I am always excited when I find an email from Sakagura in my inbox. This time it was a notice about a special tasting evening with Masumi Brewery. I find these evenings a great way to get to know a particular brewery. I invited my friend Aki to tag along and the reservation was made. […]
UrbanSake.com hits the road! This past weekend Scott and I took a weekend trip to Boston to visit with my sister Maddie. This was the perfect opportunity to see what was happening in Beantown in regards to all things sake. So, here’s part I of what I saw on my little peek into the Boston […]
My Boston Sake Geek adventure continues! IF you missed part one of my sake adventure you can read it here.Maddie picked out a new Japanese restaurant called Douzo (131 Dartmouth St Boston, MA 02116 (617) 859-8886) to try for our sake-centric dinner. This was a great call on her part as this place is new […]
If I had to be trampled at a sake tasting, I wouldn’t want it to happen anywhere other than Sakagura. Nihon-shu aficionados can be just like any other rabid fans out there: when the Star makes an appearance, everyone rushes the stage. So when the sake bottles were opened at the awesome Sakagura spring tasting […]
Landmark Wine and Sake send around an email advertising a sake seminar for Sat April 29nd. Count me in! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was really great. The seminar was held in the sun drenched upstairs space above the landmark wine shop. When I arrived I found several tables were set up […]
The Sake Meetup group, well, ‘met up’ last night at Landmark for a private tasting. It was quite fun as usual. This night was a study in old friends and new friends… this goes for both the sake AND the people! I knew two of the sakes that were served on sight. (see, I am […]
When Toshi over at wonderful Sake Hana (265 E. 78th St. Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) emailed me an invitation to an “all-you-can-drink” sake tasting event featuring 11 sakes from 4 brewers I knew I just could not pass it up… but it would be a challange. When you think about it, the “all-you-can-drink” sake […]
Ok, class is in session. To fully appreciate this blog entry, there are a few key words of Japanese you need to learn: Sakura = Cherry Blossom Matsuri = Festival Sakura Matsuri = Cherry Blossom Festival! Scott and I had our own delightful Sake-infused Sakura Matsuri last Sunday. The festivities started with a trip to […]
Daishichi Myouka Rangyoku. Could it be the World’s Best Saké? I’m talking #1 on Planet Earth!? The highest quality in the known Universe!?! Ladies and Gentlemen, I may not be a sake expert just yet, but one sip and my taste buds told me, in no uncertain terms, this is the best, most complex and […]
Have you ever seen that show Survivor Man? It’s about this MacGyver-type survival expert guy that gets dropped by helicopter into a remote, harsh and desolate area (mountain top, death valley…) and he has to survive for a week and film the whole thing showing his survival tricks along the way. I felt a little […]
Sometimes, you just have to believe in good omens. On my first trip to Uminoie Japanese restuarant (86 E. 3rd St.) the neighboring table handed me a piece of their birthday cake just after Scott and I were seated. I took it as a sign that our experience at this place was going to be […]
I’ve been to Decibel once before, but this is my first post about this amazing NYC sake institution. I think it’s run by the same folks that own Sakagura, but, even though they are both in basements, the feel between the two places couldn’t be more different. Decibel goes for that gritty, dark, urban, graffiti-strewn […]
Sake Hana presents our Spring Sake Tasting. This special event is only $20.00 for our SAKE HANA CUSTOMERS! Come and sample 14 kinds of sakes,drink and meet the brewers, here all the way from Japan. This is your opportunity to learn more about Sakedirectly from the brewmasters and have a nice early evening tasting to […]
John Gauntner & Miho Imada, Fukucho Brewer Will be presenting Sakes at Sakaya. The event starts with World renowned sake expert and author John Gauntner introducing his favorite sakes. In addition, Ms. Imada from Fukucho Brewery will be pouring Fukucho “Moon on the Water” Junmai Ginjo.
Sakaya Daimon Brewer & Tentaka Brewer Tasting. Mr. Daimon from Daimon Brewery will be pouring Tozai “Well of Wisdom” Ginjo and Tozai “Voices in the Mist” Ginjo. Also, Mr. Ozaki from Tentaka Brewery will be pouring Tentaka “Hawk in the Heavens” Junmai and Tentaka “Silent Stream” Junmai Daiginjo.
