Still polishing – Himeji brewery goes down to 6.3%

While some see the polishing wars as already fought and have moved on, Tanaka Shuzoba (田中酒造場) in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, are still putting their machines to the test by running them for 10 days to get down to a minute 6.3% polishing ratio. The milled-almost-out-of-existence rice is Kame-no-O, used to make their Kotobukigame sake (亀の甲 寿亀). Sister sake Enmusubi Yuju is made from Yamada Nishiki, and both are limited to runs of 250 x 720 ml bottles.

The resulting grains were less than 1 mm in size and almost devoid of protein and fat. The brewery claims this allows them to produce a highly aromatic sake, fruity in aroma and flavour, delicate but still with the umami of the rice. [While umami sounds implausible for milling to 6.3%, maybe they get away with it because Kame-no-O is a table rice.]

Company president Yasuhiro Tanaka notes that its flavour changes with temperature, and recommends chilling it before enjoying it in a wine glass.

Tanaka Shuzoten have been pushing the limits of polishing for many years, with the assistance of their polishing machine company [name not given] and contract farmers in the Nishiwaki area. Everything shaved off the rice grains is put to use as rice flour.

Kotobukigame sells for JPY 27,500, while Yuju costs JPY 33,000. 
(Yahoo News)