The Saké Diaries

Donate to Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Organized by Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support

2011-03-14T12:02:00.001-05:00

Twin Cities Sake Meetup Group

2009-08-07T13:14:00.003-05:00

The Twin Cities Sake Meetup Group has two events planned for August.

Sake potluck on August 12th

and

Jonesin' for a Jozen on August 26th

Please join us!

Sake with 50 percent fewer calories debuts

2009-04-27T09:32:00.006-05:00

RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate -- A Japanese sake maker here has released a sake with 50 percent fewer calories than standard rice wine.

Respected sake brewer Suisen Shuzo is aiming the new brand, called Hana no Yoi, at calorie-counting women and middle-aged to older customers worried about their weight.

Click here for the entire article at The Mainichi Daily News, along with the Japanese version of the article.

So how many calories are in a glass of regular sake? From esake.com:

What is the sugar content of sake, and how many calories are there in a typical serving of sake? There are between 180 and 240 calories, or 20 to 27 grams of carbohydrates, in 5.5 oz glass of sake. Protein and fat are negligible. During the brewing of sake, the yeast cells eat the natural sugar created by the starches in the rice and give off alcohol and carbon dioxide. The starch-to-sugar conversion, and the fermentation of that sugar, take place simultaneously in the same tank. This makes sake unique; in other beverages the conversion to sugar occurs first, and fermentation later. Also, another important parameter to be aware of is the Nihonshu-do . Also called the Sake Meter Value (abbreviated SMV) in English, this is the specific gravity of a sake. It indicates how much of the sugars created from the starches in the rice were converted to alcohol, and how much remained to contribute to sweetness. By ancient convention, the higher the number, the drier the sake. What is the range? In theory, it is open-ended. In practice, + 10 or so is quite dry, -4 or so is quite sweet, and +3 or so is neutral. Keep in mind this parameter is affected by acidity, temperature, accompanying food, and a host of other factors so that it is limited in its usefulness.

Sakesocial.com

2009-04-24T09:51:00.005-05:00

Sakesocial.com is a new online source for premium sake, information about sake, and more. They have joined forces with Beau Timken of True Sake in San Francisco to offer an enticing selection of sake available individually or through two Sake of the Month clubs:

Samurai Select: This group of sakes will focus on Junmai, Honjozo, and some Ginjo brews that speak to folks who like everyday drinking sakes rich in body and feeling. As these brews are a little less milled and pampered they bring out more rice tones and backbone, which translate to a wider spectrum of food pairing opportunities. This selection also lends itself to more temperature plays from chilled to heated.

and

Emperor Exclusive: This group of sakes will focus on Daiginjo and Ginjo sakes that speak to those drinkers who like the royal treatment in their brews. These sakes are the best of the best – the ultimate in hand-crafted brews that celebrate the nuances and subtleties of sakes that have been milled to insanely low polishing rates. This selection represents great sipping brews that lend themselves to gentle and subtle food pairings with an emphasis on clean.

You can also order sets based on Timken's "TasteMatch system" (see his book, Sake A Modern Guide), including sets put together for those who like red wine and those who like white wine.

Education is a large part of sakesocial.com and so is the social aspect; Timken maintains a blog at the site and there are forums for the community to ask questions and to post their ideas on tastings, pairings and anything else sake related.

I really like the site; it's thoughtfully put together, visually appealing and full of content. Check it out, join the community and order some sake!

WD-50 tasting menu

2009-04-14T14:54:00.009-05:00

I had the tasting menu at WD-50 and, while I didn't have any sake, they do include a sake in the wine pairing , so I'll list it here.

Fluke, milk skin, black chickpea, barberry
'Ode Panos' Brut Domaine Spiropoulos NV (Peloponissos, Greece)

Everything bagel, smoked salmon threads, crispy cream cheese
'Ode Panos' Brut Domaine Spiropoulos NV (Peloponissos, Greece)

Foie gras, passionfruit, chinese celery
Miyasaka Yawaraka 'Sake Matinee' Junmai (Nagano-Prefecture, Japan)

Scallops, tendon, endive, parsley, hazelnut oil
Tokaji Furmint Tokaj Classic 1999 (Tokaj, Hungary)

Cold fried chicken, buttermilk-ricotta, tabasco, caviar
Verduno Pelaverga Fratelli Alessandria 2006 (Piedmont, Italy)

Snails, red lentils, juniper, orange
Verduno Pelaverga Fratelli Alessandria 2006 (Piedmont, Italy)

Rabbit, wild rice polenta, cassis, kale, black olive
Pinotage Kanonkop 2006 (Stellenbosch, South Africa)

Squab, butternut noodles, cream soda, carob
Pinotage Kanonkop 2006 (Stellenbosch, South Africa)

Vanilla ice cream, balsamic, raspberry

Hazelnut tart, coconut, chocolate, chicory
Chenin Blanc "Off the Rack" Plantagenet 2006 (Western Australia)

Carmelized brioche, gala apple, sage, brown butter
Commandaria St. John Keo NV (Lemesos, Cyprus)

Cocoa packets. Chocolate shortbread, milk ice cream

Tasting menu $140, wine pairing $75

**************************************************************

So, props for the fois gras/Miyasaka Yawaraka pairing! The meal was quite an experience. I loved when two men sat down at the table next to mine, went into shock when they looked at the menu, asked if they could get salads, and then left - not because of the prices, I'm pretty sure, but because the menu was too adventurous. I enjoyed it all because I love crazy food, although I could live happily without ever having the rabbit sausage again. The most INSANELY delicious thing was the fried chicken. Of course it sounds so ordinary, but it was like no other fried chicken. The foie gras with sweet passionfruit sauce, the vanilla ice cream with the balsamic hiding inside, and the unexpected everything bagel were pretty awesome too.

Oh, they also offer a bottle of aged sake with the dessert wine list
"Darume Masamune Junmai Koshu
Gifu Prefecture, Japan ~ aged junmai sake
aroma of roast nuts, dried fruits and spices
290.00 bottle (720 ml)"

Kaseki at Rosanjin

2009-04-14T14:31:00.011-05:00

While in New York, I had one of the most memorable meals of my life at Kaiseki restaurant Rosanjin.

“Delicious food requires plates of a comparable level of beauty”
Rosanjin Kitaoji 1883 ~ 1959

Rosanjin is inspired by the artist and food critic Rosanjin Kitaoji and his lifetime quest for beauty and art through cuisine. The kaiseki meal with sake pairing really is an extraordinary experience. It's available at 3 price levels, $120, $150, and $200 and I tried the $150 menu with the sake pairing for an additional $98. I knew that, while I was in for a memorable evening, I would probably need help with the remembering and they kindly agreed to email a copy of my menu. The sake pours were really beyond generous. Do you know those glass bottles with small "pockets" for ice? Well, for each sake selection they first poured (from a 720 ml bottle) a small glass and then they half-filled the glass bottle! After about the 3rd pour I asked them to just fill the glass and forgo the bottle.

Kaiseki meal with sake pairing, the menu, April 1, 2009

Zatsuki: Shimmered spring vegetables with ise shrimp on top
Sake: Dassai Nigori - Yamaguch

Tsunagi: Mackerel sushi

Owan: Giant clam in sake based soup

Tsukuri: Toro & fluke sashimi, simmered octopus in sweet soy sauce
Sake: Ugo-no-tsuki - Hiroshima

Yakimono: Grilled black cod marinated in saikyo miso sauce
Sake: Square one - Nagano

Shiizakana: Abalone steamed with sake
Sake: Shimerhari tsuru Jun - Niigata

Takiwase: Deep fried butterfish with tofu skin, golden sauce on top
Sake: Kubota manjyu - Niigata

Syokuji: Japanese premium beef steak, rice & miso soup
Sake: Kanchiku - Nagano

Dessert: Gelato, rice cake with red bean paste

Rosanjin also offers an a la carte menu.

************************************************************************************

Rosanjin also has a delivery menu with the most beautiful looking bento boxes I've ever seen. Seriously, go to their delivery page and you will cry because you are not it their delivery area!

Tempura and sake for lunch at Kai, shopping at Ito-en

2009-04-14T14:30:00.011-05:00

I had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Kai, which is only a few blocks away from the book fair. Usually I have dinner there when I'm in New York, but I had limited time so decided to visit for lunch and, really, lunch was as special an occasion as dinner at Kai.

First I was brought a welcome cup of green tea which was refilled throughout the meal. I decided on the large prawn and vegetable tempura set which included tempura, miso soup, assorted vegetables, housemade oshinko, white rice and, for dessert, fruit, yazu cheesecake and jasmine creme brulee. I asked for advice on a sake to drink with lunch and went with the Hakkaisan ginjo ($17/glass). I think it was the best tempura that I've had in the U.S.!

Here are the stats for the sake:

Brewery: Hakkai-Jyozo Sake Brewery
Prefecture: Niigata
Rice: Yamada-Nishiki, etc.
Polishing rare: 50%
Alcohol: 15.6%
SMV: +6
Acidity: 1.2

After lunch I went downstairs to Ito-en tea shop and bought some tea and cups and also this glass pot and warmer that was marketed as a sake heater. It seems more like something you would use to keep tea warm - the little candle is not hot enough to warm sake that was stored in the refrigerator.

I also got this incredibly cute masu with a "saucer."

A bit of Japan in New York

2009-04-14T13:35:00.013-05:00

I had a nice trip to New York for the ABAA book fair that took place April 3-5 at the Park Armory and while I was pretty busy with books, I got to visit a few of my old and new favorite places.

At Takashiyama I had the East/West Afternoon Tea (see bad photo) which included 4 small sandwiches (spring roll, cucumber on rice, smoked salmon on rice and turkey and horseradish on white bread), vegetable chips, fruit (strawberries, melon, pineapple, blueberries, blackberries, and grapes), candied nuts, custard, chocolates, cookies and cake. Something was seriously wrong with the service - there were several servers and they must all have assumed that someone else was helping me. Don't go there if you are in a hurry. The tea and treats made up for it and I can't stay mad at them. Right outside the the cafe they sell tea, cups and pots, incense, cookies, etc. I bought a teacup, some incense and a few other things and the customer service in that department was outstanding.

I had only about 5 minutes to visit sake shop Sakaya, so I just ran in and asked if they had any nama sake. That is how I ended up with a bottle of Masumi Arabashiri "First Run." I can't wait to spend more time looking at all the sake and maybe attending one of Sakaya's many tastings on my next trip to New York.

Down the street was Cha-an Japanese Tea House where I had an order of green tea truffles on reserve. They were packaged in a lovely bamboo gift "bag," and were a beautiful pale green color. I shared them with some friends after I got home and the opinion that they were delicious was unanimous. While at Cha-an I ordered the 3 item dessert kaiseki which included mixed berry ice cream with a sesame crunch cookie, orange chocolate mousse and creme brulee, and a cookie and poundcake, along with several cups of genmaicha tea.

