N.A.S.F.T Finalist 2007 Outstanding New Product

New Vinegar!!
BENÍMOSU, purple sweet potato vinegar

Plain and Honey sweetened
From Iio Jozo Rice Vinegar Company

BENÍMOSU (beh-née-mosu) is very special vinegar because of its stunning deep strawberry color and its pleasant sharp taste and aroma which are reminiscent of sherry vinegar. BENÍMOSU is made from purple sweet potatoes, which centuries ago traveled with the Portuguese to Japan from their native Central and South America. The purple variety sweet potato has a whitish beige skin, but cutting through the surface reveals a deep purple flesh.

This vegetable has been known in Japan as the Okinawa sweet potato since it originally had been cultivated there on Japan's the southern most islands. Because of its unique color and flavor, the cultivation of the purple sweet potato spread north to Kyushu, the large southern island of the main Japan island chain.


To produce BENÍMOSU vinegar, steamed sweet potato is chopped and mixed with koji inoculated rice (fermentation starter), mineral water and yeast. About seven days of fermentation produces alcohol tinted with stunning bright strawberry hue. The fermented mass is then pressed to separate the alcohol and the mash. Acetic acid forming bacteria are added to the alcohol and after three months the alcohol is converted to a unique aromatic vinegar. The vinegar is then aged about one year before bottling.

BENÍMOSU is produced in two styles - one is straight, pure vinegar and the other is sweetened with honey. The plain vinegar is excellent for savory dishes and sauces, and stews and for salads, pickles and sushi rice preparations. In addition to wonderful flavor, BENÍMOSU adds a very pleasing hue to all dishes.

Creative chefs will surely find many uses for this colorful and uniquely flavored product. The honey-sweetened version makes wonderful cocktail addition. You will be delightfully surprised when you taste sweetened BENÍMOSU stirred into beer or shochu (a distilled spirit made from barley, potato, sugar cane, or rice similar to excellent vodka).

Creative bartenders will find many other uses for this product as a mix constituent for appealing cocktails. The honey-sweetened vinegar is also excellent for use in dessert preparations, or just drizzled over some over vanilla ice cream.

Another feature of BENÍMOSU vinegar is its health benefits. The purple sweet potato is very rich in polyphenols, which act as antioxidants, and reputedly can block the action of enzymes that cancers need for growth. Consuming 1 tablespoon of BENÍMOSU, either plain or sweetened, in 1 cup of flat or carbonated water everyday can help assure good health.


Ingredients: Organic purple sweet potatoes, rice, koji (fermentation starter); sweetened BENÍMOSU contains honey and some no-GM corn syrup.

Shelf life: 2 years; after opening use as soon as possible for best flavor and nutritional value; refrigerate

The company: Iio Joz brewery is located in the charming fishing village of Miyazu on the Japan Sea in Kyoto Prefecture. The company was founded in 1893 and presently run by the fourth generation of elder of the family, Mr. Tsuyoshi Iio. Iio Jozo today produces the finest quality, organic, artisan rice vinegar in Japan. Mr. Iio is a traditionalist when he is making his vinegar, but is equally forward-thinking about creating new, unique vinegars.

BENÍMOSU is a gifted child of Mr. Iio's devotion to his craft. Mr. Iio is also fervent in supporting local organic farmers from whom he purchases all of the materials necessary for the production of his line of vinegars.

Size: 4 FL. OZ (120ml) and 16.9 FL. OZ (500ml)