Kamenoo Kurabu
Sweet, lively and fragrant. A good sake for beginners. For someone who has never experienced sake before, this one, you will find unexpectedly tasty.
Product：Kamenoo Kurabu Sake
Type of Sake Rice：Kame-no-o
Rice Polishing Ratio：60%
I
It was only 3kg. But 3kg meant possibilities. The KURABU brand started when I received 3kg of rice from Mr. Ashida, it was called Kame-no O. It was the final piece of the puzzle.
In autumn 2000, a small amount of the rare “Kame-no O” was brought to our hometown of Yasaka by the red rice expert Mr. Ashida. A sake brew cannot be made from three kilograms alone. We would have to find a farmer to grow more.
II
Mr Yoshida was whom we asked, he already grew three other types of rice on our behalf and he agreed to take on the Kame-no O.
We’ve been working together for four years. The harmony between us has remained strong and from the earth to the glass the connection continues. The growing started the following spring. When summer came, the sight of the rice blooming in white in the fields gave us great hope and excitement. In autumn, its characteristic red and black colour arrived.
III
The red and black rice was cropped and finally, thanks to Mr.Yoshida’s efforts, we harvested about 300kg of Kame-no O rice. We started to brew, leaving some for next year’s crop. It was trial and error, since it was the first time we had brewed with this rice.
40% of the rice was polished to remove the majority of the outer shell, the remaining 60% contributes more complex notes to the brew, we added homemade Koji and decided that this batch would be a Junmai sake. The result was a sweet yet crisp Junmai sake.
We were concerned over what name it should be given, we decided to look for inspiration in the foundations of Japanese sake.
IV
Originally all sake was Junmai, which is made only from rice, Koji and water. The brand KURABU was named with these origins in mind and is representative of our feelings about sake and our admiration of its past. All sake under this brand name has been carefully brewed in accordance with Japanese sake tradition, spirit and heritage. The letter “KURA” means “the hoard” and the “BU” represents dancing, then it came to mean “the passing of knowledge onto somebody”. This was the moment that we made the connection: Kame-no O Kurabu.
From the following year, we commissioned a local farmer Mr. Umeda to take charge of the harvest on a larger scale. In 2002, the Kame-no O Kurabu was released to market. We are harvesting Kame-no O with more farmers; Mr Honda, Mr Fujiwara and Mr Okamoto. Since the day we received that first small amount, possibilities have been fulfilled and the harmony has deepened.
V
In 2010, we entered the sake into a national competition, we won first prize in the junmai category. In 2012 it was presented a gold medal in the “Wine Glass De Oishii Japanese Sake” Award. The same year more farmers began to harvest the rice; Mr Tabata and Mr Hisae. Mr Honda’s son took over his father’s business and the influence of Kame No O has spread wider still. In 2011, it will have been a decade since we started brewing this product.