Iio Jozo Purple Sweet Potato Vinegar

500 ml bottle - Kyoto, Japan

When you first sip this purple vinegar, well actually when you first "sniff" it, it "sniffs" like a red vinegar, but not so "winey". The taste is acidic and really punchy. It's a much harder taste to discern, the nuances, not exactly subtle, are more disguised.

This sweet potato vinegar has a unique feel to it. The sweet potato comes through, right down the middle and then the flavor rolls to the outside. If you hold it in your mouth you can feel the potato come thru.

A deep rich purple or strawberry red when backlit color must come from the deep purple flesh of the sweet potato. The process starts with a rice fermented starter and the chopped potato. It takes almost a year to make this wonderful vinegar at the brewery which was founded in 1893.

This aging process clearly makes a product that has great characteristics. My counter has about 7 vinegars which I use all the time. I have had this purple sweet potato vinegar for over a year, all the while wondering why it was different enough for us to carry.

It wasn't until I was making a soy sauce mix to make me realize that this purple vinegar made the marinade just right. Using soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar along with the sweet potato vinegar, gave it the correct smell and flavor. Since then, I have been using the vinegar all the time!

Click here to read more about The Care and Feeding of Artisan Wine Vinegars