All lovers of Japanese cuisine and also Asian cuisines know the koji. The famous mushroom that changes elaborations, flavors and textures in many foods and beverages such as Sake, shochu, miso, rice vinegar and soy sauce. Now him koji he also does it with him whiskey y his story is amazing. Do not miss it!
The history of koji whiskey
Everything starts to late nineteenth century when the japanese scientist Dr Jokichi Takamine I was about to get whiskey using koji. Dr Jokichi Takamine had studied at the University of Scotland and suspected that the use of malt it was not very efficient and could be improved by using koji. He investigated and a few years later developed a strain to produce whiskey that he patented in various countries.
The news reached Illinois Whiskey Trust who invited him to the United States to continue his research and bring it into production. Dr. Takamine's invention seemed to work, he used wheat bran instead of malt. In this way managed to reduce the cost of whiskey production by around 15%.
All this did not please some producers and workers in the area, especially the malt companies. So one night they broke in with guns with the intention of assassinating him. Dr Takamine managed to hide and escaped. This event stopped investigations that fell into oblivion.
Takamine whiskey
All the effort made by Dr Takamine has paid off. Christopher pellegrini y stephen lyman two passionate about koji spirits rescued the project. Your company Honkako spirits teamed up with the Shinozaki Distillery in Fukuoka, in southern Japan, to make a whiskey with koji. This distillery has been specializing in koji products since the end of the XNUMXth century.
The result has been Takamine whiskey. This whiskey has been made with barley 100% and has 8 years of aging in new American oak barrels. As if that were not enough, 10% of these have contained bourbon previously. According to its creator explains in the magazine Forbes: «The fermentation process based on Which creates spirits loaded with umami. This gives it a unique to Japan«.
The manufacturing process and the final product is somewhat different. Unlike fermentation processes such as wine or the beer where starch turns into sugar and later into alcohol here is different. Everything is produced in a single step, which makes it more efficient and adds more umami flavor to the drink.
Two Americans who are passionate about koji drinks
The promoters of takamine whiskey are the americans Christopher pellegrini y stephen lyman. They both live in Japan and are experts in koji-based spirits. Christopher Pellegrini is the author of The Shochu Handbook and was the founder of Honkaku Spirits. Stephen Lyman is the author of The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks and joined as a brand ambassador for Honkaku Spirits. We hope we have surprised you with the exciting history of this drink