I also made a quick stop at Kyoto-fu where I had several boxes of sweets on reserve. While there I tried the ginger-infused soymilk rice okayu with apple-cranberry compote, seven spiced tuile, and shiso cream. They have a nice sake list with over 30 different kinds of junmai, junmai ginjo, daiginjo, nigori, aged, and sparkling sake and several sake flights if you want to experiment. Also, they currently have a great sake promotion, Sake Sundays with half off all bottles and glasses (check the website for more details).

Serenading a Hong Kong saké shop

2009-03-12T15:14:00.002-05:00

Elvis! I can't read most of this blog, but I know it's another reason to get back to Hong Kong!

Notes from the saké and cheese tasting

2009-03-02T19:29:00.017-06:00

*The Japan Meteorological Agency reported that cherry blossoms will open earlier than usual this year. Check here for the forecast.*

The saké and cheese tasting at Cooks of Crocus Hill was a great success. Ken Liss of Premier Cheese Market and Mark Hamer of Vino Source led the group through the tasting with 6 cheeses and 5 sakés. I thought that we would try each saké with one of the cheeses, but we tried each saké with each cheese. Of course, that made a lot more sense and it was amazing to try all the combinations.

Cheeses
1. Greek Kiss, Alabama, goat's milk
2. Brie de Meaux, France, cow's milk
3. Patacabra, Spain, goat's milk
4. Prairie Breeze, Iowa, cow's milk
5. Cereta alt Urgell, Spain, cow's milk
6. Shropshire Blue, England, cow's milk
Bonus cheese: Ewephoria, Sheepsmilk gouda

Sakés with some notes on the pairings
1. Nanbu Bijin (Southern Beauty), junmai ginjo
No notes...was this the last saké we tasted???

2. Mukune (Shadows of Katano), nigori junmai ginjo
People tasted mushrooms with the Brie de Meaux, a candy taste with the Prairie Breeze and "turned butter" with the Cereta alt Urgell. I actually liked the Cereta alt Urgell pairing.

3. Mukune (Root of Innocence), junmai ginjo
Chocolate was noted with the Greek Kiss. The class favorite seemed to be the Shropshire Blue. Again, I liked the Cereta alt Urgell. Do I have bad taste? Others found it bitter.

4. Sato no Homare (Pride of the Village), junmai ginjo
This saké, when combined with the Certa alt Urgell, made for a strong chocolate taste. My favorite pairing with this was the Patacabbra.

5. Chiyonosono (Sacred Power), junmai ginjo
I liked the Greek Kiss with this. Interestingly, it cut the aftertaste of the saké.

The differences in the pairings were pretty amazing, especially considering that all the saké were junmai ginjo. It would be fun to try pairing cheese with other saké, such as a koshu, honjozo, even a junmai daiginjo (would the cheese overpower the most delicate saké?) I guess that's a homework project!

I want to mention that Ken Liss knows cheese...I'm really looking forward to visiting the shop. They are taking part in "Ladies' night out" on March 12th at 50th and France and offering 10% off all purchases from 4-9 pm and men can get in on the deal too.

Story on moto-i with video of sake making

2008-12-19T12:04:00.001-06:00

Here's a story on moto-i with a video of sake making.

Sake seminar at moto-i

2008-11-19T22:32:00.004-06:00

Get a load of this: 8 hours with 2 sake experts, a 20-page manual, over 20 different sakes to taste, a tour of the brewery and lunch and snacks for $150. Amazing!

Become a Sake Expert - Monthly Sake Seminar at moto-i

On the first Saturday of every month, moto-i is offering a full day seminar for anyone interested in learning more about sake. Comprehensive, informative, and fun, participants are promised an education on sake unparalleled in Minneapolis! We aim to have the most knowledgeable, savvy sake aficionados here than any other city in North America. The 8-hour seminar will focus on various topics like sake history, sake grades and styles, the brewery process from start to finish. The class, conducted by Blake Richardson, moto-i head brewer, and Elise Gee, assistant brewer, includes a 20-page manual for you to keep, tastings of over 20 different sake, brewery tour, lunch and snacks. Cost is $150.

The next class is Saturday, December 6, 2008 from 9am to 5pm.

In order to fully understand sake, tastings are needed in order to hone one's palate. The 20 sake students shall taste will provide a good understanding of grades, styles and flavor profiles. We have scoured far and wide to obtain the best selection of sake for our seminar-- some are even hard-to-find rarities, unavailable for purchase in Minnesota.

Here is a list of the sake students will try:
Akitabare Honjozo "Spring Snow"
Dewazakura Dewasansan Junmai Ginjo
Gekkeikan Futsuu
Gekkeikan Horin Junmai Daiginjo
Houhoushu Sparkling
Kasumi Tsuru Junmai Kimoto
Kasumi Tsuru Junmai Yamahai
Masumi Junmai "Mirror of Truth"
Murai Family Nebuta Honjozo
Murai Family Tokubetsu Honjozo
Murai Family Junmai Ginjo
Murai Family Daiginjo
Momokawa Junmai Ginjo Nigori Genshu
Momokawa Junmai
Nambu Bijin Jnmai Ginjo Nama
Nambu Bijin Junmai Ginjo
Sake One G Junmai Ginjo Genshu
Sato No Homare Junmai Ginjo
Watari Bune Ginjo 55 Muroka
Yuki No Bosha Junmai Ginjo Nigori

The lunch offered with be a choice of either a rice or a noodle dish from moto-i's menu.
Snacks include a choice of two small plates under $10 each from our menu with a sampler of moto-i's own sake.

Email us at class@moto-i.com to sign up for a seminar.

Sake and cheese class in Edina

2008-11-17T10:16:00.002-06:00

Cooks of Crocus Hill is offering a Sake and Cheese in February.

February 27th 6:00 PM-8:00 PM, $55 Ken Liss, Mark Hamer

You may know about wine with cheese or beer with cheese....but what about Sake and cheese? Really? Yes really! Without the tannins of wine, you can focus purely on the textures, flavors and sensations that come with pairing this rice beverage with cheese. The result is a completely new experience! Join Mark Hamer from Vino Source and Ken Liss from Premier Cheese Market as they pair 5 sakes with a variety of cheeses and share all the ways to serve and taste both.

Sign up here.

Japanese Hand Craft

2008-11-14T11:47:00.003-06:00

I found a link to this blog on Melinda Joe's blog and fell in love with it immediately. It's full of Japanese culture and beautiful photographs along with some great recipes. When you've finished reading the blog, check out the store for some truly exquisite sake ware among other things.

Japanese Hand Craft Blog
Japanese Hand Craft Online Shop

Looking forward to Moto-I!

2008-10-20T20:35:00.002-05:00

From their website (http://www.moto-i.com/)

What is moto-i
moto-i is the first sake brewery restaurant outside of Japan. Located in Uptown, Minneapolis, moto-i is a full service restaurant with liquor, beer, wine and, of course, sake! moto-i makes draft sake or namazake. Nama is unpasteurized, and needs plenty of care as it can never get warm.
Our menu is reminiscent of an Izakaya, a Japanese Pub. With small plates as well as noodles and rice dishes, we incorporate many Asian ethnicities and keep the focus on street food of the best Asian Hawkers.

This is obviously very exciting news!

More Tokyo

2008-04-02T20:34:00.011-05:00

There was nothing sake-related to report on Monday, although I did win $10.00 from Rob on a bet about a book and that's very newsworthy, although maybe not because I nearly always win my bets with Rob.

On Tuesday (March 11th) we went to Mr. Nitta's (of Yushodo) "friendship" dinner for about 25 booksellers. The dinner was at Kagurazaka, a fish restaurant at the Umi Hotel. As Nitta-san hosted the dinner, we didn't actually see menus, so I'm not sure what sake I had, but the restaurant's web site assures me that it was "the best-selected sake that goes best with the fish." Nitta-san and his wife, Mrs. Nitta-san, are two of my favorite hosts, always gracious and always generous, and, most importantly, always fun! Mr. Nitta, Rob and Robert Frew (who has a way with profanity that I very much appreciate) were drinking shochu with a nice, big ume dropped in, and that really got the party started.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were book fair days, so we were very busy. Happily, we got to have a nice dinner Friday night with our friends, "Masa and the other Masa" (they gamely let us refer to them this way), and they are fun Japanese academic party animals. They seem to be very amused by me as I'm interested in antiquarian books, cats and the Japanese cat cafes (here's one), and sake. One of the reasons it's fun to hang out with these guys is that they're both brilliant English professors and they alway bring a bunch of questions for us. They want me and Rob to explain the meaning of things like "riding shotgun." Sometimes they ask us the same questions year after year and I wonder if they are looking to catch us explaining things which we know nothing about.

Tokyo! and flea market sake

2008-03-29T19:46:00.010-05:00

Rulon-Miller Books exhibited at the Tokyo International Antiquarian book fair in March, so I made my sixth trip to Japan and Rob made his twenty-somethingth, probably close to thirtieth, trip. We arrived in Tokyo on the 8th and checked into the Hilltop Hotel, known as "the hotel with personality" and "the hotel to maintain health, probably the only hotel, which circulates oxygen and negative ions into the rooms for the guests to appreciate the refreshing atmosphere as of Karuizawa while in Tokyo." It was a nice change from our usual place, the New Otani, which I still get lost in after spending a total of about three months of my life there. The Hilltop was the tiniest bit threadbare, but it made up for that with an abundance of charm and it is near bookseller street as well.

We ignored jetlag and headed out early on the 9th to check out some flea markets. The first, at the International Forum, was disappointing. There were very few sellers and it seemed that many of them were selling new items. Still, the venture turned out not to be a complete failure because there was a section of food stalls and I found one selling what one of the salespeople called "farmer's sake." The lady in charge of the booth (pictured on the left) was able to speak a bit of English and explained to me that I shouldn't store the bottle on its side. She was right...there was a hole in the cap (which seemed to be there on purpose...so the bottle didn't explode??) with only a piece of paper under it, so I had a mini disaster in the mini bar. Unfortunately, I think I waited too long to drink this. It was a really thick, chunky sake and whenever I see something like that, I expect it to taste like a pina colada. This was very bitter, so much so that I think it had gone bad. Very fizzy too, which I thought was probably not unusual for fresh, farmer's sake.

The second flea market was bigger, but just as unsuccessful. There were quite a few kimono stalls, but the competition (mainly foreigners) was fierce so I stayed away.

