The was a method of making sake during the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 at the in the Amagasaki Domain

Amagasaki Domain

The was a feudal domain of Japan during the Edo period. It had its administrative headquarters at Amagasaki Castle. The domain extended over parts of Settsu Province that correspond to portions of the cities of Amagasaki, Nishinomiya, Ashiya, Kobe, Itami, and Takarazuka, in modern-day Hyōgo...

 of the former Settsu Province

Settsu Province

was a province of Japan, which today comprises the eastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or .Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province.-History:...

 of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 (now Takarazuka

Takarazuka, Hyogo

is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.- Geography :Takarazuka is nestled between the Rokko Range to the west and Nagao Range to the north with the Muko River running through the center of the city....

, Hyōgo Prefecture

Hyogo Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...

). Today, the method is used by homebrew

Homebrewing

Homebrewing is the brewing of beer, wine, sake, mead, cider, perry and other beverages through fermentation on a small scale as a hobby for personal consumption, free distribution at social gatherings, amateur brewing competitions or other non-commercial reasons...

 enthusiasts or by small boutique

Microdistillery

A microdistillery is a small, often 'boutique', distillery established to produce beverage grade alcohol in relatively small quantities. While the term is most commonly used in the United States, micro-distilleries have been established in Europe for many years, either as small cognac distilleries...

 brewers.

History

The Kohama style is a direct descendant of techniques used by temple priests near the Mukogawa River

Mukogawa River

thumb|250px|A Source of Mukogawa RiverThe is a river in the south-eastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture. This river was selected as the second most important river in the region by the prefecture governor. Its total length is 66 kilometers, and the drainage area is 496 square...

 in southeastern Hyōgo Prefecture, who learned their distillation techniques from the Nara style. This style spread quickly through the area by Sessen Jūnigō (摂泉十二郷) to places such as Itami

Itami, Hyogo

is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.As of 2008, the city had an estimated population of 194,488 and a population density of 7,790 persons per km². The total area is 24.97 km².The center of Itami became a wealthy town by the middle of Sengoku period...

, Ikeda

Ikeda, Osaka

is a city located in Osaka, Japan. As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 104,704 and a density of 4,740 persons per km². The total area is 22.09 km²....

, and Kōike. The sake was produced, then shipped down the Mukogawa River to Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

, where it was then shipped to Edo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

. However, Sessen fell out of favor with the shogunate, which then began to regulate the brewing of the Kohama sake, and the style eventually disappeared by the middle of the Edo period.

Formula

The recipe for making Kohama style sake was discovered in old documents from the period, and it was found to similar to a more dry

Dryness

Dryness is a property of alcoholic beverages that describes the lack of a sweet taste. This may be due to a lack of sugars, the presence of some other taste that masks sweetness, or an underabundance of simple carbohydrates that can be converted to sugar by enzymes in the mouth...

 type of the Itami style of sake, while having its own bouquet

Odor

An odor or odour is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the sense of olfaction. Odors are also commonly called scents, which can refer to both pleasant and unpleasant odors...

. The mold used to make the sake helps to precipitate the proteins out of the sake brew, thereby helping it to distill into the final product. The full details are found in the , a record from the Edo Period.