Why award-winning Taiwanese sake maker wants to share his ideas with Japan’s breweries

Chiang Wei, whose Taiwan-brewed sake won big in France’s Kura Master contest, thinks his ‘foreigner’ perspective could help Japanese brewers

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Award-winning Taiwanese sake maker Chiang Wei (right). After his Taiwan to go Sake No. 1 made history at France’s Kura Master contest, the Taipei bar operator says he wants to share perspectives with Japanese makers. Photo: Facebook/jiangwayne.com Sake Bar Jr.

Published: 5:15pm, 3 Sep 2024

An award-winning Taiwanese sake maker has expressed eagerness to cooperate with Japanese sake breweries and share fresh perspectives that he believes could benefit them.

Chiang Wei, a Taipei sake bar operator in his fifties, received the platinum award in the junmai category in France’s Kura Master sake competition in June.

The event focuses on “food and drink compatibility”, reflecting the host nation’s rich culinary heritage. The win generated a buzz in Taiwan, as it was the first time a sake made on the island had won the award.

“Whether it is rice cultivation or sake brewing, I believe my perspectives as a consumer and a foreigner will be very helpful to Japanese drinks,” Chiang says.

Chiang (front, third from left) outside his sake bar in Taipei. Photo: Facebook / jiangwayne.com Sake Bar Jr.

Even though Taiwan does not grow sake rice, the island has abundant varieties of general table rice, Chiang adds.

Following the advice of an agricultural expert, he opted to use a cultured sample genetically similar to Japan’s famed Koshihikari rice to make his Taiwan to go Sake No. 1.