Dinner the first night was at Yamano-ue, the famous tempura restaurant at the hotel. It turned out to be quite a treat. I had 2 fresh prawns ($15.00 each), asparagus, kiso (white fish) and sweet potato, which was served last because of the time it took to prepare the fist-sized vegetable. It was served with brandy and very tasty. The server was very sweet...Rob asked her a question and she said "yup," and Rob asked if she had been educated in Britain. She was very embarassed at having been caught being so informal with a customer, but I really liked her. She suggested the sake that I had with my meal, Tateyama (Toyama Prefecture) according to the notes she made for me. It was a very fine sake...light floral aroma with a taste almost like lightly flavored water. Rob tried it and said "smooth, easy, cherry."

What's hot and what's not

2008-01-09T12:17:00.001-06:00

A new list of what's hot and what's not was just published by the American Restaurant Association. Scroll down to page six to see alcoholic beverages and cocktails. It's a bit sad to see that sake ranks below energy drink cocktails and mojitos, but interesting that it's ahead of red, white and sparkling wine, vodka, tequila and rum. I found this link on Andrew Zimmern's food blog. He also posted this link to a youtube video of Kobayashi going up against a bear in a hotdog eating contest. It looks like it was an unfair competition!

Another Minneapolis event: December 5th

2007-11-13T21:14:00.001-06:00

DECEMBER 5th EVENT: SPARKLING AND SUSHI!

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

What : "Sushi & Champagne Tasting"
When : Wednesday December 5, 7-9pm
Price: $38
Where : Nami, Downtown Minneapolis at 241 1st Avenue North
(corner of 1st Ave North and 3rd Street)
Buy Tickets at tc-uncorked.org

Time once again for our annual "Sushi & Sparkling" event to get you into the holiday spirit! Swill a little sparkling wine and champagne and sample a bit of sushi and rolls from our good friends at Nami. We also hope to have a few sakis so you can try a sip of those as well. Join us and kick off the holiday season!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Cheers!
~ Pam, Toni, Tracie, Rachel, Tom, Lana, Kelly, Mark and Jonathan

Sake tasting dinner at Spill the Wine in Minneapolis

2007-11-06T09:15:00.000-06:00

This should be fun!

Sake Dinner
Presented by VinoSource, who will be sharing tasting notes on the wine for the evening and our Chef who will be discussing the food.
November 29th, 2007 | 7pm
$69/person (includes tax and gratuity)

Course One
Mango Crab Salad with Cucumber, Lime and Mint
tozai living jewel, kyoto

Course Two
Miso Tofu Soup
with Fish Stock and Green Onion
rihaku wandering poet, shimane

Course Three
Ribeye Carpacio
Thai Style, Green Papaya Red Curry
tentaka hawk in the heavens, tochigi

Course Four
Tuna Tataki
Black pepper and Pickled Ginger Rice
mukane root of innocence, osaka

Course Five
Green Tea Panacata
tozai snow maiden, kyoto

Go here to find out more about Spill the Wine and to register.

Oldtime saké rituals

2007-11-02T11:11:00.000-05:00

I was cataloguing a book today by a member of the Circumnavigators Club and I found an interesting description of saké drinking at a mid-1920s Geisha-Dinner Party. I like to think of all the men getting a little rambunctious and smashing sake cups into their heads! Here is the description:

The only wine consumed during the dinner was saké, and a few words regarding this are necessary.

In color, saké looks much like weak tea, and is always served hot in small shallow cups which hold about three table-spoonfuls. In taste it resembles hot sherry, and it is probable that its content of alcohol is about the same. All through the dinner saké was constantly being brought in and served to the guests. The customs surrounding its consumption are somewhat curious, and in brief are as follows:--

The first cup of wine is drunk by the guest of the evening. The host selects a cup, names the guest and says, “Dozo saké ippai onomu nasai” (Graciously condescend to imbibe a cupful of wine), at the same time touching the cup to his forehead and bowing toward the guest. The latter bows to his host, accepts the cup, touches it to his own forehead and holds it forward on the palm of his hand for the maid to fill, at the same time replying, “Arigato gozaimasu, itadakimasho,” (Thank you, I sure will). He drains the cup, rinses it out in a tureen of water which stands beside him, touches it to his forehead and returns it to his host with the request that he have one himself. Formalities satisfied, everyone else begs the privilege of a cup with the guest, and after him whomsoever he may fancy. To the uninitiated a word of caution: ‘Ware the cup that cheers in Japan, for the custom above outlined is easily capable of being carried beyond the realms of a joke, and in his desire to be polite one may learn that hot saké in sufficient quantities, and taken in small doses, “biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder.” Furthermore, saké does not behave well in mixed company.

JOHNSON, GEORGE A. The log of a circumnavigator being a series of informal narratives descriptive of a trip around the world. Boston: The Stratford Co. , 1927.

Trader Joe-san's Sake

2007-10-29T21:05:00.000-05:00

Sake at Trader Joe's...who knew? On a recent trip I found two varieties, a junmai ginjo and a sparkling sake. Here are the specs and my tasting notes on each:

Junmai Ginjo Premium Sake
Alcohol 14-15%
SMV +3 (medium dry)
Serving suggestion: Chilled
Texture: Soft and smooth
Pairing food: seafood and lightly grilled meats
Produced and bottled by Oimatsu Shuzo Co., Hita
Tasting notes: The scent is very pleasant, yeasty, and full of butterscotch. Taste is light and earthy, no fruits or sweetness at all.

Sparkling Sake
Alcohol 7%
Produced and bottled by Ume no Yado Brewery Co., Nara
Tasting notes: The aroma out of the bottle is ricey and fruity. The color is a creamy yellow and the bubbles are tiny and abundant. This was less sweet than the other sparkling sakes that I've had. I think I could confidently serve this to a skeptical champagne lover, while with something like Hou Hou Shu (which I love) I'd be worried it would be too sweet.

An aside...

2007-10-02T11:51:00.000-05:00

I was in Washington D.C. last week for the Rare Book School class Japanese Illustrated Books in the Edo Period, and I had the opportunity to have dinner at Citronelle. There was no sake served with my tasting menu (why not?!), but I thought the meal was worth mentioning here because it was so ridiculously delicious. I had the Promenade Gourmande tasting menu with the wine pairing:

PROMENADE GOURMANDE

AMUSE BOUCHE, egg surprise, tuna sausage, escargot crumble

Champagne A. Margaine, “Brut Premier Cru” Villers-Marmery

"A NEW VICHYSSOISE", potato flakes, leek milk

SOFT SHELL CRAB, corn risotto

Riesling Grand Cru “Rosacker”, Domaine Sipp-Mack 2004

ROCKFISH, vegetable pearls, lemon verbena emulsion

Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, “Les Gallimardes,” Domaine Giraud 2004

LOBSTER BURGER

Meursault, Domaine Sylvain Dussort 2004

VEAL, black angus steak, sweetbreads, morel sauce, asparagus

Gevrey-Chambertin, “Cuvee Pere Galland,” Domaine Jean-Michel Guillon 2003

SELECTION OF IMPORTED CHEESE

Shiraz, Mollydooker Wines, “The Boxer”, South Australia 2006

RASPBERRY VACHERIN

CHOCOLATE THREE WAYS

Banyuls, “Helyos”, Domaine Alain Reynaud 2002

PETITS FOURS

Well, the cost was quite shocking, but I have to say, I'm often disappointed by expensive, extravagant meals, but it wasn't the case with Citronelle. The food really was fantasy-like as was the service. I was dining alone and they gave me a wonderful table with a great view of the kitchen and I felt like they treated me like a princess. Maybe it's time to start saving up for my next trip to D.C., because I absolutely want to go back!

Rare sake tasting event in Minneapolis: a review

2007-08-03T10:49:00.000-05:00

In August there was a sake tasting at Zipps Liquors in Minneapolis, organized by Jason Kallsen of Twin Cities Wine and featuring sakes imported by JoTo Sake. Here is the official description of the event:

Hey everybody -- short notice here, but we just arranged for one of the top sake experts in the country to do an informal (but extraordinary) tasting of some of the best sakes available!

The importer is JoTo sake, run by a fellow named Henry Sidel (a Carleton grad to boot). JoTo Sake is a specialist in importing the smallest production, truly artisnal sakes available. Many of these sakes were only available in their local prefectures. Henry's new midwest manager, Midori Roth, is flying in from Chicago for this event.

More info on their portfolio can be found at www.jotosake.com

If you've ever been curious about sake, wondered how to 'talk the talk' at the sushi bar, and were curious just how good sake can be, this will be an event second to none!

Zipps Liquors
2618 Franklin Avenue East
Minneapolis , MN 55406
612-333-8686

The tasting was great fun and it was nice to meet the Joto representatives. The sakes we tasted were:
Shiichi Hon Yari Junmai
Taiheikai Tokubetsu Junmai
Kasumi Tsuru Yamahi Ginjo
Yuki No Bosha Junmai Ginjo
Kasumi Tsuru Kimoto Extra Dry
Yuki No Bosha Komachi Daiginjo
Watari Bune Junmai Daiginjo

And a few other sakes that Zipps carries:
Rihaku Tokubetsu Junmai
Wakatake Daiginjo
Hananomai Junmai Daiginjo
Mu Junmai Daiginjo
Hakutsuru Junmai Daiginjo

My favorites were the feminine, floral Shiichi Hon Yari Junmai and the velvety (yummy!) Yuki No Bosha Komachi Daiginjo.

Sake Samurai in Tokyo (nearly a year later!)

2007-03-26T11:34:00.000-05:00

On our first full day in Tokyo, we went to Sake Plaza, located in the Central Brewers' Union's Building in Shinbashi. This was fun, except for the fact that all of the information was in Japanese. Of course, I bought all the little sake booklets. Other purchases included a water pitcher and cups and a hydrometer to measure the smv (this is currently useless to me as I can't read the instructions). We also got sake calendars which apparently are much collected, something that sake lovers wait all year for. Upstairs there is a library with some nice exhibits, including big scrapbooks filled with sake bottle labels. The best part of the visit was finding out that later in the afternoon there would be a large sake tasting. There were about 325 sakes to taste and I did a pretty good job. Spread throughout the room were several spittoons which I laughed at at first, but by about the 5th sake I too was spitting like a pro. Mayu was with me and she is from Chiba, so we made a point of trying all the sake from Chiba. That was fun as it put a focus on the tasting that I otherwise wouldn't have achieved. All the tasters received an official "sake samurai" tasting cup, a very nice souvenir.

Nagasaki

2007-03-08T20:37:00.000-06:00

While visiting Nagasaki we stayed at a spa resort on Ioujima. Check out the iron kettles we sat in while looking out onto the harbor and the volcanic ash we COOKED in at the spa. We had dinner at the resort both nights, the first being a Healthy Meal, the highlight of which was collagen jelly and the second being an entire meal of various courses of fugu. We had fugu sashimi, fugu nabe, deep fried fugu and seared fugu. For this meal we brought the bottle of nama sake that I picked up from the mama-san in Osaka. I had a sake flight with the healthy meal, but, unfortunately, I didn't take notes.

