Sakaya NYC Blog

Happy New Year!  Our tasting line-up is a bit short this month since we’ll be heading to Japan for our annual trip in late January.   However,  before that time arrives, you won’t want to miss the debut of this year’s namazake from Nanbu Bijin and a great full-bodied yet dry, all-around sake from Kan Nihonkai.

Saturday, January 7, 2012, 5-7pm

Nanbu Bijin Tokubetsu Junmai Namazake (Iwate)

Saturday, January 14, 2012, 5-7pm

Kan Nihonkai Junmai Genshu (Shimane)

Please note that SAKAYA will be closed from January 22 to February 3 while we take our vacation.  We hope that you’ll plan to visit us before (or after) at your convenience.

Kanpai!

Rick & Hiroko

Along with the Holiday Season this month comes our 4th anniversary celebration to make our tastings  even merrier!

Our lineup begins with a tarusake with a tantalizing new twist, followed by our two-day  annual all-daiginjo anniversary celebration,  the introduction of a new daiginjo from Ishikawa, and finally a pre-New Year’s Eve sampling of the new Dassai 50 Sparkling Nigori.

Please join us for one or all.  We look forward to seeing you at SAKAYA!

Kanpai!

Rick & Hiroko

Saturday, December 3, 2011, 5-7pm

Choryo Brewery Tasting (Nara)

Yoshinosugi Taruzake

Friday, December 9, 2011, 6-8pm

Saturday, December 10, 2011, 5-7pm

SAKAYA 4th Anniversary Daiginjo Sake Tasting

Friday, December 16, 2011, 6-8pm

Kikusui Brewery Sake Tasting (Niigata)

Kikusui Junmai Ginjo & Nigori

Saturday, December 17, 2011, 5-7pm

Mujou Daiginjo Tasting (Ishikawa)

Friday, December 30, 2011, 5-7pm

Dassai Sparkling Sake Tasting (Yamaguchi)

With November comes Hiyaoroshi season and Thanksgiving which are not mutually exclusive, as the aforementioned seasonal sake are the perfect complement to the traditional holiday fare.

Please mark your calendar to join us to sample some superb fall seasonal sake, an elegant, silky, under-the-radar food-friendly brew, an exciting new addition to our selection from iconic toji (master brewer) Philip Harper,  and an exemplary aromatic daiginjo from Akita prefecture made using flower yeast.

We look forward to seeing you at one or all of our November tastings!

Kanpai!

Rick & Hiroko

Saturday, November 5, 2011, 5-7pm

Hiyaoroshi Sake Tasting

Sawanoi Junmai Hiyaoroshi, Urakasumi Tokubetsu Junmai Hiyaoroshi, & Wakatake Onikoroshi Tokubetsu Junmai Hiyaoroshi

Saturday, November 12, 2011, 5-7pm

Chiyomusubi Sake Tasting

Friday, November 18, 2011, 6-8pm

Tamagawa Tokubetsu Junmai Tasting

Saturday, November 26, 2011, 5-7pm

Chokaisan Junmai Daiginjo Tasting

October is an exciting month beginning with our Fourth Annual Sake Day Celebration on October 1, continuing with four new item introductions,  and finally concluding with the much-awaited hiyaoroshi (Fall seasonal sake).

Saturday, October 1, 2011, 5-7:30pm

Sake Day Party

Joto Sake Lineup

Yuki no Bosha Daiginjo (Akita), Wataribune 55 Junmai Ginjo (Ibaraki), Shichihon Yari Junmai (Shiga), and Hana Hou Hou Shu Sparkling (Okayama)

Saturday, October 8, 2011, 5-7pm

Kawatsuru Hojun Junmai Ginjo & Kawatsuru Omachi Junmai (Kagawa)

Saturday, October 15, 2011, 5-7pm

Shichida Junmai (Saga)

Saturday, October 22, 2011, 5-7pm

SENA Tasting

Koshino Omachi Junmai (Niigata)

Saturday, October 29, 2011, 5-7pm

Japan Prestige Sake Tasting

Hiyaoroshi Tasting

With the unofficial end of Summer approaching, our tastings this month sequentially bridge the transition to Fall with sake that reflect the shift in flavors of the seasons….

Saturday, September 3, 2011, 5-7pm

Dewazakura Oka Ginjo 30th Year Anniversary Sake Tasting (Yamagata)

Saturday, September 10, 2011, 5-7pm

Kubota Senju Tokubetsu Honjozo Tasting (Niigata)

Friday, September 16, 2011, 6-8pm

Nishiyama Brewery Sake Tasting (Hyogo)

Kotsuzumi Junmai Daiginjo, Tokubetsu Junmai, and Yuzu-shu

Saturday, September 24, 2011, 5-7pm

Kozaemon Tokubetsu Junmai Sake Tasting (Gifu)

Please join us for one or all!

