Kaki no Shinzui Persimmon Vinegar, Regular Bottle (酵素酢 柿の神髄 レギュラーボトル)

The story behind it

Sunomiya Jozosho sits in the wooded hills near Katori Jingu shrine. Miyazaki Hiroyuki, who runs it, was a systems engineer. He went back to study dietary practice, and that path led him to persimmon vinegar. He has had the works for about 10 years.

He used to brew in Saitama before moving to Katori. The microbes living in this ground are good ones, and fermentation runs well here. Ueda City in Nagano was also a candidate, but he passed on it because the cold slowed fermentation down.

The only raw material is persimmon. Not a drop of water is added. In autumn he gathers fruit from farms around Lake Kasumigaura in Ibaraki, removes the calyx, checks each one for damage and cuts them individually before brewing. Through autumn and winter the wild yeast on the skins drives alcoholic fermentation; in spring the mash is pressed by hand in sake bags. As the temperature rises, wild acetic acid bacteria turn it into vinegar. Temperature is never controlled. It follows the rhythm of the seasons.

From there it rests for over 3 years. There is no pasteurization and no filtering. This is nigori-su, bottled with the living enzymes and acetic acid bacteria still in it. Sediment or a film of bacteria may appear, which is a sign the vinegar is alive. Everything from sorting to bottling is done by hand.