In Nagasaki we visited the Atomic Bomb Museum and we all felt that the displays were much more graphic than those in Hiroshima. If you want to get a first-hand account of the day the bomb was dropped and its aftermath, you should read The Bells of Nagasaki by Takashi Nagai, a doctor who cared for the sick and dying while he was sick himself. It's very moving. Also (on a lighter note) the doctor advocated using sake for medicinal purposes:

"Rice wine, or sake, proved to be an excellent medicine. There were examples of dying persons being cured at the last moment by drinking a large quantity of their favorite sake."

Nagasaki is a sister city of St. Paul's and we were charmed to find a St. Paul Street and even a St. Paul parking garage!

Hiroshima

2007-03-08T12:45:00.000-06:00

On our final day in Osaka (way back in December), Mayu and I spent the afternoon at Spa Worl d where I contemplated sticking my feet in a pool swarming with minnows as this is supposed to be very relaxing. I chickened out at the last minute... Afterwards we met Rob at the station and left for Hiroshima.

We went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum which was very moving, although Mayu and I were still a little numb from visiting the Killing Fields and S-21 in Cambodia. Still, seeing melted bottles and iron shutters and children's burned school uniforms and charred lunch boxes was sobering. We found that in Hiroshima, as we would find in Nagasaki and as we had found in Cambodia, the residents were really concerned that the world remember what happened.

At our two meals in Hiroshima, we also found that the locals were very proud of their food and their jizake. On our first night we stopped a young couple on the street and Mayu asked if they knew of a good izakaya and they excitedly told us they had just had a great meal at one and they walked with us for several blocks to show us where it was. It was called Hina Matsuri (which is the Girl's festival on March 3rd). The chefs were so happy to have us there. I must say, everyone loves Mayu and she makes friends very easily, luckily for us! We ate tuna, octopus, sardine and yellowtail sashimi, grilled Japanese smelt, agadashi tofu, fried chicken, yakitori, and we were presented by the chef with Hiroshima style ozoni (a mochi in soup) that is usually only eaten on New Years Day. We asked for Hiroshima sake and were given Ugo no Tsuki, about which John Gauntner has this to say:

Ugo no Tsuki, or "the moon after rain," is among Hiroshima's finest. It has a soft and melting quality, perhaps better closer to room temperature than chilled, as a well-grounded sweetness and several ripe fruit essences become apparent. Clean and light. You don't need to go as far as a daiginjo, either. Ugo no Tsuki also makes a fine tokubetsu junmai that is similar but perhaps more sturdy and less airy.

I've found that I can get it in the U.S., so it's on my list of things to get...it'll be nice to partially relive that special meal.

The next day we went to Miyajima Island and visited the floating torii, the wild yet tame deer, and the streets full of cute shops. We stopped at a tiny restaurant and had tonkatsu, chicken and rice and fried oysters and lots of beer. For the ferry ride back to the mainland, we bought momiji manju which are maple shaped sweets.

Our dinner that night was actually one of the highlights of the trip for me. Mayu used her amazing skills to hunt down an out of the way izakaya called Shikon (shi = lion; kon = spirit or soul). A trio of young people owned and operated the restaurant and they were thrilled to find out that I was interested in sake and very proud of Hiroshima sake. Miho said that her favorite sake was Biho, brewed by a lady brewer also named Miho. There apparently is some connection between the characters for mi and bi which is why Miho named her sake Biho. I only realized after I got home that this is the same brewery that makes Moon on the Water which I can buy right here in Minneapolis.

Our Miho suggested that we go to Chokotto, a local sake bar, and she actually walked us there and stayed and had a few drinks with us. The snacks were delicious: pickled eggplant, daikon radish, Hiroshima greens, roasted ginko nuts. We were also served an extraordinary water that a local brewery used for it's sake and Miho explained to us how important water is while drinking sake. She said we should take a sip of water between every sip of sake. We left Chokotto very satiated and with new friends and a poster showing Hiroshima sake labels.

Sorry, but I love Cute Overload...

2007-02-23T23:02:00.000-06:00

Cats like sake too!

More Japan

2007-01-08T20:55:00.000-06:00

[By the way, this was Thursday, November 30th]

In Osaka we stayed at Inn Ishihashi, my first time at a ryokan! This place was inexpensive and conveniently located near Osaka station. The proprietors were so nice and seemed happy to have a western girl stay with them (especially since I had Mayu to teach me how to put on and take off my slippers and such!).

We arrived last night and walked around a bit. We stopped in at Takashimaya and looked over their sake selection. I picked two sparkling sake (shown in the picture) and a nice shop lady noticed and told me that the next day they were expecting their shipment of sparkling Suzune (made by Ichinokura of Miyagi Prefecture), a sake that is made in limited numbers and only available around this time of year. So, today we went back and picked up a bottle (as of today, February 5th, I haven't had a chance to drink it. I'm waiting for my friend Sally who I'm going to share it with. I'll report back.)

We had a really great meal at a small izakaya. They had their own nama sake, which they served out of a giant glass jug. The chef scooped the sake out of the jug into a bowl and then we served ourselves from the bowl.

The sake was extraordinary as was the food. After the meal, the mama-san brought Mayu and me upstairs to see the sake tank. I didn't really understand the setup completely. I think they said that they used to be a sakagura, but they weren't doing enough business, so they opened an izakaya downstairs and an Italian restaurant upstairs. It was a rare opportunity and again, I never would have experienced it without Mayu's help.

First day in Japan: shopping, sake, hot springs...

2007-01-06T16:31:00.000-06:00

"An old, but tasteful environment
feel comfortable space surrounded by
the attached furnitures and dishes.
Well, you will taste delicious dishes
you have never had tonight."

That was the promise on the brochure of Tofuro, what I took to be a "chain" izakaya in Chiba, Japan (I think it was a chain and I think it was in Chiba. Details were fuzzy on this entire trip and I feel too guilty to ask Mayu to spend hours translating for me - if anyone can tell what that sake was from the photo, please let me know!)

The day started with shopping. I bought the first of many sake cups on this trip at Sogo. These aren't my usual style, but I thought they were interesting and I hadn't seen anything like them before.

We had dinner at Tofuro and followed up with baths at Lapis Lazuli badenroom. I love onsen. The few that I have been to seem to have a few things in common: several baths of varying temperatures, some inside, some outside; a place to buy refreshments; an area with lounger chairs, usually with big screen televisions. This is one thing that I have never understood. You go to the baths, have a massage, get completely relaxed...and then go to a lounge area to watch loud, crazy t.v.? Well, obviously, that is the height of relaxation for many people. I still love onsen. I've been to two previously, La Qua in Tokyo near the dome and another in Yamanashi, but this was the first time I had a female friend along with me to explain all the intricate rituals and manners expected at onsen. I was amazed at how much I must have offended on my first two visits! Oh well, I take it that Japanese expect gaijin to make endless faux pas...

Before I get back to saké... Sophie and Patrick's wedding

2006-12-19T20:03:00.000-06:00

It's been over a month (way over a month) since I last posted and I feel completely overwhelmed at the thought of catching up. So, I'm going to start out with a short off-topic, photo-heavy post on Sophie and Patrick's wedding in Cambodia.

A Cambodian wedding traditionally lasts three days, but this one was shortened to only two days...and about fifteen outfit changes! Sophie was so beautiful it was ridiculous, especially considering she was operating on barely any sleep. Well, a picture is worth a thousand words...

___________________

Sparkling sake re-tasting

2006-11-10T16:07:00.000-06:00

Sparkling sake re-tasting

I tricked some unsuspecting friends into being sake guinea pigs recently with a surprise re-tasting of Harushika Tokimeki "Palpitation of Sake" sparkling sake. Pat and Sally gamely tried the sake one evening when I am certain they were expecting to relax with either a glass of red wine or a beer. The guinea pigs turned out to be excellent tasters. Below are their comments:

Sally: sparkling pear juice, pears, banana, good with foie gras, delicious

Pat: fruity, disconnect between the smell and the taste, smells like dirty socks [ed: hmmmm]

Rob: should be on the rocks

I was just as pleased with this bubbly as the first time I tried it.

(Harushika Tokimeki “Palpitation of Sake” sparkling junmai sake, SMV –80, acidity 5.5)

Available at True Sake, $14/300 ml

You should get this book!

2006-11-02T17:13:00.000-06:00

If you are interested in sake, you really should get the new book, "What to drink with what you eat (the definative guide to pairing food with wine, beer, spirits, coffee, tea - even water - based on expert advice from America's best sommeliers)." The authors, Andrew Dornenburg & Karen Page, have done an excellent job of bringing together experts on all drinks, including sake. The exciting thing for us is that Paul Tanguay of Sushi Samba and the sake web site Of Rice and Zen, along with several other sake afficianados, has contributed many comments.

Here's how the book works: first there is some introductory information including general food and drink pairing rules. Next there is a section that lists nearly any food you can think of, including cuisines such as Thai, occasional food such as Christmas foods, and shockers such as White Castle hamburgers, Domino's pizza, and Kit Kat candy bars. While flipping through this section, you might run into an entry such as the one for oysters, which offers several sommeliers opinions (sometimes widely varying) on pairing. Another section lists drinks alphabetically and for me, of course, the most interesting section is sake. Under sake there are subcategories, such as "general," aged, daiginjo, ginjo, etc. Under each of these are lists of foods that are recommended for pairing, those that are highly recommended and foods to avoid. There are only about three pages on sake in particular, but you will be surprised by how much information is packed onto those pages. One thing that I really love is reading notes by the sommeliers. Sometimes they completely contradict each other, but that is what we have all been learning about tasting - everyone's taste is unique.

Scattered throughout the book are recipes from famous chefs, all sorts of food and drink pairing and serving tips and plenty of gorgeous photos. At the back are examples of pairing menus from some great American restaurants (including Kai, one of my favorite New York restaurants), "desert island lists" from some of America's leading beverage experts, and a sample tasting sheet for you to copy and use.

You can get the book at amazon for about $23.00, which, I am telling you, is a steal. You should get it!

International Virtual Sake Tasting

2006-10-28T10:38:00.000-05:00

International Virtual Sake Tasting October 2006

The Sake Diaries joined with Melinda at Tokyo through the drinking glass, Tim at Urbansake.com, and Etsuko at Tokyofoodcast in what might be the first Virtual Sake Tasting ever held. The plan was simple. We picked a date, chose sake that was available to all of us, and gathered some friends together for our tastings. Each of us will report on our group’s tasting on our respective blogs. Special thanks go to Tim who created our attractive tasting sheets and who, along with Melanie, who did the bulk of the planning.

We picked four sakes that we would all taste and decided that we would each pick a fifth “wildcard,” which would be tasted by our group alone.

