ISSUE 012  ·  OCTOBER 22, 2026

It's the week before Halloween and the sake world is in costume. Brooklyn Kura is running a haunted brewery tour next Friday night, and on Saturday True Sake in San Francisco is pouring three mystery sakes labeled Zombie, Vampire and Ghost. Both are in Last Call.

This week: a sake brewery that was already 87 years old when America declared independence, a $10 can with a giant on it, and a fall cocktail made from horchata-spiced sake and apple cider.

In 1689, as the travel site Kanpai Japan tells it, a young man settled in Daisen, in Akita in northern Japan, because he liked the water and the rice. He started making sake. His family is still making it.

The brewery is Suzuki Brewing, and its sake goes by Hideyoshi. The name dates to 1751, when a feudal lord tasted the sake and exclaimed "Hidete yoshi!", roughly "extremely good." Nearly a century later, in 1848, the brewery became official sake supplier to the Satake domain.

The building looks the part. Its wooden front dates from the Meiji era (1868 to 1912) and carries a sakabayashi, the ball of greenery sake breweries hang out front. In 2020, seven of the brewery's buildings were registered as cultural properties.

Yoko Suzuki is the family's 19th generation. Her title is Executive Vice President and 19th Landlady, and she brought Hideyoshi all the way to Sake Block in St. Petersburg, FL, on World Sake Day. That's where we met her.

Back home, the range runs from everyday sake to a sparkling one called Lachamte, made from nothing but Akita Komachi rice and natural water.

Where to find it: Hideyoshi comes into the US through Namazake Paul Imports, yes, the same Namazake Paul who poured at Sake Block. His retail locator shows the shops and restaurants that carry what he imports.

JUNMAI GENSHU  ·  VIRGINIA, USA

Two cans in a row, and they couldn't be further apart. Last week's was a fizzy yuzu spritz. This one has a blue giant on it, smoking a pipe on a rocky hill with a skull or two at his feet. Fitting for Halloween week.

It comes from North American Sake Brewery in Charlottesville, VA (our issue 009), where brewmaster Andrew Centofante built it on purpose around Calrose, the everyday rice of American kitchens and sushi bars. It's extra dry, and it's genshu, undiluted sake, so it's stronger than most. Sake 101 has more.

The brewery describes it as earthy, with "notes of cedar and soft hints of vanilla," and suggests a T-bone steak or a pepperoni pizza alongside. Andrew's warning comes printed in his brewer's notes: "Don't let the quiet giant sneak up on you!"

Where to buy: North American Sake Brewery, $9.99 for a 250 ml can, shipped direct. Price from the brewery, October 20, 2026.

Colorado Sake Co. brews in Denver, and one of its bottles is a cloudy nigori (coarsely filtered sake, so fine rice solids stay in the bottle) infused with the brewery's own cinnamon and vanilla recipe, in the spirit of Mexican horchata. They call it Horchata Nigori.

For fall, William Stuart at the brewery shook it with fresh apple cider and finished it with nutmeg. The nigori brings the creamy texture and the cinnamon and vanilla; the cider and nutmeg carry it into fall.

Horchata Nigori Spice Cup

Roll the closed bottle end over end three times to bring the rice back up; don't shake it hard. Chill a rocks glass with one large cube. Shake the sake and cider with ice for five seconds, strain over the cube, and grate nutmeg over the top in two light passes. Drink it right away. One bottle makes four.

William's fall cocktails post has more.

Where to buy: Colorado Sake Co., $13.50 for 375 ml. Checked October 22, 2026.

Genshu is undiluted sake. Most sake gets a little water added before bottling, which brings it to about 15 or 16% alcohol. Genshu skips that step, so it usually lands near 18%, and some go as high as 22%. SAKETIMES calls it richer and fuller-bodied than most sake. Look for 原酒 or "genshu" on the label, and pour accordingly. This week's One Bottle is one.