Koji Rice Series 2

Nose. The blend carries a funky, bold and tropical character, with intense notes of banana and pineapple. MURI also describes a tropical funk character in the blend.^[3],[6]

Palate. Pineapple and green apple flavours are prominent, alongside banana, with complex herbaceous shiso notes and a background funk from the chamomile flower. The starch from the rice and the light carbonation give a smooth, fulsome, silky texture; MURI describes the bubbles as gentle. The blend finishes medium-dry, with added sweetness derived from the rice.^{[1],[3],[5],[7],[8],[9]}

Structure. Points the claims establish:^[3]

• Sweetness: medium-dry, with added sweetness from the rice
• Body: smooth and fulsome, silky rice texture
• Complexity: complex herbaceous shiso notes over tropical fruit and chamomile funk

At Koan, the Koji Rice Series blend is served with the restaurant's signature milky oolong soufflé, kelp ice cream and oscietra caviar; MURI's own pairing note for Koji Rice Series 2 cites Restaurant Koan's milky oolong soufflé with kelp ice cream.^[4]

More broadly, the added sweetness from the rice is offered as a match for spicy, fatty roast meats such as babi guling, for tempura vegetables, and for ice cream.^[7]

Declared ingredients: Water, Rice (40%), Shiso (4%), Chamomile Flowers (0.3%), Yeast, and Koji (Aspergillus Oryzae).^[5]

Koji Amazake — Base and Texture. Rice makes up 40% of the composition. Steamed jasmine rice is inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae and becomes the koji amazake base — the same amazake used in Koji Rice Series 1. The starch carried over from the rice gives the finished blend a smooth, fulsome texture.^[3],[5]

Chamomile Flowers — Background Funk. Chamomile flowers make up 0.3% of the composition, entering the blend as a chamomile 'wine'. MURI describes the touch of chamomile as adding depth, and it reads as a subtle funk in the background of the palate.^[1],[3],[5]

The rice base is made by inoculating steamed jasmine rice with Aspergillus oryzae (koji spores) and leaving it to ferment for three days in a koji nursery. Over those three days the koji converts the rice's starches into sugars and releases umami compounds. The koji rice is then mixed with water and fermented with a cultivated yeast, producing an earthy yet floral liquid with a luxurious mouthfeel. MURI describes the resulting component as a double-fermented amazake.^[2],[3],[4]

The shiso is fermented on its own track, with pichia yeast, and is then combined with a final maceration of the fresh plant to add complexity to the blend.^[3]

Specifications. Classification and format details stated for the bottling:^[2],[5]

• Style: sparkling blend of koji amazake, fermented shiso and chamomile 'wines'
• ABV: less than 0.5%
• Production run: limited edition of 500 bottles

The blend was developed by Alejandro, MURI's new head of R&D, who took it in a profoundly tropical direction. MURI states that development involved trialling over one hundred botanicals — among them oolong, turmeric, ginger and foraged cherry blossom — before shiso was selected for the final recipe.^[1],[2]

MURI developed a second Koji Rice Series blend exclusively for the restaurant Koan. Because the recipe calls for so much shiso that it would be impossible to scale, the release is limited to 500 bottles.^[3],[4]