Happy Little Yeasties
And check out the piping on those babies.
Hey, I’m Casey. Welcome to our newsletter, sharing the startup journey of Kamui Whisky K.K. We’ve been busy, but when we aren’t overwhelmed, we’ll share a story as we craft up a whisky distillery on a remote, volcanic island in the most northern part of Japan.
In the far north of Japan, on a windswept, volcanic cliff overlooking Japan’s western ocean alcohol is being made.
License in hand1 we are legally making alcohol in Rishiri.
Production officially started.
Our first fermentation, those little yeasties, are happy and working perfectly2.
Here is the mashing process were we heat the grains so they can give us the sugar3:
Prof. Javier again: “After 2 hours we transfer the liquid that is full of sugars to the fermenter where we add the yeast that will eat those sugars and convert it into alcohol.”
The happiest yeast on Rishiri4:
Fermentation is under way.
History is being made in Rishiri5.
Sublime whisky from Kamui Whisky K.K. is becoming a reality.
Actually it’s still in a clear file in my backpack squelched together with bunch of other need to do’s.
Javier’s line; except for “those little yeasties,” is my contribution.
Javier’s words; he’s a great teacher. If you leave us a comment, and ever come to visit us up in Rishiri, we can look to arrange a private tour with Javier. No-one better to learn from.
Someday we plan to find local Rishiri yeast that we are able to grow into colonies. It will add another layer of expression to our special Rishiri whisky, deepening the terroir even further.
Javier, our Head Distiller’s, last quote for this post