The latest collaboration between the chocolate snacks and the Japanese spirit is almost four centuries in the making and uses one of the highest classes of sake.
Over the years, Kit Kats’ position in the Japanese snack pantheon has continually evolved. First, they were just those foreign chocolates, right? Then they became a treasured good luck charm for students taking entrance exams, and after that, they acquired their status as champions of limited-edition regional flavors, taking your taste buds on a tour of Japan.
Then Nestlé hit upon the genius idea of sake-flavored Kit Kats. At first, it seemed like it might have been a case of the company taking its Japanese theming a step too far, but it turned out to be delicious, and now the company is collaborating with one of Japan’s most respected sake brewers, which was founded in 1625.
When Hyogo Prefecture’s Sakura Masamune first started making sake, Japan was still ruled by a shogun, and Western food of any kind, let alone chocolate, was virtually unknown in the country. But under the guidance of 11th-generation master brewer Tazaemon Yamamura, Sakura Masamune has teamed up with Nestlé to jointly develop the new Kit Kat Mini Nihonshu Sakura Masamune Diginjo flavor.
Daiginjo refers to one of the highest-quality classifications of sake (or Nihonshu, as it’s commonly called in Japanese), with at least half of each grain of rice used milled down by at least 50 percent so that only the most flavorful part of the core becomes part of the brew. Sakura Masamune’s diginjo sake (some examples of which are pictured above) can sell for as much as 20,000 yen (US$180) a bottle, and is made with rice grown in Hyogo Prefecture’s beautifully bucolic Yokawa district in the town of Miki.
▼ Yokawa
今日はプチツーしてきました。 三木市吉川町にある黒滝まで写真撮りに行ってきました。 水質は昨日の雨で最悪😖💦💨 シャッタースピードをもう少し落として柔らかい感じを出したかったけど、逆行だったのでこれが限界。 https://t.co/PQ81U2NCcz
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keke!@GSX-S1000 (@keke28316747_mr) September 02, 2018
For the Sakaura Masamune Kit Kats, the brewer’s daiginjo sake is converted to powdered form and kneaded into the creamy filling that goes between the Kit Kat wafers. Each piece is then covered in white chocolate, which Nestlé’s previous sake Kit Kats have proven makes for an unexpectedly delicious pairing with Japan’s indigenous alcohol.
Nestlé and Sakura Masamune promise the finished product offers both the enticing aroma and rich flavor of the brewer’s daiginjo, and we can’t wait to try them for ourselves once they go on sale September 25, priced at 800 yen (US$7.30) in Japan’s central Kansai region.
Sources: PR Times via Japaaan, Sakura Masamune, Rakuten
Top image: PR Times
Insert image: Sakura Masamune
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