Sakaya NYC Blog

With hot weather finally upon us we’ve scheduled a slate of tastings featuring sake that offer refreshing flavors to slake the summer thirst.

Saturday, August 8, 2009 from 4PM~6PM

Japan Prestige Sake Association Summer Namazake

Ohyama Summer Nama Tokubetsu Junmai (Yamagata)

Thursday, August 13, 2009 from 6PM ~8PM

Dassai 39 Sparkling Sake (Yamaguchi)

Thursday, August 20, 2009 from 6PM ~8PM

Kaiun Junmai Ginjo (Shizuoka) & Biwa no Choju Junmai Ginjo (Shiga)

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 from 6PM ~ 8PM

Nishimoto Trading Sake Tasting

Kamoshibito Kuheiji Junmai Ginjo & Muroka Junmai Daiginjo (Aichi)

We look forward to seeing you at one or more of these events at SAKAYA this month.

Kanpai!

Rick & Hiroko

We are delighted that the August issue Gourmet Magazine features Ume no Yado Yuzu-shu as one of their “Good Living Obsessions” and notes SAKAYA exclusively as the place to buy it!  We couldn’t agree with them more on this refreshing beverage as the perfect summer aperitif.   Please drop by and pick up a bottle, you’ll be glad you did.

  

Our apologies for the late posting of the July tasting schedule.  Still remaining at this point are the noteworthy U.S. debuts of the Tsuki no Katusura Junmai Ginjo summer namazake from Japan Prestige Sake,  Dassai 39 Sparkling Nigori, and Kikusui Organic Junmai.

 Please join us to enjoy these new arrivals and taste the latest offerings of the accompanying established favorites .  We look forward to seeing you at SAKAYA!

Kanpai!

Rick & Hiroko

Saturday, July 11, 2009, 3 to 6PM

Winebow Importer Tasting

Ichishima Futsu-shu & Dewatsuru Kimoto Junmai

Thursday, July 16, 2009, 6 to 8PM

World Sake Import Tasting

Seitoku Junmai Ginjo (Gunma) & Dewazakura Dewa San San (Yamagata)

Thursday, July 23, 2009, 6 to 8PM

Japan Prestige Sake Summer Nama Tasting

Ohyama Tokubetsu Junmai Nama & Tsuki no Katsura Junmai Ginjo Nama

Wednesday, July 29, 2009, 6 to 8PM

Mr. Sakurai’s Sparkling Sake Tasting

Dassai 39 Sparkling Nigori

Thursday, July 30, 2009, 6 to 8PM

Kikusui Brewer Sake Tasting

Kikusui Organic Junmai, Kikusui Junmai Ginjo, & Kikusui Funaguchi

Our schedule of June tastings is guaranteed to both expand your sake experience and pique your curiosity by touching on a wide range of grades, types, and styles.  Please join us for any or all to sample this intriguing line-up of jizake!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 6 to 8PM

Fukumitsuya Sake Tasting

Kagatobi Junmai Ginjo & Kagatobi Cho Karakuchi YamahaiJunmai

Thursday, June 11, 2009, 6 to 8PM

JFC Sake Tasting

Ken Daiginjo (Fukushima) & Denshin Yuki Junmai Ginjo (Fukui)

Saturday, June 20, 2009, 3 to 6PM

Niigata Sake Tasting

Saturday, June 27, 2009, 3 to 6PM

Umenoyado Sake Tasting

Umenoyado Junmai Ginjo & Umenoyado Yuzushu

We  look forward to seeing  you at SAKAYA!

Kanpai!

We begin the month with two tastings of the last wave (and best in our opinion) of the special Spring release namazake.   Next is the debut of the sake from the latest importer to make their brews available in NYC, Sake Story.

And finally, with brewers making their annual mid-May visits to NYC,  we have a full schedule of tastings to offer visitors the opportunity to meet them and sample their sake.

Please join us!

Kanpai!

Rick & Hiroko

Friday, May 1, 6 to 8PM

Japan Prestige Sake Spring Nama Tasting

Saturday, May 9, 3 to 6PM

Japan Prestige Sake Spring Nama Tasting

Thursday, May 14, 6 to 8PM

Sake Story Selections Sake Tasting

Saturday, May 16, 3 to 6PM

Daimon Brewer Sake Tasting

Sunday, May 18, 3 to 5PM

Tentaka Brewer &  Kanbara Brewer Sake Tasting

Friday, May 29, 6 to 8PM

Naruto Tai Brewer Sake Tasting

Sunday, May 31, 3 to 5PM

Onikoroshi Brewer Sake Tasting

Spring is here, and we’re waiting for the sakura (cherry blossoms) to bloom.  Ohanami is the Japanese tradition of viewing and cherishing the sakura with friends and families, but without sake, an integral part of the tradition,  ohanami wouldn’t be as enjoyable.

At SAKAYA, we have the perfect sake for all occasions.  Pick up some nihonshu for your ohanami or for whatever your Spring celebration.

To introduce you to some options to choose from, herewith is our April in-store tastings schedule….

