Photo/Illutration Sake Tent House is billed as being brewed specially for consumption around campfires. (Provided by Suigei Brewing Co.)

A pair of alcohol industry officials who love the great outdoors have created a sake product designed to be sipped around a campfire.

Suigei Brewing Co. in Kochi and the Takano liquor shop in Hokkaido’s Otaru jointly developed Sake Tent House, which will go on sale in October.

“We want sake to be added to the list of things consumed beside campfires,” said Yoichi Takano, a vice president of the Takano store’s operator.

The sake is the best match for “camping meals,” boasts proper levels of savor, acidity and bitterness when served either cold or at normal temperatures, and retains its flavor even if heated by bonfire, the developers said.

The Sake Tent House project became a reality because Takano, 42, and Hirokuni Okura, 43, president of Suigei Brewing, both love camping and wanted more people enjoy sake at campsites.

The rice wine was tested outdoors on numerous occasions.

Suigei Brewing first selected a yeast to help the finished sake keep the wood’s aroma after exposure to a bonfire. It gives the beverage a mature flavor when sipped.

Takano, who has been camping for 30 years, repeatedly sampled the sake in summer, autumn and winter at campgrounds in Hokkaido until the drink had moderate degrees of fragrance and sourness.

Sake Tent House was given a clear taste to pair well with strongly flavored meat and other outdoor dishes.

A special “honjozo” sake is heated twice in its production process to prevent its quality from degrading in open-air environments.

“I hope Japanese sake--a drink that links people--will be accepted more broadly at campsites that double as places for relaxing,” Okura said.

The 720-milliliter bottle of Sake Tent House costs 2,387 yen ($21.60), including tax and delivery fee.

To appeal to consumers unfamiliar with sake, a crowdfunding drive started on the Green Funding site at (https://greenfunding.jp/lab/projects/5209) with an eye on sending the completed product to donors.

The campaign opened in September with the target of gaining 200,000 yen. It exceeded the goal within one day.

Supporters will be solicited through Oct. 10, and Sake Tent House is expected to be put on sale at the Takano liquor shop after the online drive ends.

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