Our sakes:

Shirakawago Sasanigori
Rihaku Wandering Poet”
Tamanohikari Omachi junmai daiginjo
Urakasumi “Zen” junmai ginjo
and my wild card
Nipponia Nippon junmai

None of these sakes were available for me locally, but that is the greatness of the internet and also modern day travel. The Shirakawago Sasanigori, Tamanohkari Omachi, and Urakasumi I got at True Sake on my recent trip to San Francisco, Nipponia Nippon I got in Tokyo on my trip there in June, and the Rihaku I ordered from Sherry-Lehmann over the internet.

sake tasting at Saji Ya with yummy treats

For my tasting it was me, Rob, Mayu, Lauren, Mia and Nate. We decided to hold the tasting at Saji Ya for several reasons, not least of which is the food, including the special "rock star roll" that sushi chef Manny makes for us.

Now for the fun part: the tasting! There were two clear favorites of the night. The Nipponia Nippon “won” the tasting with 4 of us choosing this as our favorite. The second place winner was the Urakasumi “Zen” which Mayu and I chose.

Taking notes

Each sake was graded on a scale of 1 to 10 on the following parameters:

Overall rating 1-10
No Nose 1 – Fragrant 10
Sweet 1 – Dry 10
Simple 1 – Complex 10
Quick Finish 1 – Lingering 10

Here are the averages for each sake:

Shirakawago Sasanigori (Alc 15.3%, smv +0, acidity 1.5, polishing rate 60%)
This milky offering produced widely varying opinions from the tasters. I personally wasn't crazy about it and almost wondered if our bottle had gone bad...
Overall: 4.3
No nose to fragrant: 5.2
Sweet to Dry: 6.2
Simple to Complex: 6.5
Quick finish to Lingering: 6.2
Comments: "Wrong; medicinal or cleaning product," "tastes like clay," "excellent unfiltered variety; surprisingly sublte, floral," "chemical," "chalky, sour."

Rihaku "Wandering Poet” (Alc 15.2%, smv +3, acidity 1.6, polishing rate 55%)
I thought this was a nice, light, but well-rounded sake.
Overall: 5.2
No nose to fragrant: 4
Sweet to Dry: 3.7
Simple to Complex: 3.3
Quick finish to Lingering: 4.5
Comments: "Quiet, light; dry start, slightly sweeter middle, dry finish; high acid," "easy to drink, butterscotch," "great aroma; nice finish, easy to drink; sweet," "an 'everyman's' sake; would appeal to the masses, middle of the road fruit," "very smooth."

Tamanohikari Omachi junmai daiginjo (Alc 16.2%, smv +3.5, acidity 1.7, polishing rate 48%)
Maybe tied with Nipponia Nippon for my second choice.
Overall: 5.5
No nose to fragrant: 5.2
Sweet to Dry: 5.8
Simple to Complex: 5.8
Quick finish to Lingering: 6
Comments: "Dry, acid, light; light fruit at the middle and end; nose = cinnamon," "grassy; not a favorite; chocolate-ish; butane," "starts with sweet flavor; finish is dry, crisp."

Urakasumi “Zen” junmai ginjo (Alc 15.5%, smv +1, acidity 1.3, polishing rate 50%)
I had this before at Sakagura in New York and at the time, I felt that it was overwhelmed by the food I was eating with it. I'm glad that I had the chance to try it again...it was my favorite of the night!
Overall: 6.8
No nose to fragrant: 4.7
Sweet to Dry: 5.2
Simple to Complex: 6.2
Quick finish to Lingering: 6.8
Comments: "Fruit; melon; savory," lots of flavors; very fruity," "strong notes of licorice," "black licorice."

Nipponia Nippon junmai
According to the brewer: "Beautiful red color comes from ancient rice that is partially used to brew. Perfect balance of sweetness and acidity." The man behind the bar at the Ginza Fukumitsuya said this is light and smooth and tastes like rose wine.
Overall: 7.8
No nose to fragrant: 4.3
Sweet to Dry: 5.3
Simple to Complex: 5
Quick finish to Lingering: 6
Comments: "Sweet, fruit, apple juice," "no nose; maybe raspberry? stawberry? fruity," "very fruity; a little bit of Japanese plum flavor," "fabulous, super sweet, but not overwhelming."

The tasters with their favorite sakes:

Rob: Nipponia Nippon

Lauren: Nipponia Nippon

Mayu: Urakasumi "Zen"

Nate: Nipponia Nippon

Mia: Nipponia Nippon

Valerie: Urakasumi "Zen"

Our tasting was pretty casual and we relied heavily on Tim's tasting sheet which we really appreciated, especially as the evening progressed and our note taking tapered off a bit. Overall, the evening was a great success and we hope to participate in similar tastings in the future. The most important thing is that we all had a lot of fun and learned a lot.

Rob and Valerie – a successful tasting

Saké in Seattle: Umi Sake House

2006-10-19T13:41:00.000-05:00

While in Seattle, I was advised to stop by Umi Saké House and I'm glad that I did. According to their website, "Umi is a sophisticated twist on the Japanese Izakaya style of informal eating and drinking. The design of the restaurant mirrors a Japanese country house, including a “front” and “back” porch." The atmosphere is great and the saké list is even better.

There were about 55 sakés offered by the bottle and 8 offered by the glass. I decided to try the Nanbu Bijin Junmai Ginjo ("Southern Beauty," Iwate Prefecture, smv +1) and I enjoyed it so much, I had a second glass. At the end of the meal, I had a small bottle of Zipang sparkling saké. I'm a fan of sparkling saké and I really liked this, which was very light with an apple candy nose, a quick finish and tiny bubbles. Rob took a sip and said, "Oh. 7-Up." To each his own... I left him to his mega can of Asahi.

I love Japanese restaurants that serve food "izakaya" style, just as I love tapas and any shared plates, really. The menu at Umi is pretty extensive with sushi and sashimi, some creative rolls and a large selection of "appetizers." The meal started out right with a small dish of edamame that Umi brought to the table to get things going. Rob and I had black cod marinated in saké for three days, toro su-miso (tuna in a nice miso vinagrette), Spanish mackerel, yellowtail, salmon and a 1st Avenue roll (. The roll was really too big and we regretted ordering it as we were too full after it to order some other things we wanted to try. My favorite was the black cod in it's sweet marinade. Yum!

If you are in Seattle and you love saké, you must go to Umi Saké Lounge. You will be happy that you did!

Saké Day Part Two

2006-10-14T10:16:00.000-05:00

Saké Day Part Two, A recap of Nihonshu no Hi

True Sake hosted their second annual Sake Day celebration at Fort Mason this past October 1st and I'm happy that I had the opportunity to be there and join in the festivities. See the Sake Day website for details and great photos.

The fun started at the registration table as we signed in and picked our colored necklaces (mine was red!). Being a True Sake newsletter devotee, I knew that later in then evening there would be drawing and the color of your necklace would determine which of four sakés you would be trying. The welcoming reception was great - outside the Firehouse with a view of Alcatraz along with live music, we were served Chikurin Karoyaka "Bamboo Forest," a newly imported saké from Okayama Prefecture (Junmai Ginjo milled to 50%, smv +3, acidity 1.40). It was delicious and Beau Timken was a gracious host, keeping glasses filled. I tried to be restrained because I knew what lie ahead...

Inside we were seated and Beau offered a few words of wisdom. After reading his newsletters, I thought he seemed like a nice, funny, sincere, obsessed man. In person his truly big personality shines. He's very witty, very fun and very enthusiastic (but not stuffy) in his passion for saké. If this man can't bring saké to the American masses, no one can. He started the evening off with a raffle and my table won 2 bottles of Karen Coy (smv -23, acidity 2.9, alcohol 10-11%) which we dove right into to get things going.

I loved the way the evening was set up. Dinner courses (catered by Mari's Catering) along with accompanying saké were brought out one at a time, yet the dinner was casually paced and people were free to get up throughout the meal to visit the four saké stations set up at the back of the room and in a side room. The menu included:

Assorted nigiri sushi (maguro, unagi, salmon with yuzu tobiko, escalore with wasabi tobiko) and an-kimo (steamed monk fish liver in lemon cups with lemony ponzu)
*Shirataki Jozen Mizunogotoshi "Pure flavor" Tokubetsu Junmai from Niigata Prefecture (smv -1, acidity 1.4). Very clean in the typical Niigata style with a quick finish.

Noshi-dori (baked chicken) served with teriyaki sauce and tomato basil sauce, asparagus served with vinegar miso
*Takenotsuyu "Bamboo tears" Junmai from Yamagata Prefecture (smv 2, acidity 1.4). Less sweet; savory

Bacon wrapped shrimp in Nigori (sake) cream sauce, wasabi mashed potatoes
*Tsukasabotan "Tosa Space Sake" Junmai Ginjo from Koichi Prefecture (smv +5, acidity 1.5). This course was dubbed "Pigs in Space" by Beau who had this to say about the saké: "This sake was made using ingredients from outer space. Well sort of, in fact, it was made with brewing yeast that was sent to space on a Russian rocket. Did zero gravity have any effect? You make the call on this dry Ginjo that has a nose filled with steamed rice, whipping cream and green veggies tones. Think dry 0 as this celestial sake is clean, soft and shimmering with an overall dry earthiness that hides a hint of dry fruit elements. As close to the sake gods as one can get..."

Deep fried tilapia, peppers, and onions marinated in spicy vinegar, steamed stuffed daikon
*Narutotai "Beau-shu" Nama Ginjo Genshu from Tokushima Prefecture (smv +5, acidity 1.7). This was one of my favorite sakes - it comes in a can! but it tastes FRESH.

Beef marinated in miso and sake, edamame rice, Japanese pickles, Japanese custard
*Masumi "Yamahai Tsukuri" "Autumn Yamahai" Yamahai Junmai Ginjo from Nagano Prefecture (smv +2, acidity 1.8)

Sake creme brulee topped with sake blueberry sauce, green tea with gold flakes

The saké stations were all about testing your saké tasting skills.

Saké Station #1 was "Name that sake" and you were given 3 brews by a True Sake favorite brewery, Irakasumi. We tasted a Junmai, a Junmai Ginjo, and a Junmai Dai Ginjo. Despite receiving (from a mysterious, guru-type man) the excellent advice to "think of a fresh, clear, running stream" when thinking about the Junmai Dai Ginjo, I got all of these wrong! Well, I wasn't the only one and I got to this station at the very end of the evening - that's my excuse. I want another chance!

