Sake Blogger Summit ’09!

What do you get when you mix Tokyo Foodcast Sake Bloggers Ted and Etsuko, Jocelyn and Carlos from the You, madam, are no Ambrose Bierce blog, Bloggers Rick and Hiroko from New York’s SAKAYA Sake Shop, Scott and yours truly from UrbanSake, along with wonderful friends and family? Well, obviously, the first Sake Blogger Summit of 2009!

A wonderful reason to get together for Ted and Etsuko’s visit to the NYC area, we enjoyed a fun dinner at a stellar restaurant, Aburia Kinnosuke. Of course, sake was on my mind and we enjoyed some wonderful stuff.

To get the ball rolling, I ordered us a bottle of the delicious Kokuryu Junmai Ginjo. Umami-laden, savory and smooth, this is a sake you can really sink your teeth into. In short, a supreme pleasure to drink and I find it perfectly positioned between elegance and casual.

Next, to go along with some fantastic sashimi and Aburia’s famous tsukune chicken meatball, several tokkuri of lovely Masumi Karakuchi Ki-Ippon Junmai Ginjo hit the table. Known as the “Mirror of Truth”, this sake tells no lies. Dry, smooth and delicious, the clean edge of this sake was a perfect counterpart to our delicious food.

As our evening was drawing to a close, I winked to Hiroko-san and suggested we order one last bottle… and happened upon one of our favorites, Tsukasabotan Senchu Hasaku Tokubetsu Junmai. This sake is dry, but has a well-rounded depth of flavor. It’s impressive and understandably a favorite! I enjoyed every sip.

It was wonderful to see Etsuko-san again, this time in New York. I also really enjoyed meeting Ted-san and all my new friends! I hope we all have another chance to get together again and enjoy sake in the U.S. or Japan sometime soon!