Foo Fighters, the American rock band that is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee this year and has won multiple Grammy Awards, have collaborated remotely with a sake brewery in snowy Yamagata Prefecture to produce their own brew.
Hansho (Midnight) went on sale in February at the same time as the band's 10th album, "Medicine at Midnight," and sold out immediately. The brewery made a second batch, which hit the shelves in Japan last week and is expected to be exported to the United States as early as in April.
The sake is made by Tatenokawa, Inc., a brewery in Sakata with over 180 years of history, and comes in two types: Hansho Ao (blue) and Hansho Gin (silver).
According to the brewery, Hansho Ao, which comes in a metallic blue bottle mirroring the color of lead singer and guitarist Dave Grohl's iconic blue guitar, represents the band's pop side, with a fruity flavor containing a dash of sweetness, bright aroma and a clear aftertaste.
Hansho Gin, in a metallic silver bottle, represents the band's rock side, with a rich and solid flavor of sake rice and a sharp, dry aftertaste.
The sake was made as a gift to fans to celebrate the release of the album as well as the band's 25th anniversary. The collaboration request from the band first came through a contact form on the brewery's official website in late September last year, which made the brewery staff members go ecstatic.
Brewery CEO Jumpei Sato happened to be a big fan of Foo Fighters. He responded immediately to accept the offer and led the project along with another fan of the band, the brewery's public relations manager, Koki Kitayama.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to collaborate with one of your favorite bands," said Kitayama, who used to be a bass guitarist in a student band.
Sato became the sixth head of the family brewery in 2001, after which Tatenokawa's business grew dramatically. He decided to concentrate on producing sake in the top-notch category known as junmai-daiginjo, a type of sake made only from highly polished rice, water and koji rice mold.
The brewery nestled in a rice belt known as the Shonai plain grew from five staff members to about 50 today, exporting its products across Asia, Europe and the United States. Sales from exports account for 15% to 20% of the brewery's annual sales in recent years.
Tatenokawa had made original sake for the French band Phoenix in 2017 and 2019, after a Paris-based Japanese sake distributor introduced the sake-loving band members to one of the brewery staff. Apparently, Foo Fighters' team reached out to Tatenokawa because of Phoenix's sake.
Since international travel has been restricted during the pandemic, the tastes of Foo Fighters' sake were decided online. The band members tried various types of sake made by Tatenokawa that were available in the United States and shared the vision they had for their own sake with the brewery. The brewery learned that Grohl, who first gained fame as the drummer in Nirvana, loved Tatenokawa's sake and was very excited.
The bottle labels were created by a designer based in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, featuring characters written by an esteemed local calligrapher. What looks like three kanji characters at first is actually an arrangement of alphabet letters spelling out the band's name. The lattice patterns on the sides are also based on the letter F.
When Foo Fighters announced the sake on the band's website and released a video clip of the sake being brewed at Tatenokawa accompanied by "Shame Shame," a track from their new album, fans were so excited that the brewery received many inquiries from all over the globe.
The first batch was enough for 3,000 bottles of each kind, and was only sold in Japan. The next batch is for about 5,000 bottles of each kind, with 2,000 of each planned for export mainly to the United States.
According to Kitayama, the playlists of Foo Fighters songs for each version of Hansho that were blasted at the brewery while the sake was being brewed are available online.
"The sake was nurtured by the band's music," Kitayama said. "Although it's not scientifically proven, the vibrations must have had some kind of effect on fermentation.
"As many live concerts have been canceled due to the pandemic, we hope people can enjoy our special sake, Hansho, while listening to the new Foo Fighters album," he added. "It's a great pairing."
The brewery plans to further expand its collaborations with various bands in the future.
"Historically, sake and music have been enjoyed together," Kitayama said.
Under Sato's leadership, the brewery also plans to promote new ways of enjoying sake, such as at outdoor music festivals and clubs, perhaps with even its own music festival where people can enjoy sake while listening to live music.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
