Pressing Series: Yabuta

Episode 69. Onward in our series all about "shibori" or sake pressing.  This week's episode focuses in on the Assaku-ki (compression machine), known more informally as the "yabuta" sake press.  As Xerox is to photo copies and Kleenex is to facial tissue, so is the Yabuta to the automatic sake press.  It's a sake press brand name that has become synonymous with the process itself.  The yabuta is often compared to an accordion in appearance and uses a series of frames stacked one next to another. The sake mash is pumped into the space between each frame.  Every other frame is sandwiched with a flat balloon that gets inflated and squeezes the mash, forcing the sake out the bottom, while the rice solids are held back.  The genius of the yubuta design is that the frames can then be opened up and the leftover sake lees (kasu) can be extracted.   Compared to the "fune" press, the yabuta cuts the time it takes to press the mash in half and it is the most common sake pressing method in use today.  Join us as we squeeze in another episode on the high pressure work of "shibori."Support the show