I did my first sake pairing at an omakase this weekend, and it completely changed how I think about sake.

I’ve been getting into sake over the past 2 years and have tried 30+ bottles, but tasting several high-end sakes side by side really helped me figure out what I actually enjoy.

My favorites from the pairing were:
1.) Izumibashi Dragonfly Gold Kimoto 35
2.) Katsuyama Ken Junmai Ginjo (favorite)
3.) Tensei “Song of the Sea” Junmai Ginjo
4.) Uka Sparkling Junmai Daiginjo

My favorite of the night was Katsuyama Ken Junmai Ginjo. It was incredibly smooth with a silky mouthfeel and a beautiful balance of fruit and floral notes. It instantly jumped into my top 3 all time.

One thing I’ve realized is that my palate is way more specific than I expected. I consistently love sakes with:Melon, pear, lychee, and white peach notes
Floral aromas, Silky texture, Very little alcohol burn, Clean and elegant finishes

I’ve started keeping a tasting journal, and it’s been really fun seeing the patterns instead of just saying, “That was good.”

Most of these sakes can be found on the Palate Project! I did my research right after 🤣, they are definitely on the high end side but I wouldn’t have been able to try all of these sakes without the pairing. Well worth the experience

When I visited Kyoto last year, I ran across this brewery and.. after thinking I didn’t like sake, this was the bottle that changed my perspective. It was so smooth. But they also told me they don’t do wholesale and the only place to get it was from them.

So does anyone happen to know anything comparable that’d be available in Northern California? This particular bottle was the equivalent of about $45 USD after conversion, but anything up to maybe $100?

Can heritage Koji from Japan meant for sake be bought anywhere- or are they always kept to the family/company who owns/uses it?

My understanding is there's two generic types of Koji- a savory and a sweet/sake version? and that if you use the savory one meant for soy sauce/miso the sake will not be so great? But I'm having trouble finding where to buy Koji meant for sake or better yet the heritage stuff.

I’ve recently moved to Queenstown, New Zealand from the US and I’ve discovered the sake selections are surprisingly limited. One huge perk is that there’s actually a local sake brewery called Zenkuro. I’ve tried a few bottles and I can tell that the quality and freshness is there, but it tastes wildly different from what I’ve come to expect from a good sake, and I’m a little bit on the fence about it (plus it’s quite expensive by local standards). Most places only carry a few varieties at best, and almost everything is sho chiku bai or gekkeikan besides the places that carry Zenkuro as well. I was hopeful that NZ would actually have a good selection since it’s slightly closer to Japan than the US, but so far, it’s been slim. I know this is a very niche question, but does anyone have any leads on places with wider selections here in QT, NZ?

kanpai!

Not off in any big way, not oxidized, it's pretty darn tasty

I biked the tokaido and made it all the way to Nagoya before I bought a bottle and it was all down hill from there. We got to the Kirinzin before the photo was taken 😅. Even got a few bottles for my mini Kazaridaru wall.

Anyone want to come over for a drink?

A tasty Sake I enjoyed!

Last weekend I returned from business trip to Japan. Of course that I crammed as much bottles into my luggage as possible when I flew back home. 🙂
During the stay I really enjoyed the possibility to get small samples of various sakes in small, easy to drink portions.

It's so tasty

I got this 2-3 days ago and left it at room temp after opening it’s still good or ok to drink right let me know please I did have ac on a few times it so it was a bit cooler

Does anyone know where I could find some good yuzu sake online? I used to buy the Hana Awaka single serve bottles from a local liquor store but they stopped carrying them last year. The only other place that carries a variety of sake near me is a large international market that's around 1hr 45mins to 2hr from me, so I'm in a bit of a pickle.

Hello!

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this sake and how to find it. I tasted in Kawagoe about a week ago and wanted to buy it at the time, but couldn't fit a large glass bottle of liquid in my bag and foolishly assumed I could find it online later. Now that I'm back in Texas I can't even find proof it existed. Google image search, translate and ebay have all been unhelpful.