Saké Station #2 was called "Sake experiment" and here we got to play a "sake scientist" and discover how saké degrades over time. We tasted 2 sets of saké that had been inadvertently aged (meaning that the brewer intended that these saké be drunk fresh) and, to make it a bit more interesting, two of the saké had been opened on Sake Day 2005, exactly one year ago. So, we had:

Daishichi Kimoto Honjozo 1999
Daishichi Kimoto Honjozo 1999 - opened in 2005
Daishichi Kimoto Honjozo 2000
Daishichi Kimoto Honjozo 2000 - opened in 2005

I think I may have noticed more similarity in the saké opened last year than others. I definitely felt that you could see the relationship there. Others thought the saké opened in 2005 was really off, some were even a bit disgusted by it. I mainly thought it tasted flatter and sweeter. What the hell, no one got sick. This means don't throw out that saké that you opened last month and then forgot about before you give it a try... I didn't hear anyone really complain about the 1999 and 2000 sake that hadn't been opened, so, although the taste likely changed greatly from what the brewer had intended, old saké can still be worth drinking.

Saké Station #3 was a "Blind Tasting." At this station, six bottles were offered and everyone was told to choose their favorite. Another bit of fun: two of the sakés were the same! I did this station early in the evening and I was able to correctly guess the two identical sakés.

Saké Station #4 was called "Madhouse Sake" and it offered three sakés that were called "a little bit crazy." First was a Junmai Dai Ginjo that was left in a True Sake window for 5 months and a bottle of the same saké that had been stored properly. To me the exposed saké had an off smell and tasted similar, but lighter. Next, we tried a Kikusakari Gekkakow "vintage" saké which was aged by the brewery for 3 years. Finally, were tried a sparkling saké from Okunomatsu. This was made for Formula One racers to spray on each other in the victory circle at the Japanese Formula One races. I liked this light, bubbly saké.

And finally, "The Necklace Finale." Everyone would get a final saké, but which one would it be??

Kamenokou 17 milled to 17% $850/bottle
Kakunko milled to 27% $150/bottle
Dassai milled to 23% $70/bottle
Fu-Ki $4.95/bottle

I had a red necklace and I was a first runner up with the Kakunko. This was phenomenally delicious and I would definitely buy some of this for a special occasion. A highlight of the evening came when my wonderful tablemate David offered me not one, but TWO SIPS of his first prize Kamenokou. I must admit that I looked at David and asked "is it worth it?" I can't quote exactly what he said, but he reminded me that saké is more than just a bottle of alcohol with a price and more than a "good" or "bad" taste. Whether a saké is "good" is determined by a combination of the love and care that the brewer put into making it, the personal tastes of the taster, the occasion at which you drink it and the people who you drink it with. So, yes, this sake was worth $850 a bottle.

Saké Day Part One

2006-10-02T18:32:00.000-05:00

A day full of saké plus something from yesterday that I forgot.

Well, I didn't really forget, I merely neglected to mention because it wasn't in my saké notebook. True Sake! First of all, either tales of parking woes are exaggerated or we were very lucky to get a spot within a couple blocks. The storefront is narrow, so it might be easy to miss if driving by, but we found our way and I was not dissapointed. There were several customers in the store and the workers were so friendly. I had a list of a few specific sakés that I needed to find and they led me right to them. Then I spent time just looking at every bottle and every description. I bought several bottles and might have bought more if not for the current restrictions on liquids in carryon bags for air trips. Also not to be missed is the gorgeous collection of saké-related glassware. I was happy to find the hammered glass cups that I saw in Beau's book "Sake: A Modern Guide."

Thanks to my friend Rick, later in the afternoon I was able to get to Berkeley and to Takara Sake USA. The highlight of the visit, besides the generous, free tasting, was the museum. It was a great opportunity to put good visual images to alot of the things I've read about the history of saké making.

Takara's web site says:

The Museum features items and displays of interest to both experts and the general public. It includes an exhibit of the historical saké-making process, saké artifacts and implements collected by Takara Sake USA, and a history of saké-making in America. The collection is the only one of its kind in the U.S.A.

They have a very useful diagram illustrating the process of saké making in the 19th century with items which the museum owns an example of conveniently labeled. They also have a similar example of this on their site.

I was excited when I saw several old books. Unfortunately, they mainly consisted of old brewery ledgers with no illustrations.

As for the tasting, they have a menu for the day listing the daily available choices. I lost track of how many sakés I tried because when the friendly lady behind the counter found out that I was very interested in saké "just for fun," she became very generous and let me try the majority of the items on the menu plus a few other things.

Some things that I tried with a few comments:

Sho Chiku Bai nama
Sho Chiku Bai organic nama (superfresh, alive, green)
Sho Chiku Bai nigori creme de sake (creamy, white chocolate liqueur, thick)
Sho Chiku Bai nigori (thinner than creme de sake, sweet, pina colada)
Sho Chiku Bai Tokubetsu Junmai (sharp but smooth, prominant alcohol taste)
Shirakabe Gura (tokubetsu junmai, imported)
Sho Chiku Bai Ginjo
Takara Sierra Cold
Plus a plum wine and several flavored sakes (fuji apple, lychee, raspberry, and plum)

Sake Day Part Two (a description of the True Sake Nihonshu no Hi festival!) will follow shortly.

San Francisco Saké Vacation, Part 2

2006-10-02T18:16:00.000-05:00

I decided to pass by saké for lunch today because I was reminded of another true love...dim sum at Yank Sing. I believe that I could have ordered saké at Yank Sing, but I didn't even consider it. Green tea seems to be called for with dim sum. We had Shanghai dumplings (yum!!), bbq pork buns, ha gau, pork shu mai and who knows what else.

I made up for a sakéless lunch with dinner at Hana Zen. This is a wonderful place to try saké as the menu is quite respectable, the staff is very friendly and knowledgeable, and they seem excited that you are interested in saké. The saké menu is very helpful with pictures of the labels of each sake and good descriptions. My friend and I decided to share two saké flights, the junmai daiginjo set and one of two junmai ginjo sets. Our server showed us where in the menu we could find the descriptions of the sakés in our sets and made a point of asking our opinions on all of them. I've marked my favorites with an *.

Junmai daiginjo flight ($24.00): Kubota Manjyu (served room temp), Kubota Hekijyu* (served room temp), Kanchiku

Junmai ginjo flight ($18.00): Suigei*, Dassai, Kikusui

After Hana Zen, we were reluctant to declare the night over, so we walked around downtown a bit and decided to have a drink at the bar at Farallon. They have a great wine list which includes one saké, Kanbara "Bride of the Fox" junmai ginjo $10.50/glass. I had a glass, which may or may not (ok, NOT) have been a good pairing with their Cinnamon Apple Cake. I've had Kanbara before and liked it and the Apple Cake was extraordinary. A good example of when two rights make a wrong!

San Francisco Saké Vacation, Part 1

2006-09-30T10:53:00.000-05:00

I love San Francisco. I lived there for a year and was sad to leave and I'm very happy any time I get to visit. So, when I heard that on October 1st, True Sake would be celebrating Nihonshu no Hi (Saké Day), I bought a ticket and booked my flight. My plan was to stay for a few days and try some new saké every day.

On Friday, my first day in town, I managed to try five different sakés. Really, I was on a mission during this trip and I wasn't going to let silly thoughts such as, "should I really be drinking this early in the day??" slow me down.

The House
The House is in a nice little space right at the edge of Chinatown and North Beach. They offer only one saké by the glass, but it's a good one. I've had enough saké now (but I'm still unfamiliar enough with Japanese) that I am having a pretty difficult time keeping saké names straight. I didn't recognise Meibo "Yowanotsuki" junmai ginjo, which is also known as "Midnight Moon." When I got back to my computer and put two and two together I was excited because I knew that I had a bottle at home in my refrigerator. Something to look forward to! I was happy to make the discovery because I really like this saké. The aroma is pleasant with a bit of floral, the taste was clean with prominent apple throughout and a tart finish. It seems to be a good choice to match with a variety of foods, therefore not a bad choice for a restaurant to offer if they are only going to offer one by the glass. I had the white shrimp and Chinese chive dumplings which came with a tart, tangy sauce and the deep fried salmon roll with Chinese hot mustard. The House also offered a 750 ml bottle of San Pellagrino for $4.00 which I could hardly believe. Most places charge $4.00 for the little bottles.

Meibo junmai ginjo
Rice: Yamadanishiki polished to 50%
SMV +2
Alcohol 15.8%
Acidity 1.5
Amino Acid: 1.2

Ozumo
Later that night, I had a wonderful meal at Ozumo. This evening truly brought home to me the difference between "drinking" saké and "tasting" saké. At the beginning of the meal I wrote in my notebook: "Wakatake Daiginjo Onikoroshi (Demon Slayer) 'beautifully sound, round and alluring saké with a silky texture and slight sweetness stemming...'" The quote is from the menu and I didn't even finish writing the quote and that was it for the night. I was there with an old friend and the saké was flowing and, really, taking notes or even thinking logically about aromas and tastes was far from my mind. Well, I don't regret it. I can sort of recreate the evening from the itemized check: butternut squash miso soup, miso soup, bluefin sashimi, hamachi sashimi, spider roll, ikura sushi, Voss sparkling water, 1 glass Wakatake daiginjo, 1 glass Kamoizumi daiginjo, 1 glass Dewa 33, 1 glass Dewazakura Oka.

Dewa 33 & Dewazakura Oka specifics (also see True Sake's newsletter of April '06 for a good writeup of both):

Dewa 33
Polishing rate 50%
SMV +4
Alcohol 15.8%
Acidity 1.4

Dewazakura Oka "Cherry Bouquet"
Polishing rate 50%
SMV +5
Alcohol 15.5%
Acidity 1.2

Wakatake daiginjo (I later realized that this saké was recommended by one of my tablemates at Sake Day as his anytime saké and a brief search of the internet for other people's opinions shows that many others agree)
Polishing rate ?
SMV +/-0
Acidity 1.4

Kamoizumi daiginjo
Polishing rate ?
SMV 1.5
Acidity 1.2

Sakagura

2006-09-14T20:18:00.000-05:00

Mask hung on ceiling

A huge thanks to Tim at urbansake.com for his recommendation of the extraordinary Sakagura! I had one night in New York last week and I wanted to make the most of it. Sakagura delivered more than I expected. The saké menu is so large, it is truly overwhelming. I decided right away to put myself in our server's hands and I wasn't disappointed. This man was very knowledgeable and willing to spend time helping me find just the thing that I would love (unfortunately, I didn't get his name). When I let him know that I was open to his suggestions, he recommended that I start with a Junmai Daiginjo and I agreed. He asked me if I liked dry or sweet saké and I asked for something slightly dry. He brought 2 bottles to the table for me to taste, Daiten Shiragiku and Nanbu Bijin. I might have liked the Nanbu Bijin better, but I was intrigued by the extreme strawberry aroma of the Daiten Shiragiku ($15/glass). It was served in a stemless glass that was the same shape as my Reidel sake glasses, only a bit smaller. The taste was sweet and smooth with a bit of fruit.

