For God's Sake! Is There a Sake Sommelier out There?

[origamicrane]

actually has anyone else here been to a kura?

If they have post the names and address here

we can start a directory of sake breweries and review page?

[tektite]

I'm a real beginner to sake and most of the time i'm drinking ozeki

( i know but its the only sake they serve in japnese restaurant in the UK!! )

I find ozeki far too sickly sweet but beggers can't be choosers.

was the Ozeki a nigori sake? I find all of them a bit too sweet myself, and about the ozeki: There are some that are made here in the US which are a little sub par, but I have had some from japan that are not bad at all.

Tell your friend to look for a Junmai Diaginjo! They are the best.

[torakris]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getart...n20041214f1.htm

Sake trendy abroad but hard sell here to young

from the Japan Times:

Japan consumed 889,271 kiloliters worth of sake in fiscal 2002, down from 1,368,831 kl in 1992 and almost half the volume they gulped down in 1973, when consumption peaked at around 1,656,000 kl, Finance Ministry figures show.

Countless reasons have been cited for sake's sagging popularity, ranging from the longtime production of sugared and artificially flavored low-grade sake, to the recent shochu and wine booms, the latter characterized by the brisk sales of Beaujolais Nouveau, and the fading gift-giving culture.

But the biggest problem could be sake's image as an old man's drink, said Masafumi Masuda, a journalist who decried the industry's decline in his book published in September.

[Pan]

The other day, there were two wine tastings when I was at Astor Wines here in the East Village. The more interesting of the two was a sake tasting. Three sakes were on offer, and I quote the names from the "Sake Descriptions" sheet they gave me, in the order I tried the sakes:

1. Akitabare "Koshiki Junzukuri" Northern Skies

2. Kamoizumi "Shusen" Three Dots

3. Masumi "Okuden Kantsukuri" Mirror of Truth

I preface this by stating up-front that I am not a sake connoiseur and have usually just had inexpensive hot sake from time to time in inexpensive-to-moderate-priced Japanese restaurants in New York. Nevertheless, I would like to share my reactions with anyone who's interested.

From what I remember, the Akitabare was strong and dry, something like sakes I've had in restaurants, though perhaps a bit better (I may have indeed had this one before, however). It was OK and would have been fine to drink with a casual Japanese meal, but I wasn't impressed.

I did not like the Kamoizumi. It's meant to taste like mushrooms and does, which might be really interesting for cooking but just doesn't work for me for drinking. It's like having a mushroom-infused wine. Yuck!

On the other hand, the Masumi was awesome! It blows away the cheap sakes I've had before. It is so smooth, complex, subtly fragrant, delicious! At some $23 a bottle (with smaller -- third-size? I forget -- bottles available for $9), it is not cheap but there's no doubt that I will look for it for a special occasion. I now know for a fact that sake can be every bit as good as a fine grape wine, at least at the price range that I've experienced fine grape wines.

Here are some descriptions of the Masumi. From the "Sake Descriptions" sheet:

Longtime sake-drinkers find this sake comfortingly familiar. It is smooth and well-balanced at first sip, and with repeated tastings displays a range of subtle, organic flavors as well as a pleasant natural sweetness. Comfortingly familiar, surpassingly smooth.

From Astor Wines' website:

A medium-bodied, refreshing saké with fresh almond aromas. Carries to the palate with good floral fruit character, laurel leaf and freshly made rice notes.

I'm sure more experienced sake drinkers have favorites that are levels above this one in quality and price, but if you want a recommendation of something other than grape wine in the ~$25 range to take to your next special occasion, consider this sake. It was a revelation to me.

