The unrecognised problem with sake – portability – solved

If you’ve ever found a bottle of sake too much trouble to take when you’re going hiking, camping or out for a BBQ, GO POCKET has you covered. Ignite Japan covers the new range of sake sold in small, lightweight and unbreakable pouches.

When it’s cold, it’s only natural to reach for the sake. Nothing is better than the bliss of some warming kanzake as you huddle under your kotatsu.

But how to get that hit of bliss when you’re not indoors? A new packaging format lets you bring that warm packet of happiness with you.

The usual format for sake is 720 ml or 1.8 L bottles, which aren’t the easiest to carry and are more likely to be enjoyed at home. Tsunan Jōzō wanted to make sake more portable, so drinkers could enjoy it in more situations, and launched the GO POCKET format in single-serving pouches that can go with you everywhere – even the great outdoors.

The GO of GO POCKET is also written as郷 [gō, countryside, district, village]. The town of Tsunan in Niigata Prefecture is known for its snow, and Tsunan Jōzō is located in the nearby mountains and charitably described as off the beaten track.

The local water supply doesn’t reach up to the mountains, so they use local spring water to brew alongside carefully selected Gohyakumangoku rice with distinctive characteristics grown on local fluvial terraces.

The GO brand was launched in 2020, made up of sake tailored for particular situations such as the perfect-with-meals DINER and perfect-with-sweets DOLCE. The range is mainly sold online.

Tsunan Jōzō’s next challenge was to delight outdoor enthusiasts by making sake easier to bring along on their trips, so they went for a single-serving size pouch to make the popular range portable.

The GO POCKET pouch can be enjoyed alongside grilled or BBQ food while camping, warmed simply by placing in hot water, or pulled from your pocket to make the view from the mountaintops even more beautiful.

Two sake are available in the 100 ml GO POCKET format, both carefully brewed junmai ginjō but with different flavour profiles.

• GO DINER (15-16% abv) Refreshing, light and dry with the rounded flavours of a junmai and designed to draw out the flavours of food as a with-dinner sake.
• GO DOLCE (13% abv) Fruity and sweet, you can’t go wrong if you choose this sake to serve with sweet desserts.

Links

• Original article (Japanese, Ignite, 15 December 2020)
• Tsunan Jōzō GO POCKET site (Japanese)
• Tsunan Jōzō (Japanese)