Friday, April 3, 2009, from 6 to 8PM

Takasago Shuzo Sake Tasting

Taisetsu Junmai Ginjo & Ginga Shizuku “Divine Droplets” Junmai Daiginjo

Saturday, April 11, 2009, from 3 to 6PM

Masumi Arabashiri Junmai Ginjo Spring Namazake Tasting

Saturday, April 18, 2009, from 3 to 6PM

Azumaichi Junmai & Junmai Ginjo Tasting

Saturday, April 25, 2009 from 3 to 6PM

Amanoto Tokubetsu Junmai Nama/non-Nama Tasting

 

The popular culinary manga series, Oishinbo has finally been translated into English.  The Oishinbo series began in 1983 during the gourmet boom in Japan’s Bubble Era and continues to this day.   Oishinbo #102 was published in June, 2008.  It’s popularity has been so widespread that it became an animated television show from 1988 to 1992, a TV drama from 1994 to 1999, and a movie in 1996.

The story  takes place at the fictional Tozai Newspaper company in Tokyo. To commemorate its 100-year anniversary, the newspaper assigns two young reporters, Shiro Yamaoka and Yuko Kurita, the project of  creating the “Ultimate Menu.”  The competing newspaper establishes a collaboration with renowned ceramic artist and Gourmet Club President Yuzan Kaibara, to produce a “Supreme Menu.”   Adding an element of complexity is the fact that Kaibara is the estranged father of Yamaoka.  Their strained relationship further heightens the tension of the competition.

Each episode focuses on how Yamaoka and Kurita tackle the problems facing them as they search for the best ingredients, cuisine, or drinks to create the Ultimate Menu.

This first English translation distills the 102 volumes down to thematic “a la carte” episodes focused on specific alcoholic beverages (sake) i.e. champagne, wine, aged awamori, and nihonshu.  This Oishinbo: Sake is the second installment of the Oishinbo series published in the U.S. The first focused on Japanese cuisine.  A third offering on  Ramen and Gyoza will be available in May.

We highly recommend reading all of them but for sake enthusiasts, Oishinbo: Sake is particularly interesting and thought-provoking.   And, by the way,  several of the sake featured can be found at SAKAYA!  Hint:  see the “Featured Sake” on our website.

Imagine if you will,  a journey through time and space that begins with an intensive abrasion of your skin.  While  still smarting, you’re jet-sprayed, dunked, and held under water until you’ve shed whatever residue  remained from the abrasion.  “Whew! Glad th  at’s over with,” you think as you lie down and rest for the night.

But early the following morning before you know what’s happening,  you’re in the hottest Turkish bath you’ve never dreamed of.  Ouch!  With great relief you’re allowed to cool off while b  eing transported somewhere by conveyor belt.  Suddenly,  without warning,  you’re sucked into a hose and flying at warp speed  until…splash!  You’ve been shot into  a tank of yeasty smelling liquid.

Such is the sakamai‘s  tale.

(Posted from Daimon Shuzo sake brewery in Osaka-fu)

How do they do it?  There are so many tasks and so few kurabito.  Our Mukune International Sake Brewing Program intern team of six has doubled the work force at Daimon Shuzo.   The experience of the last day and a half has given me an immense appreciation for the efficiency of the operation of this sakagura.   To say that the craft of sake making is arduous and demanding would be an understatement.  But the real difference maker is the coordination, timing, and teamwork.

We’ve washed, soaked, steamed, and cooled rice for a variety of uses (and we’ll do more).  We’ve made and moved koji.  Made boxes and labeled bottles.   Washed and cleaned our equipment and the materials used in the process.  We’ll do that many times more as well.   Along with the physical, we’ve also be given an inside look at the science and management of the process.  It is astounding what the full time kura team accomplishes in creating and packaging a variety of different sake (each with it’s own unique “recipe” requiring different logistics and timing).  All is seamlessly integrated following  a flow of steps that bends and turns according to time, temperature, and taste.

At the figurative end of the day,  we’ve had a literal taste of the satisfaction that a toji feels as he samples the free run sake that is the first to flow out of the Yabuta (the machine that presses the fermented mash and yields the fresh undiluted, unpasteurized sake).  At the literal end of the day, we’ve also experienced the blissful exhaustion that comes from a labor that produces such an exquisite beverage.   I know that I’ve never slept so well.

 

 

Within 10 minutes of our arrival at the Daimon Shuzo kura, we were immersed in the transfer of koji from wooden box-like trays to a burlap lined,  wire mesh-based variety.   We were smelling, smoothing, and yes, even tasting the almost styrofoam-like grains of rice that were now in a state of saccharine transformation due to the effects of exposure to their koji-kin invaders. With apologies for the lack of specific terminology,  it was the experience of immediate entrance into the world and craft of sake brewing that was singularly exhilarating.

Our welcome from Shacho (President) and Toji (Brewmaster) Yasutaka Daimon was at the same time, warm, gracious, and enthusiastic.   “Fasten your seat belts!” he exclaimed as he  smiled at us from the top of the stairway.  And then, there we were, up to our eyes in koji.

The subsequent exploration of our new home ultimately led to a steep, well-worn wooden stairway which led to our sleeping quarters.  Looking straight up into the eaves of this ancient structure,  I was struck by the feeling (realization?)   that I was exactly where I most wanted to be.  The stairway symbolized that point of entry from one world to the next.