CHERRY BLOSSOM SAKE TASTING AT CHA-AN The spring brings about a special Japanese tradition called “Hanamiâ€. Under the cherry blossom trees that are in full bloom, sake and cuisine with seasonal ingredients are enjoyed. The event will feature about 6 selections carefully chosen by our sake sommelier, Chizuko Niikawa-Helton, as well as paring dishes from […]
I had the pleasure of getting another chance to try the excellent Yakitori Totto on W. 55th Street. If you have not gone yet, give it a try. trust me. Scott and I were out with friends recently and we quickly powered through a carafe of Wakatake and thought it was time to move on […]
Want to explore the world of sake even more? Here are some Links and Resources: Recommended Books: Sake – A Modern Guide by Beau Timken The Sake Handbook by John Gauntner The Book of Sake by Phillip Harper Sake – A Drinker’s Guide (out of print) by Hiroshi Kondo Insider’s Guide to Sake by Phillip […]
Sake Production Process: Coming Soon!
Our Latest wonderful Sake Meetup group was at SOY tonight, and it was a B.Y.O.S. event. (bring your own Sake). It was amazing opportunity to try a wide rage of sakes and meet a wide range of sake lovers. Everyone brought interesting sake and interesting tales to tell. Only 7 of the 28 people who […]
Growing up with Three’s Company I identified much more with sensible Janet, but I always had a spot in my heart for that wacky Chrissy Snow. Such unassuming beauty… and yet so naive and uncomplicated. The image of Chrissy Snow leapt to mind with my first sip of MizuNoShirabe Ginjo. This Ginjo is pure and […]
It’s March 17th, that one day a year when everyone is Irish, large crowds search the city for green beer, and even Italian restaurants serve corned beef and cabbage. I’m as genuine 3th generation Irish-American as they come, but I found myself passing by the corned beef and making a bee-line to my number 1 […]
Last night I took my friend Scott B out for an early birthday dinner at a favorite Restaurant of mine, Momoya. Even though we were celebrating Scott’s special day, he was kind enough to let me be all bossy and pick the sake. I took a risk and didn’t get an old standby sure-fire winner […]
I had my very first trip to Ambassador Wines on the Upper east side recently. This is one of the most well known sake stores in the city. Now, normally I don’t run to the liquor store on my lunch hour to stock up on sake, but… this was an exception. I was up in […]
Scott and I had our first date at the Wild Lilly Tea Room in Chelsea just one year ago. Meeting for tea seems harmless enough, and last march, my tastes ran more to sencha than sake juice. This night was similar to last year in so many ways : we sat at the same table […]
I finally got to experience Chibi’s bar in Soho. Jerin took me out for my birthday. The windows were lined with Sake bottles however, everything was a little heavy on the cocktail umbrellas. This place was nice and quiet – Jerin had it almost to ourselves except for a gabby poor man’s sex-and-the-city quartet next […]
Any Sake terms you need to know? use this glossary to learn them all. A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z Acidity: General scale of acidic content in sake. Alcohol Percentage: Percentage of Alcohol content in a sake by volume. usually around 15% – 16%. Amakuchi: Word to describe sweet flavor in Sake Aspergillus Oryzae: Scientific name for Koji mold. Daiginjo […]
I got taken out for my birthday last night by Scott and we went to EN, a wonderful Japanese restaurant down on Hudson at Leroy street. The evening started off right with my friend Scott B. arranging to have a bottle of Yukiwatari Nigori sent to the table. Now, Nigori was not traditionally my favorite, […]
Ok, I have to admit, the english name of Otokoyama’s Tokubetsu junmai reeled me in. MAN’s MOUNTAIN! I just had to give it a try. This could be the very same Otokoyama I had at Menchanko-tei. So, having scaled the heights of man’s mountain and returned with an empty bottle, I can safely say this […]
I tried an interesting “Igloo” sake that I had heard about called Taisetsu from Takasago Brewery on Hokkaido Island. you can learn more about this brewery here. It’s a Junmai Ginjo with an ALC content of 16%, Nihonshu-Do of +3 and made with Ginpu sake Rice that I picked up at Landmark. This sake is […]
I am coming to love japanese websites translated into english! I am starting a japanese class in march, so I’m sure it won’t be so funny when I need to translate Japanese into english myself. Be that as it may, when I was researching this sake called Otokoyama that I sampled last night, their website […]
Below you can review a list of the questions I get asked most frequently. If you don’t find your questions addressed here, please feel free to contact me. 1) Should sake be served hot or chilled? Sake can be served both gently warmed or chilled. It really depends on the type. If you have an […]
This is another video in the “Sake 101” series which explains the 6 major classifications of sake. These different categories can effect both price and taste of your sake, so it’s worth learning about. I hope you find this useful and informative. Once you know these basics, you’ll be honjozo-ing with the best of ‘em.