[origamicrane]

hiya

well on my recent trip to hong kong i popped into a Citysuper store and bought 5 bottles of sake ranging from ginjyo to junmai daiginjyo.

and i can say that the expensive stuff does taste better.

the five bottle i bought are

rihaku jumai daiginjyo HK$318 - large bottle

masumi jumai daiginjyo - www.masumi.co.jp - HK$165 -small bottle

okunomatsu ginjyo - www.okunomatsu.co.jp - HK$50 -small bottle

Yuka junmai ginjyo - HK$75 -small bottle

ichinokura mukansa junmai ginjyo - HK$72 -small bottle

I'm drinking two bottle at the same time so i can get a taste comparision and the winner of the first round is Yuka junmai ginjo that beat ichinokura mukansa junmai ginjyo. Yuka had a much cleaner taste where as the ichinokura mukansa had a definite chemically sweet aftertaste.

anyway i will be drinking the rest next week and will post the results of the second round then i will also scan in the labels for the bottles i bought.

[peter_nyc]

Does nigori sake have a shorter/longer shelf life than filtered sake? I brought a few bottles back from Japan this April and am starting to become concerned. What about filtered sake while we're at it? They've been sitting in a wine cooler set to 57F/14C for about four months now... thanks!

[AzianBrewer]

Does nigori sake have a shorter/longer shelf life than filtered sake?  I brought a few bottles back from Japan this April and am starting to become concerned.  What about filtered sake while we're at it?  They've been sitting in a <a href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=9&k=wine%20cooler" onmouseover="window.status='wine cooler'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">wine cooler</a> set to 57F/14C for about four months now... thanks!

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Still good. Just store it in the fridge. What brand is it?? Let me know if you need help drinking it!

By the way, are you going to the Joy of Sake on September 27th??

[fiftydollars]

So an open bottle of sake will keep for 6 months to a year in a cool, dark place?

[Sencha]

So an open bottle of sake will keep for 6 months to a year in a cool, dark place?

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An opened bottle is another story altogether. Sake, like most other products, doesn't keep as long opened as it would when it's sealed. Ideally, once opened, sake should be drunk in a short period of time to enjoy it to the fullest. After it's opened, the sake will begin to degrade more quickly. I suppose you can liken it to how wine is best when first opened.

[Hiroyuki]

So an open bottle of sake will keep for 6 months to a year in a cool, dark place?

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Like Sencha suggests, once opened, sake should be consumed in a short period of time, say, within one month or so.

[AzianBrewer]

Use it to cook if you think it has slightly passed it shelf life.

[peter_nyc]

Okay... I finally got some pictures of the bottles I brought back from Japan. If anybody can tell me anything about any of them, I'd be really appreciative.

This last one is a nigori sake, I know that much!

[Hiroyuki]

Some info that I found on the Internet:

The first one is Mansaku no Hana, a daiginjo aged for two years or more, according to the brewery's website http://www.hinomaru-sake.com/ (Japanese only)

The second one is Oku no Matsu. The website of the brewery in English: http://www.okunomatsu.co.jp/english/index.html

The last one is Dassai, a sparkling(!) nigori zake

http://asahishuzo.ne.jp/english/index.html

Watch out when you open the bottle.

Sorry, I'm not a big fan of Japanese sake. Do you need any more infomation?

[buffy]

The annual sake festival will be held here in Hiroshima in a couple of weeks. Hiroshima is quite a large producer of sake and for about $10-15 you can try hundreds of different types of sake to your heart's content.....! A great festival!

Hiroshima Sake Festival

[Rebel Rose]

Last Saturday we made our first stab at homemade sushi, nigiri, and sashimi. We enjoyed ourselves immensely. Our first nigiri sushi--yellowtail with avocado, sugar snap pea, and wasabi:

And our basic setup of yellowtail surrounded by gathered-at-the-last-minute garnishes from the winter garden:

Unfortunately, the only sake we could find in this provincial, backwater, drought-ridden town was "Gekkeikan~The Finest Sake," from Folsom, California.

We pretty much stuck with the Jacob Toft 'Mary Jane' Chardonnay, Edna Valley! Completely dry, but with a citrusy, light profile that paired well with the light fare.

We've decided to do Sushi Saturday once a month. Where can I find some great sake online? I'm thinking the Pacific Northwest would be a great resource. I like my sake cold. Any suggestions?

PS. Pansies and dill are very nice on yellowtail sashimi with a citrusy chardonnay.

