The Sake Anatomy › Sake Brand Index › Tengumai
No.65 · Brewery Profile
Tengumai天狗舞 · Shata Shuzo 車多酒造
Shata Shuzo, on the Kaga plain below Mt. Hakusan, helped revive yamahai brewing almost single-handedly in the 1960s, when the difficult method had all but disappeared. The brand’s name comes from local folklore of tengu goblins dancing in the surrounding forest after drinking the local sake. Tengumai’s yamahai is golden, dense with umami and acidity — a world apart from its cleaner, more aromatic junmai daiginjo.
Who makes Tengumai?
Shata Shuzo, founded in 1823 on the Kaga plain below Mt. Hakusan, Ishikawa. The brewery helped revive yamahai brewing almost single-handedly in the 1960s, when the difficult method had all but disappeared, and its name comes from local folklore of tengu goblins dancing in the surrounding forest after drinking the local sake.
What does Tengumai taste like?
Tagged Rich & Umami and Acidity-driven, the Yamahai Junmai is the flagship — amber-toned, richly umami and acid-driven, rated 4/5 on both richness and acidity. The Junmai Daiginjo is a more refined, aromatic expression by comparison, a cleaner counterpart to the yamahai.
Which bottle should you try first?
The Yamahai Junmai is explicitly named the flagship, amber-toned and richly umami — the defining expression of the house’s revived yamahai method.
How does Tengumai compare to other Ishikawa breweries?
Tengumai’s Rich & Umami, Acidity-driven pairing is closest to prefecture-mate Kikuhime, tagged Rich & Umami, while Tedorigawa and Kagatobi both pair Rich & Umami with Elegant & Refined rather than acidity.
Frequently asked questions
What role did Shata Shuzo play in yamahai brewing history?
It helped revive yamahai brewing almost single-handedly in the 1960s, when the difficult method had all but disappeared.
What does the name Tengumai reference?
Local folklore of tengu goblins dancing in the forest around the brewery after drinking the local sake.
How many bottles does Tengumai make?
Two on this page: the flagship Yamahai Junmai and a more refined Junmai Daiginjo.
The bottles
Yamahai Junmai山廃仕込純米酒
醇酒 Junshu · Rich“Amber-toned, richly umami and acid-driven; the flagship.”
Junmai Daiginjo純米大吟醸
薫酒 Kunshu · Fragrant“A more refined, aromatic expression from the brewery.”
Reading the bars: an editorial flavor reading (0–5) of each bottle — Dry→Rich, Light→Full, Subtle→Aromatic, Low→High acidity — not laboratory values. The colored badge is the SSI four-type classification (薨酒 Kunshu · 爽酒 Soshu · 醇酒 Junshu · 熟酒 Jukushu). SMV and acidity appear only where the brewery publishes them.
Sources: tengumai.co.jp · mtcsake.com