Another fun Sake meetup! this time at Sake Bar Satsko for a Sake Bar Brunch. Satsko herself was very warm and friendly and I think everyone felt very welcomed. The food was really good – you could get your entree made with either Japanese style sides or american style sides. I was too afraid of […]
I realized the other day, I love my new hobby as a sake appreciator, but you know what my hobby really is?…. DRINKING! Obviously, I was never a frat boy and don’t really have a past history of drinking games and waking up outside on the lawn wearing someone else’s pants. I’ve never done a […]
If there is a Mothership for sake lovers in the New York City area, it has to be Mitsuwa supermarket in Edgewater NJ. I discovered Mitsuwa by chance as my Feng Shui school happened to be in Edgewater, too. The first time I saw the sake aisle, phasers were set to stunned! It must be […]
OK sake fans, run, Run RUN, to Bozu!! This place is da’ bomb. the sushi bomb that is… On Jan 22, I graduated from Feng Shui school and wanted to meet up with some friends the night before the ceremony at a sake-friendly bar to celebrate. I heard about Bozu from Scott and checked it […]
I went with my friend Michael to a cool east village noodle bar called Momofuku and found myself with carte blanc to pick the sake we were to enjoy that evening. Talk about pressure… not only did I need to ensure my own enjoyment of the sake for the evening, but now I was responsible […]
I got my chance to return to the city’s number 1 japanese restaurant, Tomoe, and finally – once and for all- find out the name of that proto-sake I tasted there. That was the first premium I have ever had. It was delicious enough, especially with tomoe sushi, to get me really interested in premium […]
We have all been there…Whether it’s being passed over for that promotion, getting splashed by a cab on a rainy day or finding that one-of-a-kind prized collectible you got on Ebay was smashed to bits by the post office, life can suck sometimes. Lucky for me, i’ve found that a few sips of sake is […]
Today I went to my first Sake Meetup meeting. Meetup.com is a website that helps people with common interests find each other. Lo and behold there is a sake appreciator’s group. It was a fun afternoon and everyone at the meeting was really great. Everyone was so friendly and willing to share their knowledge about […]
My last post was about the Brewing process we got to see at the sake meetup. Here is an overview of the Sakes we got to taste. yum. it was a really good selection and I left feeling very… happy! Thanks to Jeff, Paul, Sebastian and everyone for a great event. Sakes we tasted from […]
I have heard about the saké bar Sakagura from every article and book on where to find sake in New York, so I knew it was a destination. I wanted to save my first trip there for a special occasion, so Scott had the great idea to go there on New Year’s eve for dinner […]
So scott and I went to a fun little Japanese restaurant called “Yakatori Taisho” we got there around 8pm and waited about an hour for our table which was not as bad as it sounds. we had fun people watching all the wacky japanese youth hanging around outside also waiting for tables. I stuck it […]
I picked up this yummy Daiginjo at a Landmark sake tasting. After my Gekkeikan disaster yesterday, I was looking forward to restore my faith in saké again. I kinda had an ace in my pocket as I brought home a bottle of Kirin Koshihikari junmai Dai-ginjo on my trip to syracuse to enjoy over the […]
Scott took me to a great place tonight: Poke! We ventured to this sushi place on the upper east side because there were high marks for the sushi in zagats. the other exciting thing was that that they don’t have their liquor license so they have a B.Y.O.S. policy. bring your own sake! So I […]
Could it possibly be better your second time? In the case of Yakitori Totto it was! I went there for a late dinner with scott after a long day at school. We had to wait about 45 mins for our table when all was said and done, but the host was just so darn NICE […]
OK! so i’m warming up to Ozeki. I think warming is the oprative word here. once ozeki warms a little bit closer to room temp, the paint thinner taste is gone! well, i’ve got quite a long way to go on this 1.5 L bottle, so I may indeed post again on this saké, Cheers!
