WD-50 tasting menu

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

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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)"

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

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."

More Tokyo

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.

Sake Samurai in Tokyo (nearly a year later!)

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

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

On our final day in Osaka (way back in December), Mayu and I spent the afternoon at Spa World 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.

More Japan

[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.

Saké in Seattle: Umi Sake House

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 (shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber, tobiko topped with spicy tuna & spicy mayonnaise). 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

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

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

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

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

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!

A lucky find in South Bend

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

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.

Saké in Denver

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.