Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing

Kiku-Masamune is Nada's most traditional kimoto sake producer — using the original Edo-period method of creating the yeast starter (moto) by laboriously grinding steamed rice with wooden poles to promote natural lactic acid bacteria development. This labour-intensive method (abandoned by most breweries in favour of the faster sokujo method after 1909) produces sake of exceptional depth, acidity, and ageing potential.

Kiku-Masamune stands apart from modern Nada's more commercial producers by maintaining kimoto production as their primary method. Their sake has greater acidity, depth, and food-pairing versatility than most Nada expressions. The brewery's 1659 founding makes it one of Japan's oldest. Particularly valued in kaiseki and French fine dining for the kimoto's natural umami backbone.