Sakepop

You want sparkling sake? No problem. Some home-made awashu coming up, thanks be to SodaStream.


Since this was our first experiment, sacrificing good stuff was out of the question. Instead, we went the other direction, with barely sake-like liquids. First, Gekkeikan from California. Second, Tatsuuma-Honke's Kuromatsu Hakushika, a not particularly interesting nigori-zake from Hyogo Prefecture.

Now, since SodaStream is intended for carbonating clear liquids, such as water and even wine, but not juice or milk, we started with the Gekkeikan.

The results weren't terribly exciting, but perhaps our expectations were too high. We were prepared for explosions, but it didn't seem like it was pressurizing that much. Could sake really be too viscous? And if so, how can wine work? (we haven't tried, yet.)


Nonetheless, it did get carbonated. The taste didn't improve, but it certainly wasn't any worse.


Moving on to the nigori. Since the smallest SodaStream container is 500ml, and the "Snow Beauty" was only 300ml, we topped it off with the rest of the Gekkeikan.

Once again, an unimpressive effort. Udo no taiboku (Japanese equivalent of "all mouth no trousers".)


This time, there was barely any action on the pour, and the carbonation was only barely noticeable. Not really convinced by the viscosity argument, we thought that perhaps the liquids weren't cold enough, even though they had been refrigerated - this is a common SodaStream problem. So, we tried putting both bottles into the freezer for a bit so we could try again. Around this time though, it occurred to us that perhaps the gas canister was simply running low... doh! The simplest explanations are really most often correct! New canister in, and on to round 2!


Looking for excitement, we started with the nigori this time. And the bubbling was definitely more vigorous.

Yes, I think we have more than enough pressure!


And as you can see, the sake was solidly carbonated. Proper awashu. Unexpectedly, the taste was actually much improved too!

Time to crank up the pressure with the Gekkeikan. Hmm. Maybe too much pressure. Even greater losses, but sadly, not enough. The bubbles were the best part of our sparkling Gekkeikan...