pure land sake - kyoto prefecture

We recently had a mind-bending and profound visit with Masuda Tokubee Shoten brewery in Kyoto.

Masuda has partnered with our friends in the US to brew their private label offering, Pure Land, with Nada Wine being Florida’s bridge to this prestigious rice wine.

Speaking with Jun, the 15th-generation first-born brewer (which is celebrating its 350th! year of continuous sake production) was not only a deep lesson in traditional pure sake brewing but of Kyoto’s history, through the eyes of one single family, generation after generation.

We learned of their traditions, opportunities and systems that sustained this brewery through monumental events like the great fire of Kyoto 200 years ago to their early and consistent direct access to the most pristine waters of Kyoto, all the way to being the specific house that single-handedly brought back nigori to the public due to an inventive grandfather and his loophole around the outlawed offering. So, if you like drinking unfiltered, unpasteurized Japanese sake as much as we do it’s literally because of this brewery.

In short, this sake house, dating back to 1675, and the collaboration with our friends to reimagine the offering as Pure Land in the states, embodies something that has been infused in almost every encounter through the streets of Tokyo and Kyoto. Something known and unknown resting comfortably between the distant past and faraway future. Something my wife and I started to know as “Old Future”. Japan feels entirely Old Future, and Pure Land embodies this sentiment perfectly.

Our quantities are currently very low on all three offerings (Junmai, Junmai Ginjo, & Single Fermentation Sparkling Nigori) so please reach out to us to reserve an allocation for the next round or grab the last remaining bottles we have now.