptable, even for nama-zake!

We now have 4 unpasteurized sakes:

Niogori. Milky White and slightly sparkling, with a grains of rice.

Nama-Genshu. Fermented with the famous Masumi-yeast. Peaches and sweet flower.

House Yeast. Fermented with naturally occurring yeast. Wild Raspberry and yuzu.

Yamahai motoshibori. A pressed moto (yeast starts). Intensely acidic, almost like rhubarb.

Kanpai!!!