From Japan, Revolutionary New Cocktail Ingredient; Hamada Syuzou to Start Shipping DAIYAME 40 from July 2021

Hamada Syuzou Co., Ltd. proudly presents DAIYAME 40 (40% ABV), an addition to its multi-award winning DAIYAME series of imo (potato) shochu (distilled spirits). Shipments will start from July 2021. With punchy notes of lychee reminiscent of wines from the Alsace region, the super-versatile and multi-functional DAIYAME 40 is a type of spirit like nothing anyone has ever tasted before. DAIYAME 40 is the new must-have cocktail ingredient designed for bartenders, mixologists, and spirits lovers around the world.

- The Story Behind DAIYAME 40’s Development

DAIYAME is a type of “honkaku shochu,” Japan’s single-distilled indigenous spirit, made with Satsuma-imo (sweet potato). The first product in the series, DAIYAME 25 (25% ABV), was launched in September 2018 to celebrate the company’s 150th anniversary. The secret behind DAIYAME’s unique lychee aroma is Hamada Syuzou’s innovative koujuku (literally “aroma-amplifying”) method. Satsuma-imo with amplified aroma (koujuku-imo), black koji (rice inoculated with black koji mould) and pristine water from Kagoshima Prefecture’s Shirasu Daichi (pyroclastic plateau) is fermented into a mash, matured and then distilled once at low temperature. Finally, it is chill-filtered to extract and further enhance the aromas from the raw ingredients. DAIYAME 40 is DAIYAME 25 designed for a global audience with a richer aroma and flavor profile that is super-easy to use in cocktails.

In 2019, DAIYAME 25 scooped the top prize in the shochu distilled spirits category at the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) in London before going on to win double gold at the International Spirits Challenge in 2020.

DAIYAME 40 (700ml)

ABV: 40%

Image: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M104785/202105124733/_prw_PI1fl_TP1bMB0i.jpg

- Shipments will commence to U.S., Europe and Asia, etc. from July 2021

With a bouquet of gorgeous, punchy lychee aromas, a firm structure and clean finish, DAIYAME provides the perfect flavor profile for creative cocktail making. DAIYAME also offers endless food-pairing possibilities. It pairs particularly well with French cuisine, Italian pasta and pizza, dishes seasoned with Mexican spices, BBQ, and tempura.

The bottle shape is inspired by the classic rocks glass, and black is a representative color of Kagoshima: the black armor that local heroic samurai warrior Yoshihiro Shimazu wore into battle, kurojoka (black kettle) and the black koji used to make this shochu.

The word “DAIYAME” is Kagoshima dialect for an evening drink following a day’s hard work. The name embodies the distillery's desire to promote the local culture and traditions and establish honkaku shochu as a global spirit.

Visit this link for recommended cocktail recipes:

DAIYAME 40 Brand site: https://www.hamadasyuzou.co.jp/global/en/daiyame40/

- Gold Standard in Quality Assurance

Hamada Syuzou is constantly striving to deliver products more safely and securely and in 2018, its main production facility obtained FSSC 22000 certification, the gold standard for food safety management systems, the first shochu production facility in Kagoshima to do so.

Visit this link for FSSC22000: https://www.hamadasyuzou.co.jp/en/denzouin

- Protecting the Environment

At the main facility, Denzouin-gura, biogas from methane fermentation of lees is used as fuel in boilers and in fertilizer and live-stock feed. Furthermore, the company is cutting its energy emissions at a rate of 1% a year by switching to LED bulbs and from oil to LNG. The company also installed low-energy steaming equipment which consumes 40% less energy at the steaming stage than conventional apparatus.

- The Topography and Shochu of Kagoshima

Located in the southern part of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is an archipelago of several islands with a climate ranging from temperate to subtropical and average temperatures of 19 C, the perfect topography for growing high-quality agricultural products. The prefecture’s proximity to volcanoes means that half the land is covered in ash and pyroclastic plateaus such as the Shirasu Daichi which spans almost half of the prefecture. Water flowing through the plateau is naturally filtered by the ash, providing some of the clearest water in Japan. Distilleries have been producing shochu here for over 500 years and received the “Satsuma Shochu” geographical indication from the WTO, joining the likes of Scotch Whiskey and Bordeaux Wine.

Satsuma Shochu Mark: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M104785/202105124733/_prw_PI6fl_KPN8cZ0z.jpg

Map: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M104785/202105124733/_prw_PI7fl_JHDG4F8U.jpg

- About the Distillery

Established in 1868, Hamada Syuzou is currently comprised of three production facilities: Denbee-gura, Denzouin-gura and Kinzan-gura, each representing a pillar of the company’s shochu-production ethos: tradition, innovation, and heritage, respectively. Its production is not just honoring traditional flavor profiles but exploring new possibilities and constantly challenging the frontiers of production of Japan’s traditional indigenous spirit.

Denbee-gura: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M104785/202105124733/_prw_PI3fl_3Z6F5GBZ.jpg

Denzouin-gura: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M104785/202105124733/_prw_PI4fl_aLn9QLWI.jpg

Kinzan-gura: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M104785/202105124733/_prw_PI5fl_Y3E2Grr5.jpg

Visit this link for Hamada Syuzou: https://www.hamadasyuzou.co.jp/en/business

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DAIYAME 40 Global Online Presentation

Date: 17:00 to 18:30, May 18 (Tue) 2021 JST

https://youtu.be/idDTUJHRXhU

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