Next, we decided that I should move on to a Junmai Ginjo. The server again brought two bottles to the table and I choose Urakasumi Zen [SMV +1; Polishing rate 50%; alcohol 15-15.9%; acidity 1.3; amino acids 1.3; rice Toyonishiki]. ($17/glass). This was delicious, but it was served just as the Tori Karaage (deep fried chicken chunks marinated in saké and ginger infused soy sauce) arrived at the table. I think the saké was a little too subtle to stand up the chicken. Rob asked the server if there was significance to the use of different glasses the saké was served in. Yes! said the server. The daiginjo would have a somewhat more subtle fragrance and the glass was designed to concentrate the fragrance.

The server asked if I wanted to try a third saké - why, yes! Usually I'm not a heavy drinker, but I had decided that I was going to try as many sakés as I reasonably could. Server said maybe I should consider something a bit more unique. He suggested a yamahi (see John Gauntner's site for a good explanation of the process for making yamahai saké). I choose Kikuhime [SMV +1, acidity 1.8] ($9/glass). This had the bold, savory, ricey aroma which I love. A rich, yummy saké.

I decided that I was going to finish the meal with an aged saké. The aged sakés were offered by the bottle, carafe, glass and tasting. We ordered a tasting of the Daruma Masamune (a blend of 1972, '82, '84, and '89 pure rice sakés at $17/tasting) and a glass of Hanahato (aged 8 years for $8/glass). Both sakés were a striking amber color. The Daruma Masamune was described on the menu as "dramatic" and Rob called it "challenging." I agreed with him, which isn't to say that I didn't enjoy it. It was full-bodied and a bit sweet. The Hanahato (SMV-44, polishing rate 65%, acidity 3.5) was strong and complex with a slightly sweeter aroma and taste than the Daruma Masamune. The aged sakés were a great way to end a fabulous meal.

On top of the mind-blowing saké menu, Sakagura offers some very tasty food options. The menu featured mostly Izakaya-style snacks or small plates. Besides the tori karaage, we had gindara yuan yak (grilled cod), toro sashimi (the most delicious thing we ate), agedashi tofu, goma ae (extraordinary spinach salad in sesame dressing), yuba shumai, maguro tartare with caviar, and the dessert for 2 which comprised of pineapple sorbet, a chocolate souffle with raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream (served on a plate with 2 other treats which I can't remember), chocolate chip cookies and Sakagura's signature green tea truffles (yum!). It sounds like a decadent meal, and it was in a way, but one of the things that I love about Japanese food is that I never seem to feel overfull afterwards. I bought two boxes of black sesame shochu truffles to go, one for Mayu, who was watching our house, and one for me. Wow! They were so strong - I ate two of them in the car while I was driving and I was worried that I might be pulled over for DUI. Delicious!

This was one of the most fun evenings that I've had dining out, certainly the most fun since I discovered saké. Sakagura is saké heaven. I can't wait to go back - our next business trip to NYC isn't till next April - maybe I will have to take a couple vacation days!

Full moon viewing with Root of Innocence

2006-09-07T22:10:00.000-05:00

Usually I'm not aware of the phases of the moon, but I now realize that a full moon is an excellent excuse for moon viewing and saké drinking! For the last full moon (September 7th) Rob and I opened a bottle of Mukune, "Root of Innocence." So delicious! First thing I noticed in the aroma was a bit of fruit and butterscotch. The taste was full with a huge flavor of butterscotch and some mellon at the end. I loved this saké (even though, along with the moon, it inspired some very bad poetry) .

SMV 55%
Polishing rate +2
Acidity 1.8
Alcohol 16%

_

A lucky find in South Bend

2006-09-02T16:32:00.000-05:00

We checked into our hotel late on a Sunday night in South Bend, Indiana, and were told that we would be lucky if the Applebees was open - apparently, most places close early here. Imagine how happy we were to find Japanese steakhouse Mikado on our drive to Applebees. Well, I don't know...anything is better than Applebees...we were excited.

The menu listed one saké: "hotsaké" for $4.50. I ordered a beer. But, I noticed what looked like saké bottles lined up on the unmanned sushi bar, so I got up to see what they had and found that they had a bottle of Ozeki dry saké. You must understand, this was 9:00 on Sunday night in South Bend, Indiana. This was a hugely happy discovery for me.

Actually, I didn't really have any complaints. The food was good. We ordered age dashi tofu (my favorite), gyoza, and I had the "tempura deluxe" which came with miso soup, salad, and (strangely) a bowl of fried rice. The tempura was good, crisp and light with shrimp, sweet potatoes, green beans, mushrooms and onions presented on a cute (although plastic) sushi boat. Ozeki dry saké seemed to compliment this "late-night" meal just fine.

SMV: +8
acidity: 1.3
alcohol: 14.5%

Mikado
402 Dixieway N.
South Bend, IN 46637
574-272-2535

Saké in Chicago: Meiji

2006-09-02T16:31:00.000-05:00

We were headed to Chicago for a book fair and, of course, I wanted to find a fun place to drink saké. I wrote to the Chicago Chowhounds board and someone enthusiastically recommended Meiji.

I went there with three friends, one a fellow saké drinker. We ordered by the glass because we wanted to taste as many sakés as possible. I happen to like slightly sweeter sakés and my friend Al prefers them more dry and the waiter gave reasonable recommendations based on this.

First I tried the Karen "Coy" junmai ($12/glass). This was actually way too sweet for me. I haven't found the SMV on this, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was -60. Still, I would love to get my hands on the label. It's so pretty: as Tim at urbansake.com says, "the über-pink bottle perfectly captures the taste." He awards it his Golden Masu for "Biggest Barbie Wannabe" and I couldn't agree more. [Update! This just in: I happily found the September issue of True Sake's newsletter in my inbox today and found a nice review of Karen Coy by guest reviewer Mark Bright. His review along with True Sake's tasting notes actually sound so tempting, I now want to give this saké a second chance! Also, nb: SMV -23, acidity 2.9, alcohol 10%.]

Al ordered the Masumi junmai ($8/glass) and this was the hands down favorite of the night. With an SMV of +3 it was dry, but not too dry for my taste. I wish that I could do it justice with a description, but, unfortunately, I only got a sip of it.

Next I had the Umenishiki Junmai Ginjo ($11/glass). John Gauntner discussed the brewery in his July '06 newsletter and said: "Umenishiki has a lot of diversity across its products, but the one thing that they all share is clean, focused flavors that almost radiate quality...The junmai ginjo is clean, bright and sharp with a cleansing acidity melon and citrus flavors and aromas." This was my second favorite of the evening.

The final saké that we tried was Dewazakura "Oka" Junmai Ginjo ($10/glass). This was also a popular choice. In fact, I was surprised by how much I liked Al's drier sakés. I guess I am still learning my own taste!
*Grade: Ginjyoshu(50%), Nihonshu-do: +5, Acidity: 1.2, Rice: Miyama-Nishiki,Yukigesyo, Yeast: Ogawa, Alcohol: 15.5%.

By the way, the food at Meiji was delicious. We had a friend along who absolutely refuses to eat raw fish and even she managed to find some things she found yummy, including chicken skewers with spicy sweet miso, sweet and sour plum and teriyaki sauce and the Asparagus Ribeye Roll with enoki mushrooms and teriyaki glaze. I highly recommend the Yuri roll and all agreed the nigiri was fresh and tasty.

I love MU!

2006-08-23T21:13:00.000-05:00

I brought my family to Saji Ya tonight because it was 1/2 price saké night, bottles included. Mu is sold only by the 720 ml bottle at Saji Ya, so I had been looking for an oppportunity to try it. Normally it is $39.00: we got it for $20!

I really loved this saké. It seems that other people love it too, because it won a gold medal at the U.S. National Saké Appraisal, which was held in Hawaii in July. The aroma is nice and fruity with a bit of melon. The taste is very savory, a bit dry, and super smooth. I definitely want to try this saké again and, since I am usually the only one at dinner drinking saké, it is a good thing that in Minnesota you can now recork bottles (or screw the cap back on) and bring them home with you. Actually, I heard that there is someone who eats lunch at Saji Ya nearly every day and orders a bottle of this for himself and usually finishes it. I hope I never get to that point!

Junmai daiginjo (polishing rate 50%)
15% alcohol
SMV +2
Acidity 1.5
Yamada Nishiki rice

Calendar of saké related events

2006-08-17T17:20:00.000-05:00

Saké is more popular now than ever and it seems that there are quite a few saké related events around the world, so I've created a calendar to help keep track of them. Please send me an email or leave a comment here if you know of other events and I'll add them to the calendar.

Disposable saké cups

2006-08-16T17:07:00.000-05:00

For your next tasting party!

Disposable saké cups! I could have used these at my last tasting party. I'll certainly stock up for the future!

_

Cup-saké

2006-08-16T10:58:00.000-05:00

When I was last in Japan, I made an overnight trip to Kyoto, mainly to see Takigi o-noh at the Nanzen-ji temple. After the play, I decided that since it was rather late I would have a small dinner in my hotel room. I stopped at the 7-11 near the temple to get some snacks and I was surprised that they had a pretty big selection of saké! I had no idea which to get, so I decided to get a Nazen-ji souvenir cup-saké. Even if it was awful, I could dump it out, keep the cup as a souvenir, and raid the mini bar for something palatable. It was actually pretty good, at least it seemed right with my convenience store bento. About the only things that I can read on the label are "20%" and "65%" - I'm assuming that is 20% alcohol and the polishing rate is 65% rather than vice-versa!

I was reminded of this story when I found THIS on gaijinphoto. This makes me so jealous! I will definitely try to get to Ajinomachidaya when I am next in Japan. Check out the cup-saké page on their site!

Saké in Denver

2006-08-02T17:09:00.000-05:00

I'm in Colorado for nearly two weeks, first in Denver and then in Colorado Springs. Naturally, while I'm here, I am going to try to find new sakés to try.

Our first night here, we had dinner in a nice little Japanese restaraunt called Sushi Han. There were only a couple of choices for saké and they weren't even listed by name, so I chose the mystery "Junmai Ginjo" and hoped for the best. I was happy when they brought the bottle to the table and I found that they were serving Hakushika Junmai Ginjo (SMV +0, acidity 1.4). The aroma was very subtle, just barely rice I thought. But the taste: Chocolate! Chocolate rice! Really, once the idea of chocolate entered my mind, I couldn't think of anything else, except for the fact that this saké felt thick. It almost felt like it had the consistency of oil although that makes it sound unpleasant and it wasn't.

When we were finished with dinner, I covertly hid the bottle in my bag and I'm looking at it now and wondering what "BL.BL" means. It is stamped on the label in the manner that a bottling date usually is, so I tried googling "saké date on bottle" and had no luck with what I was looking for, but I did find a bizarre sounding movie. Saké Bottle Battle (2004) is described as follows:

A man and a woman, on their pivotal fourth date, dine together in a Japanese restaurant. But when the man demands that the woman steal a saké bottle for him, their individual truths -- alternately eccentric, kinky, and perfectly understandable -- cause them to bond in uniquely human fashion.

