First let’s cut to the chase. Heating sake is good! When you have had bad hot sake it wasn’t the fact that hot sake is bad it’s that bad sake makes for bad hot sake. Most of the sakes that get heated in the US are made in the US. I am not saying that all domestically made sakes are inferior, they aren’t. I will say that a lot of box sake that they put on those heating machines is not the best, and you can taste it. In a word, there are really good sakes for heating, because most...

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Not long ago I was asked to visit the radically fun and exciting video blog by the one-of-a-kind on-line wine guru Gary Vaynerchuk at winelibrary.com. A friend sent me the only episode that GV did on sake, and in a word I smiled. His passion – undeniably – is fantastic and I enjoyed hearing him speak to several brews that they sell in their store, but I thought to myself that he needed a visit from a sake freak like me. So upon hearing GV say GIN-jo for the fifth time, I said to my friend “set it up.” Fast-forward...

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The most dynamic aspect about sake is the simplicity. It really is so simple. Rice and water. That’s it! Well aside from the  elf magic and star dust. Really. Honestly. Okay, I went a little too far with the rice and water only. Keep the elf magic and star dust and add mold (yuck) and yeast (ummm what?). Of all the boozes in the liquor  universe none can lay claim to being more clean than sake. Take rice–add a little mold–add some water–a dash of yeast and voila you have the cleanest burning fuel on the planet. It’s so simple...

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I have spent a lot of time in Japan, but I have never lived there. I think that there is a big difference in “living” and “visiting” a country. As a visitor one can never see the layers of “routine” or “repetition” that creates the true living experience. And that is why for years I have asked my sake brewery owners to allow me the opportunity to go and work for them for a stretch of time. My longest stretch was for four days at one kura in Yamagata. It was superb–but still I felt that I was missing out on the...

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Ahhhhhh ye’ol what sakes should I get question? I hear it all of the time – in fact I live it! Basically this is the perfect topic to kill at least five birds with one stone as I get restaurants asking me to build their sake menus – I get retail stores wanting me to create their inventories – I get catering companies imploring me to make the perfect sake event – I get chefs calling for the perfect pairing – I get sake collectors wanting to build perfect sake “cellars” – and I get customers asking for a simple...

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When I get emails from readers, 9 out of 10 will say that they know nothing about sake, which is rubbish and I tell them that! Of course you know something about sake or else you wouldn’t be asking. Does that make sense?  Hmmmm. I know nothing about carburetors, does that secretly mean that I want to know more about them? Nope and I have never emailed anybody and said, “I know nothing about carburetors!” So I say stop! You do know something about sake – you like it warm, cold – you like it cloudy or clear – you...

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I have been saying it for years! A starch sweetness is far more muted than a grape juice sweetness. Huh? Converting a starch into a glucose produces a far more mellow “sweet” taste than simply crushing a grape. So! Well – that is why I still have to pound wine drinkers, who think in terms of wine when they speak about their sake likes and dislikes! “I don’t like sweet sakes.” “I only like dry sakes!” Etc etc. To which I say “Oh really!” Yes – really I say that – “Oh really?”  Don’t get me wrong – some sakes...

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Nigori, or unfiltered sake, is that really unique brew that has the fog/clouds/fluff at the bottom of each bottle. What the heck is that stuff? As unappealing as it sounds it's really the unfermented rice particles that were not removed. You mean it's like cold Uncle Ben's rice juice? Not a chance. Remember the process of brewing sake is to convert a starch (rice) into a sugar (glucose). Then the brewers add yeasts that eat up all the sugar and cough out alcohol and carbon dioxide. So what rice doesn't get munched by the killer yeasts usually is sweet, and...

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There is a great scene in the movie “The Shawshank Redemption” when the best voice-over in Hollywood – Morgan Freeman – talks about Andy’s love of rocks for his chess set, and for the little rock hammer that eventually buys his freedom. Morgan speaks about rocks in the very base terms of “time and pressure.” That’s it. Time and Pressure. If you want to know about rocks – you must have a general understanding about time and pressure. Taking the big leap to sake – from rocks – one must be acutely aware of “time” at the very least. (Pressure...

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So how do you taste sake? Depends on your definition of taste. (Does that sound remotely like a Clintonian question?) Is taste flavor? Is taste feeling? Is taste simply tasting? Wow – this is spinning out of control right off the bat. Is taste a sense? Is smelling tasting? Is tasting smelling? What about hearing – is that part of tasting? How about seeing is that tasting? Is tasting just tasting? What about ESP? Can you communicate with a sake that you are tasting? (Sixth Sense – I see rice people) Or can you listen, look, feel and taste all...

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Yes – there are many out there who perceive sake to be a hard alcohol! What does hard mean? Hard to wake up in the morning? You bet! No, usually hard means “distilled.” Sake is not distilled; rather it is fermented like wine or beer – or as I cleverly coined “sake – built like beer – drinks like wine.” Well actually not that clever at all really, but you get the point. My job over the years has been to get sake out of the gin, vodka, and tequila basket and into the wine and beer basket of thinking....

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Is a Ford Focus similar to a Ford Mustang? How about Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot” and “Cujo”? What about Subway’s 5-Foot “Cold Cut Combo” and it’s “Subway Club”? In most cases anything made by the same company, person, or group of people has some of the same components, ingredients and similarities. They are unavoidable! In fact they are inevitable! And sake is no exception. We all know the ingredients: in most cases special brewing rice, brewing water, brewing molds, brewing yeasts, and brewing technique. Not to mention the same equipment, packaging, brewing environment, atmosphere, and the big old et cetera!...

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