The prefecture Niigata is famous for their sake style known as tanrei karakuchi: light and dry.
The brewery Imayo Tsukasa has released with their new product Imayo Tsukasa Black the driest sake available at the moment with a Nihonshudo (Sake Meter Value) of unbelievable +18 (the scale normally ends at +15).
When you drink this junmai sake straight you can perceive wonderful notes of rice along with a light fruitiness, a medium body and a fantastic dryness, indeed.
In order to find out how this sake can be paired with food, I just tasted it together with a veal steak topped with morel cream sauce and potato gratin.
The sake just wonderfully matched with this dish, the rather heavy character of the morel cream sauce and potato gratin got a perceivable lightness thanks to the strong dryness and the meat’s flavour was emphasized in a well-balanced way.