OZEKI 1.5 L Now I’ve already broken my own rule about buying cheap sake. However, when I saw this gigantic 1.5 liter bottle of Ozeki saké on sale at Mitsuwa, I simply could not refuse. It didn’t help that the Japanese shoppers were stuffing them into their shopping carts as if there was no tomorrow. […]
I knew mu would be good! saw it on the menu at decibel under the daigingo listings. one of the 3 more affordable daigingos. – by that I mean under $15 a glass Mu is indeed yummy, and excellent for the price. The taste was clean, very smooth, but not too smooth — there […]
this was amazing. I give it a 4 out of 5 saké bottles! [rate 4.0]
One of my dearest friends Alysia was given a suprise Birthday Party at Congee Village. It was a chinese banquet kinda thing and it was a lot of fun to sit around those big tables with the huge lazy susan. The waitstaff was very nice too, and they really take care of you. I asked […]
A former co-worker of mine had lived in Japan for a year so I called him up and asked him to dinner to pick his brain on living in japan and learning Japanese – all things that have crossed my mind as I learn more about sake. I found a place in his neighborhood called […]
Scott and I had plans for a long time to see Michael and Joseph for a long overdue double date. Scott and I went to great lengths to find a unique place that was new to us all and we picked a new Japanese restaurant on east 6th street Chiyono. well, apparently, it was new […]
I was invited to a thanksgiving Dinner in Jersey City. The dinner itself was delicious! everything a turkey dinner should be. The crowd was mostly friends from a fire Island share. SO, I didn’t exactly fit into that mold, but it was a lovely evening – except the look on everyone’s face as they sipped […]
Oh Lordy… I’ve been at this a couple months and already I’m facing my first big moral dilemma. For the whole rest of my career with rice wine which is it? Do I go with… Sake or Saké?! well I kinda know the answer… saké WITH the áccént is the way that that the real […]
Ok, never ever ever ever buy sake based on low price alone. I made this mistake this past weekend. I was at my favorite Sake shop Landmark with S. on sunday and I picked up a Nigori for thanksgiving. I wanted something else to sip on during the week after work, and I didn’t want […]
I picked up this sake at my trip to Mitsua on Nov 12. What caught by eye about this one was the big “Jizaki” sticker on the front of the label. I’ve learned this means a regional or local sake. What this really means is sake produced in small-ish traditional breweries. What are the chances […]
S. alerted me to an article in the New York Times about Nigori Sake. It’s still not my favorite kind of Sake, but there is a lot there to be explored. I’ve had it about 3 times. it tastes a little “fermented” to me right now, but I may have had some inferior quality. S. […]
Tonight i’m trying my first Organic Sake. It’s also one of the first domestic sakes i’ve ever had. I picked this up on my trip to Mitsuwa last weekend. It’s Sho Chiku Bai Junmai-Shu / Nama Sake. Produced by Takara Sake of berkely CA. Made with Organic rice. I got the 300 ML bottle. the […]
Descrip. of Nov 11 Landmark Saké tasting goes here.
S. and I both looked at each other and said “mmmmmmm….” The “smooth type” Sake at Tomoe was simply, in a word, amazing. You know, to this day, I still don’t know the brand name of the Sake we had that night, but it was utterly, totally and perfectly delicious. A perfect compliment to the […]
Hi! If you’ve found this blog, you must have some interest in Sake. Well, so do I. Well, more than an interest. It’s a growing interest bordering on infatuation. I’m just a beginner and kind of intimidated by the vast universe of Sake knowledge, but I’ve decided to get serious about casual Sake habit. This […]
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Next I tried the three sakes from Imada Sake Brewery in Hiroshima. An interesting note about the Imada brewery is that they have a female Toji or Brew master, Miho Imada. She’s pictured on the left, holding a bottle of her great Moon on the Water Junmai Ginjo with a Imada Brewery colleague to the […]
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