We have just released our first ever batch of sparkling sake! It is light nigori-style cloudy sake, with lively fruit and natural effervescence from secondary in-bottle fermentation. Get it while it lasts, and enjoy the last weekend of the Distillery Christmas Market! 375ml bottle, 16% alc./vol., $19.95 incl tax/deposit
The Toronto Christmas Market is running now through December 15 in the Distillery District. During this time we will be offering: 1. HOT SAKE TRAVELERS – A delicious 100ml cup of our “Warm Winter Blend” is available ‘to-go’ Friday evenings and all day Saturdays and Sundays. A refreshing and warming alternative to […]
Our fresh local Nigori Junmai Sake is now available at the LCBO, just in time for the holiday season! Luscious, creamy and full-bodied, this sake is always a favourite at our brewery tasting counter and frequently sells out. You can check the LCBO system’s inventory by store at the following link: http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/lcbo/product/inventory/searchResults.do?language=EN&itemNumber=348946
October 1 is Sake Day, celebrated in Japan and the world over! Come join the fun in Toronto! The Sake Institute of Ontario will hold its 2nd annual Sake Day celebration and educational event (appropriately themed “Celebrating with Sake” including a sake barrel-breaking ceremony) at Japan Foundation on Bloor Street starting at 6:30PM, with early-bird […]
CoroCoro Foods will be serving up Yakisoba Dogs and Yakisoba Musubi (Rice balls) this Saturday and Sunday 12 noon – 7pm on our patio at the Distillery District. Sake by the glass and bottle also available as well as sake-based cocktails! Brewery Tasting Tours at 1pm and 4pm ($15 per person, includes guided tasting of 4 cups of sake […]
We are delighted to be invited to an intimate dinner at Ki Modern Japanese + Bar to feature local food creations by their culinary team paired with various Izumi local sakes on July 24! Ki’s sake sommelier Michael Tremblay will be hosting the event, which starts with cocktails at 6:30PM to be followed by […]
Our award-winning undiluted Izumi Genshu Junmai Sake is now on the shelves throughout the province of Quebec within the SAQ system. Up until now our fresh local sakes have only been consumed in Quebec by those who have brought it back from trips to Ontario or through restaurants that have arranged private orders. For availability please […]
Ontario Spring Water Sake Company will be featuring 9 sake products at Kampai Toronto 2013, which will take place on May 30 in the Fermenting Cellar, Distillery District, adjacent to our brewery. Kampai tickets can be purchased at www.kampaitoronto.com for $65 until midnight Thursday May 23, and $75 up to the day of the event, subject to prior […]
A very exciting event will take place adjacent to our brewery on May 30, 2013: the second annual Kampai Toronto, which will once again be the largest sake tasting festival ever to be organized in Canada, featuring more than 100 sakes from Japan and North America, including of course our own IZUMI sakes! Kampai […]
We have started a new cycle of 3 brews, including of course koji-making. A number of customers are now ordering fresh koji from us. If you are interested in trying to cook or make amazake with fresh koji please submit your order right away. The cost is $3.00 per 100g, with a minimum order of […]
This week the Sake Institute of Ontario (a non-profit organization of which we are a founding member dedicated to introducing Ontarians to the wonderful world of sake) announced its next sake education event. The Winter Sake Warm-up will take place at 6:30pm on January 21, 2013, at The Japan Foundation, conveniently located at 131 Bloor Street […]
You may have noticed that our sake has recently been getting a fair bit of holiday media attention as one of The Best Toronto-themed Holiday Gifts for 2012 (http://torontoist.com/2012/12/the-best-toronto-themed-holiday-gifts-of-2012/20121210sake/), and as one of The Marilyn Dennis Show’s recommended Healthy Holiday Drinks (http://www.marilyn.ca/HealthFitness/segments.aspx/Daily/December-2012/12_19_2012/HealthyHolidayDrinks). Our full selection of 10 sakes including regular and limited items are ready for […]
The Toronto Christmas Market is running tomorrow through December 16 in the Distillery District. During this time we will be offering: 1. HOT SAKE TRAVELERS – A delicious 100ml cup of our “Warm Winter Blend” is available ‘to-go’ Friday evenings and all day Saturdays and Sundays. A refreshing and warming alternative […]
