2020 should be a watershed year for sake. A major international event–the Tokyo Olympics–will converge with several consumer and travel trends. The sake torch is lit. Let’s take a jog through the terrain. The Japanese government wanted this Olympics badly and they got it. Japan loves opportunities to proudly showcase its culture. Anyone who has…
America has the best selection of sake outside of Japan. Hundreds of brands have been registered by importers. Most restaurants and bottle shops in major cities have access to dozens of them at any given time. Imports, though, are not cheap. Even most of America’s domestic producers tend to be pricey. Thankfully, SakeOne in Oregon…
Cheese and sake pairing is growing in popularity. It’s not a ‘classic’ pairing, of course, like sake with oysters, dried fish, or mushrooms, as you might see almost anywhere in Japan that serves casual, rustic fare. It’s a recent development that’s mostly gained momentum outside Japan, influenced largely by the prevalence of such pairings in…
Ethiopian food has grown in such popularity that it’s available in most major cosmopolitan cities around the world, from New York to Tokyo to Paris to London. Even smaller metropolises tend to have a restaurant or two these days. Obviously, without the Ethiopian diaspora community the many restaurants serving the country’s unique, native cuisine would…
Sales of premium sake are surging. So is tourism to Japan. The latter fuels the former in part, but the ‘renaissance of quality’ among many breweries is the real reason for sake’s newfound success. Certain retailers deserve credit, too. For the right retailers, the market is rich with opportunity. But what makes the right retailer?…
Cheese and sake. For most people, it’s not as natural to say (or eat) as ‘wine and cheese’, but SakéOne aims to change that in a unique way. The Oregon-based sake brewery–one of the biggest and best of America’s two dozen or so sake breweries–announced this spring that it partnered with Jasper Hill Farm in…
Hitachino Nest is the world-renowned craft beer brand produced by Kiuchi Shuzo, a multi-generational brewery in Ibaraki that continues to brew premium sake–the beverage that it actually started with–along with other fine products like umeshu (plum wine) and, more recently, whisky. It’s restaurant in San Francisco, Hitachino Beer & Wagyu (featured in issue 15 of…
One of Japan’s best off-the-beaten-track travel destinations is Shimane, located on Japan’s quiet, rural West Coast. The prefecture also has amazing sake, as we reported in issue #17. Even earlier, in issue #2, we wrote in detail about its beautiful capital city, Matsue. This Sunday, the sake brewers guild of Shimane is hosting a special…
Attention San Francisco Bay Area sake fans (especially those in the East Bay)! Takara USA in Berkeley is hosting a special tasting Wednesday (10/24) to Sunday (10/28) that will feature limited quantities of its ShoChikuBai Junmai Nama Genshu. Okay, let’s break this down to see what all the fuss is about. “Nama” refers…
The largest celebration of World Sake Day outside of Japan is almost here. This Saturday (September, 29th), Beau Timken and his team at True Sake in San Francisco host the 13th annual iteration of their Sake Day SF event, an ever-evolving festival showcasing all things sake. We’ve been attending for five years and can affirm…