I have the feeling that this movie won't be in my netflix queue anytime soon.

Today I had the chance to stop in at Chateau Liquors, a very nice shop with a large selection of wines and a few sakés on the shelf as well. I bought one of each of everything that they had that I hadn't tried before:

Notice the bottle on the right is missing it's cap. That is because I decided to begin research on some of my new saké right away. Tentaka Kuni "Hawk in the Heavens" (SMV +3, seimaibuai 55%, acidity 2.1) was the first thing I tried. The aroma on this one was pretty light; only a bit of rice. There was a slight alcohol taste, but also a bit of fruit that I wasn't expecting from the scent. The acid was a little sharper than I like, but overall, I think this was a nicely balanced saké. I didn't finish the entire bottle, so I will try the rest later and compare the "fresh" and the "been open a few days" taste.

I believe that, barring a saké emergency that I must relay, the report on my Colorado trip will pick up in a few days when I reach Colorado Springs.

Saké tasting/dinner party

2006-07-30T13:17:00.000-05:00

We had a very successful saké tasting/dinner party at our house this past Thursday evening. Our friends Mayu and Wes came over early and Mayu made an extraordinary meal of vegetable aspic, soba noodles, tofu and daikon salad with goma dressing, garlic grilled chicken wings, grilled summer vegetables, and stir-fried eggplant, pork and garlic chives with miso. Our friends Patrick and Sophie brought sticky rice with durian, thai custard, and mango for dessert. I provided the saké.

Our first saké of the evening was a surprise smash hit. I was worried about what the boys would think as I poured a cloudy, sparkling saké (Harushika Tokimeki “Palpitation of Saké” sparkling junmai saké, SMV –80, acidity 5.5), but to my surprise, everyone said they loved it and would drink it again. As expected, it was very sweet, but it also had a very distinctive "saké" taste. This saké isn't available locally, so I had to order it from True Sake in San Francisco and I will definitely be ordering more!

Next, we had a comparison tasting of three junmai sakés:

~Fukucho “Moon on the Water” junmai ginjo (Seimaibuai 55%, SMV +3, acidity 1.4)

~Ginga shizuka “Divine Droplets” junmai daiginjo (Seimaibuai 50%, SMV +3, acidity 1.2)

~Kanbara “Bride of the Fox” junmai ginjo (Seimaibuai 50%, SMV +3, acidity 1.6)

Mayu liked the very dry "Divine Droplets," while everyone else preferred the Kanbara "Bride of the Fox."

I served the next tasting in white paper cups. I did a bit of testing beforehand and determined that the cups were neutral in taste and scent so I went ahead with them, disregarding their total lack of elegance.

This tasting was actually guessing game with four sakés including a nama, a taru (cedar aged) saké, a very dry junmai, and a honjozo.

~Ichinokura taru saké (Seimaibuai 55%)

~Kagatobi yamahai Junmai (Seimaibuai 65%, SMV +12, acidity 1.8)

~Kaguyahime “Princess of Bamboo” honjozo junmai (SMV –2 acidity 1.1)

~Ohyama “Big Mountain” nama (SMV +3, acidity 1.5)

At first, I was planning to keep score of everyone's guesses, but that went by the wayside rather quickly and I asked everyone to score themselves. That didn't last long either; everyone was having too much fun tasting and watching as the others made their guesses. Nearly everyone guessed the taru saké; the Ichinokura has the taste of cedar that you would expect to find in a taru. Next easiest for people to guess was the dry Kagatobi yamahai junmai. The honjozo and the nama were a bit more difficult to discern, but this was also rather late in the evening, so taste buds might not have been working at optimum levels...

The only sad part of the night is that the photographer (me) did a horrible job and most of the pictures turned out dark or blurry. Well, now we have a good reason to have another tasting and I've already got some more "games" in mind!

New tasting flight at Saji Ya

2006-07-25T17:47:00.000-05:00

I am very lucky to have a great Japanese restaurant, Saji Ya, within walking distance of my house and I usually eat there a few times a week. They have a nice saké selection and I was really happy when they recently added a tasting flight with 3 sakés (served in wine glasses) for $12.00 (which I think is a bargain!)

The sakés featured are:

1. Otokoyama “Man’s Mountain” Junmai (SMV +10, Acidity 1.6, Alcohol 15.5): I’ve had this elsewhere and I have to admit, it’s not my favorite. I think that it’s enjoyable for the first few sips, but I find that it is a little too dry and acidic for my taste. It even feels “tongue puckering” to me. I think many people actually prefer the drier sakés, in fact, this is my boyfriend's favorite of the three.

2. Suishin Junmai (SMV +3, Acidity, 1.7, Alcohol 15-16%): Now we're talking! Saké expert John Gauntner says this about it in one of his newsletters:

"This is one of those sakés that has been fairly famous for so long it ends up being overlooked, which is a shame. A classic Hiroshima style, soft and gently sweet, but a bit more bolstering acidity than most sake of this region. While simple and straightforward, it is incredibly versatile, and is enjoyable either chilled, at room temperature, and even very gently warmed."

I think the best part about it is the deep “savoriness” in the follow through. I don’t yet completely understand the term “umami,” but this saké has what I imagine umami to be.

3. Yaegaki nigori (SMV –12): The jury is still out on whether I am truly a fan of nigori saké, but this one is certainly pleasant. At first whiff, there is a strong aroma of fruit juice and at first taste it’s like creamy spiked fruit juice. I would definitely order this one again.

What I bought at Surdyk's today

2006-07-22T10:57:00.000-05:00

Today was the last day of Surdyk's famous wine sale, so I went bright and early to stock up! Surdyk's is by far the best source for saké in the twin cities. The buyer, Noel Nichols, is very serious about saké: he went on a "fact-finding" mission to San Francisco and when he came back he moved all the saké to it's own refrigerated section and went so far as to put in bulbs covered by UV filters (they are possibly the first retailer in the country or even the world to take this precaution). That is serious!

Here is a list of what I bought:

Takasago Ginga Shizuku "Divine Droplets"
Hakutsuru draft (6 bottles of the 180 ml size: it's good to have something on hand to drink when I don't feel like thinking about it)
Fukucho "Moon on the Water"
Ichinokura taru junmai cedar aged saké
Kanbara "Bride of the Fox" (Foxy Lady on the Surdyk's sales slip!)
Kurosawa junmai daiginjo
Meibo Yowano tsuki junmai ginjo "Midnight Moon"
Yaegaki nigori
Ichinokura junmai nama saké "Hyakkoi"
Ohyama nama (2 bottles - I've had this before and I love it!)
Tsukino Katsura junmai-daiginjyo nigori
Hitori musume nigori
Gekkeikan Black & Gold

It's a good thing that I don't cook, because I have no room in my refrigerator for food!

Eat-Japan :: All about saké

2006-07-21T17:27:00.000-05:00

I somehow came across eat-Japan.com and was thrilled to find that they have an issue of their magazine nearly entirely devoted to saké. I ordered a copy from London and it arrived this week. Happily, it is big and glossy and gorgeous and full of information on saké.

The supervising editors of the issue are Haruo Matsuzaki, "one of the foremost saké critics in Japan today" (and a contributer to Philip Harper's new book which is scheduled to be released in October) and John Gauntner, "the leading non-Japanese saké expert in the world." As you would expect with two such illustrious saké experts as editors, the issue covers all aspects of saké, including brewing, saké types and tastes, how to enjoy saké, and much more.

I found the article on saké breweries particularly interesting. The photography allows a glimpse into the world of kura (saké breweries) which most people don’t usually get. You can read all you want about the intense working conditions, but, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words…

Possibly the most useful information is the section on specific breweries with descriptions on some of their saké. Each saké is illustrated with a nice color photo, so it is easy to match the saké you are drinking in your home to the ones being described. Of course, these are saké available in London and I’m not sure that they are all available in the US, but I recognized many that I’ve either tasted or seen.

It cost about $28.00 including shipping to the US, a bit much for a 120 page magazine, but I think it is well worth it for those who, like me, like to get all of the information on saké that they can find.

Takara Sake USA in the NYT

2006-07-16T17:03:00.001-05:00

I found a short article in the travel section of the New York Times today on Takara Sake USA. It led me to their web site which has some interesting information, including a very general guide for pairing sake with food. Whatever you feel about saké made outside of Japan, it's hard to find fault with Takara's corporate slogan: "We proclaim ourselves a 'Harmonist' a term coined out of our sincere desire to act proactively in creating a positive rapport between people and nature." Actually, I really enjoy their Takara Sierra Cold, which is one of two sakés served at Mai Village, my local Vietnamese place. The description on Takara's site claims: "Takara Sierra Cold is an innovation in sake brewing. It is fermented with a specially developed yeast that allows for the rich flavor of a premium type of sake. We have made this product with an alcohol content of 12% for those who prefer a milder taste." It is just plain easy to drink.

The first time...

2006-07-15T18:40:00.000-05:00

I can’t remember my first taste of saké, but I do remember the first time that I had saké that was extraordinary. Unfortunately, I have no idea what it was. It was in 2003, the first time I ate at Kai, one of my favorite restaurants in NYC. I was on my own that night, so I decided to indulge myself and I ordered the 8 course menu with the saké pairing. I can’t remember what I ate or drank, but I’ve been obsessed with kaiseki ever since, and from that evening, I’ve progressed to the point I’m at now: obsessed with saké.

Previous to that evening, I had wanted to like saké. I loved that it is such an ingrained part of Japanese culture, that it is served from cute bottles, in cute cups, that it seems exotic… But, up till that night at Kai, I had never had a saké that would tempt me to try it again.

After the first revelation, things proceeded slowly. I had a lot of super hot saké at my local Japanese restaurant and that seemed fine to me. I started reading saké descriptions on menus and paying a little bit closer attention to what was available. My total and complete conversion into a saké fanatic took place just this year, on a trip to

Japan

. Before the trip, I somehow found out about Fukumitsuya, a saké shop and bar in Tokyo. I was able to visit and, luckily for me, the man behind the counter spoke great English and he was very willing to talk to me about saké and recommend some that I might like. I did find some that I loved, in fact, I brought 4 bottles home with me. Ever since then, I have been on the hunt for all of the saké and all of the information about saké that I can get my hands on. This blog will be my place to keep and organize some of that information.

Divine droplets

2006-07-14T23:11:00.000-05:00

Had the rest of the Divine Droplets tonight. Maybe I was in a different mood tonight, because it tasted much better than last night. The shameful truth is that I left the bottle out on the counter overnight and I didn't even put the cap back on. I decided to drink the rest anyway...

My first post!

2006-07-12T21:26:00.000-05:00

This is my first (test) post. I can't wait to start writing about saké!