The Gold Medal Plates organizers today announced the winners of the September 25 Toronto event, including silver medal winner George Restaurant Chef Lorenzo Loseto’s black cod dish paired with Izumi Teion Sakura Junmai Sake. We are honoured that George’s team including Sommelier JP Potters paired one of our sakes with their cod plate, and are […]
Many of our customers have asked about the possibility of buying freshly made KOJI and/or SHIOKOJI from the brewery. As an experiment, we will be making extra koji during this weekend’s sake koji production run to be ready for this Sunday, September 23. Koji will be available for pick up this Sunday only (we have no means […]
Sake Institute of Ontario announces Educational Event on National Sake Day October 1 featuring Head Brewer Greg Newton The following announcement has been released by Sake Institute of Ontario: On Monday, Oct 1st, the Sake Institute of Ontario (SIO) will be celebrating ‘Nihonshu no Hi’ (National Sake Day) – the start to the new brewing season in […]
No time to drop by our brewery or an LCBO outlet? No problem, Izumi sakes (including unpasteurized “namazake”) are now available online via the leaders in online wine shopping in Ontario, WINEONLINE.CA. We have just added a quicklink to our homepage www.ontariosake.com, and the direct link to the Izumi Sake page at WINEONLINE.CA is as follows: http://www.wineonline.ca/index.php/ci_id/1651/la_id/1/winery/11585.htm Happy […]
Our smooth, deep-flavoured Izumi Genshu, winner of a Commended Award at this summer’s International Wine Challenge in London, England, has started to appear on LCBO shelves as part of the August 18 Vintages release. The Vintages release booklet, available at all LCBO stores, even has a write-up on our brewery as part of a mini-feature on sake! The […]
This morning we started pressing Brew #25, a dry yet still fruity, relatively high alcohol batch (est. 18% alc/vol). This fresh-pressed sake will be available at the tasting counter this afternoon and throughout the coming weekend. Please join us for some sake (including our award-winning Genshu and recently re-released luscious Nigori) and perhaps some of […]
Distribution of our fresh local sake within the LCBO system continues to grow. This week we surpassed the 100-store mark for our Namacho Junmai Sake (LCBO Product #260174), with stores from Ottawa in the east to Windsor in the west, Sault Ste Marie in the north to Niagara Falls in the south. You can check for a store near you […]
Ontario Spring Water Sake Company will be featuring 10 sakes at Kampai Toronto, which will take place on May 31, 2012 in the Fermenting Cellar, Distillery District, adjacent to our brewery. While VIP tickets are long sold out, regular admission tickets can be purchased at www.kampaitoronto.com for $65 until midnight tonight, and $75 after that […]
With all the buzz surrounding the upcoming Kampai Toronto Festival of Sake, which will take place adjacent to our brewery on May 31, we thought it would be good to update our customers on the brewing/pressing cycles leading up to the big day. Batch #21 is now in day 8 of its brewing cycle and […]
This Sunday Ontario Spring Water Sake Company will have been open to the public for a whole year – we hope you can help us to celebrate this milestone! We will be offering all sake-by-the-glass including hot sake carafes at 30% off, free sweet non-alcoholic warm koji sake and a variety of baked sakekasu treats […]
A very exciting event will take place adjacent to our brewery on May 31, 2012: Kampai Toronto, the largest sake tasting festival ever to be organized in Canada, featuring more than 100 sakes from Japan and North America, including of course our own IZUMI sakes! Kampai Toronto is being put on by the Sake Institute […]
What has turned out to be our driest, strongest, sake so far – Brew#19 – is now being pressed. The first-run arabashiri is indeed characterized by the initially gentle, fruity undertones belying its 19 (a numerical coincidence!) percent alc./vol. strength, and medium dry, clear, finish whose fruitiness is more subtle than most of our brews to date. This sake’s body […]
We began pressing our 18th batch this morning. The free-run Arabashiri has a bit more body, less sugar and same low acidity in comparison with our previous Brew #17. Come try fresh-pressed “shiboritate” at the tasting bar, and fresh-bottled Arabashiri will be available for purchase later today!
