Hattan Nishiki Sake Rice – 八反錦 酒造好適米

Sake made with Hattan Nishiki tends to be medium-bodied, earthy, soft-textured and can display a varying degree of dryness. This sake rice type has moderately large grains with high levels of shinpaku. However, it’s easily broken during polishing. It’s said to be preferred for lower-grade sake, but there are plenty of examples of ginjo-shu being made with it.

Born in Hiroshima in the 1970s, Hattan Nishiki 八反錦 sake rice is a cross between Hattan-35-go and Akitsuho. It took about ten years before it was ready for the market. There are two types of Hattan Nishiki: Number 1 (八反錦１号) is by far the most popular; dwarfing Hattan Nishiki No.2 (八反錦2号). In 2019, 1895 metric tons of Hattan Nishiki No.1 were produced– entirely within Hiroshima. A staggering 85% of this was the second-best Tokuto (特等) grade. Overall, it ranked 6th in Japanese sake rice production. 

Hattan Nishiki is short by sakamai standards (>3 feet) with strong lodging and disease-resistant, which make it fairly easy to grow. The medium-sized grains are predominantly shinpaku (≈ 95%) with moderate levels of protein.  

Popular Sake Brewed with Hattan Nishiki Rice 

Maboroshi “Mystery” Junmai Ginjo	Joto “The One With The Clocks” Daiginjo
Suigei “Sho” Junmai Daiginjo	Jikon Nama Muroka 2019 Junmai Ginjo