Terada Honke
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Country of Origin: Japan
Location: Chiba Prefecture, Kanto
People: Terada Masaru, Owner & Master Brewer (Toji)
Viticulture: Practicing Organic
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Terada Honke has been brewing Sake for more than 340 years. It is in the last 30 that the family's 24th generation of brewers have converted the brewery to using only organic rice, and ancient fermentation methods. An undertaking, much like converting a winery to producing natural wine, that requires intense manual labor and an ethos of sake tradition and stewardship of the earth that is unwavering in the face of a market that is flooded with low quality and mass produced sake.
Farming: More than ten years ago Terada Honke tasked themselves with reviving old traditional styles of sake, and therefore native varieties of rice such as Chiba Nashiki and Nakate Shinriki. The brewery cultivates and aids in repopulating of these varities in their very own rice paddy — which accounts for 5% of the rice used in their sake. As for the remainder of their rice, the brewery relies on a handful of trusted rice growers in the region who also share a commitment to organic rice farming, Sourcing organic rice is a feat unto its own in Japan, let alone farming your own rice. Terada Honke's commitment to the quality and honesty of their sake is truly remarkable.
Brewing: The rice used is all organic with varying degrees of polishing. The brewery propigates its own koji using ancient fermentation methods, kimoto and bodaimoto. These methods combined produce rich, full-bodied sakes that are complex and humming with lactic acid.
Social Media
Instagram: @teradahonke, @terada_masaru