A group of Izumi Sakes will be featured at Jamie Kennedy’s “The Spirit of Local” event March 5, 2012, 6:30-9:00pm at Gilead Cafe and Bistro. The theme of the event is A Local Food Movement Cocktail Party. Ontario Spring Water Sake Company’s Izumi-branded sakes will be sharing the spotlight with Still Waters Vodkas from a distillery […]
Ontario Spring Water Sake Company has recently started conducting regularly scheduled Tasting Tours at our Distillery District sake brewery. Initially we are offering scheduled tours at 5pm Thursday evenings, and Saturdays and Sundays at 1pm and 4pm. The tasting tours consist of an overview of the sake brewing process, raw materials and equipment, followed by […]
This morning we have started to press Brew #17. We have just paused to taste the Arabashiri first run sake, and it is indeed delicious, a smooth, clean and fruity encore to Takahashi-toji, whose methods are now being applied by head brewer Greg Newton. Those who brave Toronto’s winter weather to visit our brewery today through Monday can taste […]
Last week we made our first delivery of sake lees (“sakekasu”) to Brian Knox’s Wagyu Beef Farm in Formosa, Ontario. Sakekasu is used by Kobe beef and other Wagyu farmers in Japan as a key part of their diet, as it enhances the animals’ appetite and thereby contributes to the marbling of the gourmet beef. For sake breweries […]
Earlier this week we began brewing our 17th batch during ideal sake-brewing weather. This is our first batch led by Greg Newton. Our founding/consulting master brewer Yoshiko Takahashi recently returned to Japan, having fulfilled her mission of getting us started on the road to brewing delicious sake, and will continue to be our technical consultant […]
After launching in a limited number of LCBO stores in a Vintages release in September, Izumi Namacho Junmai Sake is now offered on a continuously available basis at 70 LCBO locations as of today, with more stores receiving shipments soon. The following link provides updated store locations: http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/lcbo/product/inventory/searchResults.do?language=EN&itemNumber=260174 In most LCBO stores our sake can be found together with all the […]
We are currently (Dec. 16) pressing Batch #15, which is available for tasting at the bar. This batch has turned out great and is quite distinct from the sakes we have made thus far. It is initially soft on the palate, has fruity notes with underlying sweetness, and has a quick, strong, dry finish. If […]
Our new all-natural sake kasu soap is now in stock at the Ontario Spring Water Sake Company’s brewery store, located in Toronto’s Distillery District. Unscented other than with the beautiful natural aroma of sake kasu, the soap also contains olive oil, palm oil and coconut oil. Sake Kasu contains high levels of Vitamin B6, which protects skin […]
Batches #11, 12 & 13 have been pressed in the last week, and each one has its own distinct character. For those who would like to experience freshly pressed, unpasteurized sake, we are offering each batch in 300 mL bottles for a limited time (until Nov. 20th). These 3 sakes are also available to sample as […]
Today (Nov. 10), we started pressing batch #13, using both the “fune” press and the bag-hanging (“fukuro-tsuri”) method. Batch #13 is a slightly dry, higher alcohol sake with lots of body and flavour. We are now serving ‘shiboritate” (just-pressed sake) and “fukuro-tsuri” at the brewery- a rare treat, indeed. We also have lots of space […]
We just started pressing batch #12 today, and it has turned out great- a soft, delicate sake that is ready to drink now! We are now serving batch #12 at the tasting bar, and it will also be ready for this Thursday’s (Nov. 10) Sip & Learn event (6-7 pm). We will also start pressing batch #13 on Thursday. This […]
Please note the topics for upcoming Sake Sip & Learn events scheduled on Thursday evenings 6-7pm: November 3 Pressing, Shiboritate and Kasu I (N.B. Our Nov. 3 event is now sold out) November 10 Pressing, Shiboritate and Kasu II (a supplement to I as we continue to press) November 17 Koji – The Heart of Sake Brewing […]