Kanpai!

Rick & Hiroko

Yes, the dog days of August are here.  Hopefully, our line up of tastings for the month will help you forget the heat and humidity and shift your focus to some refreshing sake experiences including  a new arrival from Ichishima and a special 30th anniversary edition of Dewazakura Oka ….

Saturday, August 6, 2011, 5-7pm

Fukumitsuya Sake Tasting (Ishikawa)

Kagatobi Junmai Ginjo & Kagatobi Muroka Junmai Namazake

Saturday, August 13, 2011, 5-7pm

Denemon Junmai Ginjo (Niigata)

Saturday, August 20, 2011, 5-7pm

WineBow Import Sake Tasting

Ichishima Tokubetsu Honjozo (Niigata)

Friday, August 26, 2011, 6-8pm

World Sake Imports  Sake Tasting

Dewazakura Oka Ginjo 30th Anniversary Sake (Yamagata)

We look forward to seeing you at one or all to sample these superb summer sake!

Kanpai!

Rick & Hiroko

Our tastings this month feature the just-released Summer Namazake (available now),  a tasty new arrival from Koshino Omachi, a long-awaited and much anticipated sake from  Shichida , and the special “under-the-radar” Kaiun Junmai Ginjo that doesn’t always get the attention it so rightly deserves.

Please join us to sample these delicious brews that you’ll no doubt be adding to your growing list of favorites!

Saturday, July 2, 2011, 5-7pm

Ume no Yado Yuzu

Saturday, July 9, 2011, 5-7pm

Summer Namazake Tasting

Ohyama Tokubetsu Junmai Nama (Yamagata) & Tsuki no Katsura Junmai Ginjo Nama (Kyoto)

Saturday, July 16, 2011, 5-7pm

Koshi no Omachi Junmai (Niigata)

Saturday, July 23, 2011, 5-7pm

Shichida Junmai (Saga)

Saturday, July 30, 2011, 5-7pm

Kaiun Junmai Ginjo (Shizuoka)

If you’re passionate about sake and want to know the answers to the manifold questions that naturally come to mind when drinking this amazing elixir, here’s  the opportunity to learn from the most knowledgeable guy on the subject right here in New York City.   John has been an inspiration not only to us but to a community of people who you’ll find available to you too when you take his course.

Here’s all you need to know to sign up.  And take it from us, he’s good for his guarantee that the course leaves “no sake stone unturned.”

As summer both unofficially (post Memorial Day) and officially (with the Summer Solstice) kicks off in June, we’ve focused our tastings on sake that are perfect for seasonal  sipping separately,  or with grilling favorites.  Clean, light, and dry for the former and bold and fruity for the latter, this month’s selections will ensure that you’ll have a great sake for all of your summer celebrations. 

Saturday, June 4, 2011, 5-7pm

Toyo Bijin Junmai Ginjo Tasting (Yamaguchi)

Saturday, June 11, 2011, 5-7pm

Taisetsu Junmai Ginjo Tasting (Hokkaid0)

Saturday, June 18, 2011, 5-7pm

Kamoshibito Kuheiji Junmai Ginjo Tasting (Aichi)

Saturday, June 25, 2011, 5-7pm

JFC Sake Tasting

Mizubasho Ginjo (Gunma)

Our exciting lineup of  tastings in May includes visits from Miho Imada, the toji (master brewer) from Imada Brewing Company, producer of Fukucho sake and Nobuo Shoji, President of Yumekokoro Brewery which makes Naraman Muroka Junmai.

We also continue our “Drink Sake to Help Japan” series with more super sake from the Tohoku breweries in the earthquake and tsunami zone.  Please join us in showing your support for these brewers and their local economies by spreading the good word about their sake.

Saturday, May 7, 2011, 5-7pm

Fukucho Tasting

Fukucho Moon on the Water Junmai Ginjo & Biho Junmai Ginjo (Hiroshima)

Saturday, May 14, 2011, 5-7pm

Drink Sake to Help Japan

Okunomatsu Tokubetsu Junmai (Fukushima) & Hoyo Genji Tokubetsu Junmai (Miyagi)

Thursday, May 19, 2011, 6-8pm

Yumegokoro Brewery Tasting (Fukushima)

Naraman Muroka Junmai

Saturday, May 21, 2011, 5-7pm

Drink Sake to Help Japan

Urakasumi Junmai (Miyagi) & Ichinokura Himezen Junmai (Miyagi)