Fumotoi Shuzo, founded in 1894 at the foot of Mount Chokai in Yamagata, draws all of its brewing water unfiltered from a well fed by the Chokai mountain's subterranean streams, a source the brewery has used across its entire operation. The vast majority of Fumotoi's lineup is produced using kimoto fermentation, a labor-intensive method that takes four times the effort of modern rapid-starter techniques, yielding sake with a clean acid backbone, deep umami, and the ability to drink well across a broad temperature range from chilled to warm.