This morning we started to press Batch #11, which from initial tasting is another fresh, deep and lively brew! Shiboritate just-pressed sake now available at the tasting bar. As this was the first batch to be pressed following Takahashi-sensei’s vacation we chose to refresh the offering for the sake Gods at our brewery’s shrine to mark the […]
Thank you to all who registered for tomorrow’s inaugural public Sake Sip & Learn event – we hope you will find it both informative and delicious! Next Thursday November 3 we will hold our next Sip & Learn event, focusing on Sake Pressing and Sake Kasu. Please register by following the instructions below. We will […]
Ontario Spring Water Sake Company is very pleased to announce that we will be holding our first public “Sake Sip & Learn” event on Thursday, October 27, 6pm, at our brewery located in the Distillery District, 55 Mill Street, Building 4, Toronto M5A 3C4. At this first weekly event we will cover the basics of sake, […]
Now that our master brewer Takahashi-sensei has returned from vacation in Japan we are back in full production mode. During the current production cycle we are preparing Brews 11 through 13. The first and most intensive phase of production includes preparation of the 3-stage additions of rice and koji for each brew. If you are interested in watching […]
Nuit Blanche is almost upon us and the Distillery District will be one of this Saturday night’s hottest spots! To celebrate we will be offering two very special items: 1. Our special “Warm October Blend”, a gently heated, delicious sake created especially to warm you from the inside out! The weatherman may be forecasting a cool weekend but a caraffe of our […]
We thought you may be interested in hearing from time-to-time which restaurants are offering our sakes. Our customers at our Distillery District brewery, retail store and tasting bar will not be surpised that top Japanese restaurants in the GTA such as Guu, Ki and Kaiseki Sakura are now offering our sakes – this is a great source […]
Ontario Spring Water Sake Company is happy to announce that we are now able to make refrigerated delivery of all of our products to residential customers. We are offering FREE DELIVERY FOR ALL ORDERS OVER $100 within Toronto. Delivery can normally be made 1-3 business days after placing an order, at a time to be agreed […]
The LCBO started stocking IZUMI Namacho Junmai Sake (#260174 300ml $12.95) on their shelves a couple of days ago. Namacho is a once-only pasteurized version of our signature Nama-Nama unpasteurized sake, which retains its fresh flavour while displayed at room temperature (most sake currently available in Ontario is pasteurized twice, in part to survive the long and sometimes-harsh sea […]
Weeks ago our master brewer started calling this batch “ja-ja uma”, or Crazy Horse, for its uncontrollable character. Those who have been following us batch by batch may have noticed that #10 is actually being pressed prior to Batch #9 – Crazy Horse has been that sort of batch! Despite its wild nature, the batch […]
We are pressing Batch #8 today, which we expect will be a nice balance of fruit, acidity and sugar. “Shiboritate” fresh-pressed sake will be available at the tasting bar all weekend. This week we have also added black sesame “Korogoma” ice cream to our line-up of popular soya milk frozen desserts. It may be the […]
Our Batch #8 is now at the peak time for extracting Kassei Nigori, the luscious and creamy, slightly effervescent and textured mid-brew sake. Available today and tomorrow in limited quantity by the glass only.
Many of our customers have expressed interest in observing the “busy” part of sake-making. As the active production stage of our Batches 8, 9 and 10 are now drawing to a close, those with an interest to observe sake-making may wish to visit our brewery in the Distillery District as close as possible to opening time today thru […]