[KatieLoeb]

There's some good information and an online source HERE.

I just tasted a flight of 4 different sakes this evening and every single one was good. I'll try and find my little card with the names written on it to see if you can maybe locate them through Google by product name.

[His Nibs]

You can never go wrong with a good junmai daiginjo.

纯米大呤酿

or failing that, get it junmai (meaning made 100% of rice).

These usually taste great slighly chilled.

[His Nibs]

Americans tend to classify Sake as rice wine. Hmm, I remember seeing junmai daiginjo going for 20-80 USD at the japanese supermarts in san diego. So that's like 2000-8000 JPY.

I have tasted some nice ones at a resturant for USD 45 per 1800ml bottle.

Edit: they were of the ginjo variety and not the junmai daiginjo variety.

http://www.zeus-ec.net/special/sake/yamaga...ginjyou_02.html

Edited March 9, 2006 by His Nibs (log)

[jsolomon]

I've never had any complaints about Momokawa Silver sake.

But, I've only had it in Nebraska, served to Nebraskans. Cold, please.

[Sneakeater]

My personal favorite sake is Wakatake.

I go out of my way to say this because it's such a refreshing change for me to have a personal favorite anything that's in the mid-price range rather than being ridiculously expensive.

[larrylee]

Hi Sneakeater. I don't mean to be argumentative but I believe Wakatake is a brand. Which of Wakatake's offerings do you like?

Masumi makes some really outstanding sakes ranging from junmais to yamahais and they are in NYC this week to do some promotions. I submitted a tasting event to the New York Calendar. Once the entry posts, I invite all to check it for the names of the sakes. They are all outstanding.

Other fine choices include Dewazakura Oka and selections from Koshi no kanbai, but the exact names fail me at the moment. I'll have to look them up.

Rebel Rose: Whereabouts in California are you? I recall seeing a fairly large selection of sakes at the Berkeley Bowl. Sho Chiku Bai's brewery is probably less than a mile away from that.

My personal favorite sake is Wakatake.

I go out of my way to say this because it's such a refreshing change for me to have a personal favorite anything that's in the mid-price range rather than being ridiculously expensive.

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[KatieLoeb]

The four I had tried in the flight were as follows (with their desriptions):

Hakushika Chokara - dry and crisp

Miyanoyuki - light fruity taste with moderately dry finish

Ozeki Yamadanishiki - smooth and refreshing flavor and matches well with a variety of dishes

Okagura - medium dry with a nice balance of sweetness and rich body

These were all quite delicious but I seem to recall the Ozeki being a particular favorite of mine and philadining's that evening.

[Sneakeater]

Hi Sneakeater. I don't mean to be argumentative but I believe Wakatake is a brand. Which of Wakatake's offerings do you like?

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Ooops. Sorry. Onikoroshi. (Hope I spelled that right.)

[larrylee]

Sorry for the multiple posts.

Nishida Denshu is one of my all time favorites. Well rounded flavor, good with sushi or by drinking alone. I was devastated when my local favorite sushi bar stopped carrying it.

I'd also recommend the Dewazakura Dewasansan and the Dewasansan Nama Genshu.

I like a wide range of sakes, but I stay away from taru (cedar) aged sakes and ones that are too dry (Yuki No Bosha, Hakuryu) or too sweet (Kamoizumi KomeKome, which almost tastes like pineapple to me). I like daiginjos but I generally prefer junmais because of their stronger flavor profiles that tend more towards rice flavor than floral or fruit notes.

Rebel Rose,

You might try calling True Saketo see if they'll ship to you. I tried viewing their web page but... I have to upgrade my Flash plugin first. :-\

[lambretta76]

Are there any good sites out there for sake etiquette? I know theres the pouring of others' drinks based on seniority/status, but is there anything else involved besides a hearty kampai! ? For instance, is there anything that should be said when receiving a pour of sake from the owner of the establishment? Any specific way to drink from a masu? My wife is going to un upscale sake tasting and doesn't want to embarass herself.