Brewer Spotlight: Eikun Shuzo
By Maxfield Fleishman
The journey from Tokyo to Shizuoka by bullet train lasts about 2 hours. Metropolis peels away into countryside; Mount Fuji grows and looms large in the north as the Pacific Ocean rides close to the rails. The August sun casts a glare on everything. I exit at Yui station, where my guide Ayumi awaits. We head straight to Eikun Shuzo.
Brewer and owner Hide Mochizuki
My first impression of Eikun is really of its owner and head brewer, Hide Mochizuki. He’s smiling ear to ear and greets me with a firm handshake and a warm word of thanks. Despite our lack of common language, I feel instantly welcome.
Hide did not originally intend to go into his father’s business of sake brewing. His brother first learned the trade while Hide studied science at university. It wasn’t until he was thirty that he was called back into the family business when his brother was unable to continue as planned. This was a fortunate turn of events: Hide has done great things for the brewery and continues to operate on the principle of “quality first.”
Any great brewery tour begins with water. Eikun’s is soft and gentle, almost entirely free of mineral content. The brewery sits atop an underground flow of snow melt from Mount Fuji, which it’s been drawing from since its founding in 1881.
From Left to Right: Murasaki Purple Junmai Ginjo (Gold medalist at Kura Masters), Daidai Orange Junmai Ginjo, Green Junmai Ginjo
Eikun uses its soft water to produce highly celebrated sake. Specializing in Junmai Ginjo, (which typically has a not too dry, fruity and floral flavor and aroma) Eikun has won gold medals in sake competitions around the world. Most recently, Eikun’s Murasaki Purple Junmai Ginjo won a gold medal at the Kura Masters Sake Competition in Paris, France.
Hide-San’s science background is evident in his approach to sake production. Hidden within the many rooms of the brewery is a small laboratory where Hide manipulates the local Shizuoka yeast for use in his sake. Eikun’s very soft water needs a little extra acidity, which Hide gets from his special yeast. While many brewers still use pen and paper to record their brewing notes, Hide’s spreadsheets and computer records are vast. His attention to detail is part of what makes his sake so special.
After our tour, Hide and Ayumi take me to a local favorite eatery specializing in a regional dish called sakura shrimp. It’s a cloud of battered and fried tiny shrimp over rice. Delicious, and goes great with Eikun’s sake. We chat about sake and life.
Come try Eikun’s “Murasaki Purple” and “Daidai Orange” at Sake Desu. You’ll taste the precision with which they were made.
