OnTap Magazine

couldn’t have drunk it in great quantities, I actually found it a very pleasant tipple. Brock and Ulrich’s sake – which they have branded Tanuki – was a different story. Not as viscous, nor as sweet, I raised my hand for seconds and could have happily finished the bottle. The flavour profile was similar – apple-like, but with a palate cleansing minerality and a fresher, dryer finish than the mass- produced version. The batch we tasted was brewed in December 2019 on an 800-litre system. Bottled in the classic 440ml craft beer bottle, the Tanuki team hand dipped each of the bottles in wax – a process you’re probably happy to hear that they will not be repeating. The name Tanuki refers to a “racoon dog”, a shape- shifting figure from Japanese folklore. “Tanuki is always a little drunk and always a trickster,” says Ulrich, “and that really resonated with us.” At the moment, Tanuki sake is only available to those that reach out to Ulrich and Brock for tastings, but once the red tape has been untangled, it will be available for online sales and hopefully at select liquor stores and restaurants. At the moment, South African licencing doesn’t include a category for sake. It can’t be classed as beer as it contains no barley; it can’t be wine since it has no grapes and it cannot be classed as a Brock (left) and Ulrich fill up demijohns with South African sake Follow the Tanuki journey on Instagram @tanukisake CONTINUE YOUR SAKE EDUCATION The International Wine Education Centre offers a four-week online course for those who want to learn more about sake. Accredited by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), the course covers all the basics of sake-making. Check out thewinecentre.co.za for more information. spirit since its ABV (usually around 16%) is too low. While a classification is established, Brock and Ulrich continue to experiment and are exploring other Japanese beverages including shochu, a liquor distilled from sake. The hope is to launch on a larger scale by the middle of 2021 as the first ever commercially available, South African-born sake. And that is definitely something worth raising a glass – or a specially made ceramic sake cup – to.