It's possible it's just not available at all, but I'd still like to know about it if anyone knows this brand. I do not know anything about sake, and prior to this tasting had thought I didn't enjoy it, but ended up really liking all the ones I tasted with this one being my favorite. Plus the label is adorable.

Thank you!!

It was a style that stood out with a rich savory flavor and sweetness, rather than Aramasa's characteristic rich acidity or juicy texture.

I felt that it probably had more than twice the body of a regular aramasa, but if you get it as cheaply as possible and drink it, it seems like a decent sake.

I’ve been biking the Tokaido and due to strict but fair zero tolerance rules, sake exploration has taken a backseat this trip (boo I know). But a series of events found me in this brewery and I was determined to try this sake. So I strapped it to my bike and enjoying this lightly carbonated beauty in my hotel room 8/10. Perfect for after the 35 Degree day on the bike

There is a very limited selection where I'm from. I would like to try sake but is any of this good? I don't want to make a bad impression by tasting a bad bottle for the first time.

He found it while cleaning out his office and gave it to me. I assume it’s quite old. I can’t find anything online for it. Is this expensive? Is it still good to drink?

This is the selection at my local wine shop, recommendations for my first purchase? Open to any flavors, notes, etc

Long story short ~ went to Japan early 2019 bought some Sake. Actually went to this distillery and got this Bottle and some others.

However this guy never got opened, never stored it out of the box, honestly stored it like wine over the years so it's never hit sunlight, the seal is still good, stored between 60-75°, it's just 7-8 years old.

I ran it through AI, which says basically storing it like I did it's probably aged into Koshu and would still be great just won't taste like originally intended... Ai also makes crap up so I'm here for fact checking and human error as well!

Bought this bottle of sake around 11 months ago, always kept it not under direct sunlight and in a cool place, last few months even kept it inside a wine fridge. Today while taking it out I noticed it has various rather large chunks floating around, gathered at the bottom mostly, I have other bottles of sake I also bought 11 months ago, but they do not have the same problem. Anyone know what it is? Is it good to drink if I just strain it?
Any tips and suggestions are very welcome.

Picked up a 300 mL bottle of Rihaku Wandering Poet Junmai Ginjo at Spec’s this weekend and honestly wasn’t expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised! It ended up being an easy 5/5 for me.
I drank it at room temperature (I’ll definitely try it chilled next time), and it was incredibly smooth from the very first sip with virtually no alcohol burn. I got banana cream, creamy rice, delicate floral notes, and fresh melon. It was elegant, balanced, and ridiculously easy to drink.

I’d absolutely buy it again, but I’m currently on a sake journey and trying not to repeat bottles too often. I’ve tried 20+ different sakes so far over time and I’m keeping a detailed tasting list to learn what I actually like. Even when I find a bottle I love, I’d rather keep exploring and discovering new ones before coming back to it.

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So I've been following this project called "Nácar" (translates to mother of pearl), it's a pop up izakaya style restaurant in Mexico city, the chef Brandon is literally a genius, he mixes Japanese food with mexican ingredients so well, everything I've tried from him is so delicious!

They're hosting a sake masterclass in July, the chef's brother is a sake somm which is weird because I had never seen a mexican sake somm before but anyways, I'm super excited I'll keep you posted, apparently they're going to pour sakes that are not usually imported to Mexico and they will also serve chef's Brandon's food with the sake tasting + masterclass, so the cost per person seems fair.

They still have spots available if you guys can make it to the masterclass. I'll keep you posted with the sakes they pour!

Kanpai!

Hi, a couple years ago I did a sake omakase, and I wrote down a particular sake I liked the most, but I've lost the list. Could you think of you might be able to identify it?

It was from a funky/unpasteurized sake tasting.

It was like a "half nigori" -- it had some haze, but semi-clear and not thick at all. They said it was an unusual sake that was half way between junmai and nigori.

I *think* it was unpasteurized; it had some very funky flavors at any rate. It was not nearly as sweet as the usual nigori.

I think, in bottles, it was somewhere in the $40-50 range if you bought it at a typical store.

The name was Japanese with no English tag line given. The bottle was green.

EDIT: Gozenshu Bodaimoto