The “Beau-Zone” Layer – Takenotsuyu “Bamboo Tears”

So this sake is not really a New Store Arrival as you just read above. We have sold this brew on and off for over 22 years and because of “logistics”, it has been available and unavailable at times. But it’s here now, and if you have never tried this sake (that I named) then you’re missing out on one of the most historically important sake in the US and in Japan. Wait, you named it? Yes I did! My dear friend and owner of Takenotsuyu, Masao Aisawa, wanted to name this sake “Bamboo Dew.” Hmmmmmm? It sounded too much like a beach blanket bikini dance craze in the 60’s – “Let’s do the Bamboo Dew kids!” Woooooo! Nope, and instead Masao liked Bamboo Tears, and here we are two decades later! 

This Junmai is extremely relevant now as it was back over 20 years ago. Basically, this sake was one of the first imported Jizake sakes in a landscape of large or macro sake brewery offerings. “Jizake” sake essentially means small brewery sake, and perhaps more hand-crafted sake and not machine made. Today, it represents throwback Junmai sake in a market filled with tons of “New World” or “New School” Junmai sake made with the latest effervescent or high acidity brewing techniques. 

So don’t do the Bamboo Dew, but enjoy a bottle of Bamboo Tears that drinks rich and velvety with lots of umami and old-school character.