Creating sake drinkers one post at a time
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Do you drink sake? No? I think I know why!
You don’t know what it will taste like.
You don’t know which brands to buy.
You can’t read the labels! It is just too hard!
I will help you navigate the new and exciting world of sake.
I will review sake available in Australia, one post at a time. I will also tell you more about sake – grades, kinds and different flavour profiles. Bookmark SakeGuide for a handy reference when faced with an impenetrable drinks menu and a clueless waiter!
Read MoreRecent Blog Posts
March 22, 2014 |
How to buy sake – the ultimate 5 step guide for beginners
Learn to shop for sake in 5 simple steps How many times have you looked at sake on display in a store and walked away? It’s just so…foreign. Everyone knows a thing or two about wine. Here, in Australia, even the most staunch wine avoiders can rattle off the list of common styles – merlot, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay…champagne! We all know something about wine. When it comes to sake, however, the vast majority of people know nothing. Nothing at all. That doesn’t mean people don’t want to know, interest in sake is exploding all over the world. The information vacuum is starting to fill up – now you can buy...
March 16, 2014 |
Inside my sake class
Sake course with Laneway Learning I just ran my first short sake course via the Laneway Learning teaching platform. Laneway Learning is a funky Sydney company whose motto is cheap, fun classes on anything and everything. What’s more fun than drinking sake? I won’t say what exactly the students learnt and drank as I will run the class for the second time, and would like to keep things a (hopefully delightful) suprise. But I will say one thing – my objective is to have you buying and ordering sake without fear. There is a system, and I will teach you! The system involves understanding sake grades, types and reading the labels without knowing any...
March 10, 2014 |
Where to find information on Japanese culture in English
Japanese culture – why so difficult? Japan’s culture has always maintained a veil of mystery for many reasons. First of all, Japanese culture is complex, intricate. Everything is an “art”. Serving tea is an art. Wearing traditional dress is an art. Drinking sake is an art. I am not exaggerating. Google “how to drink sake” or “how to eat sushi” and you will come across a plethora of step-by-step guides, untangling the knot of traditions and codes of behaviour. Secondly, Japan is still very much a “closed” country. Japan went through a period of self-imposed isolation, sakoku, that last hundreds of years. From 1633 till 1853 no foreigner could enter and no Japanese could leave...
February 14, 2014 |
World’s first sake magazine – Sake Today
Rejoice, sake lovers around the world. The publisher of the iconic Japan Beer Times Ry Beville has teamed up with my personal sake guru, John Gauntner, to produce the world-first dedicated Sake magazine. It will be published bi-annually and can be easily ordered online. The inaugural issue covers a broad spectrum of sake topics, from “sake 101” to in-depth overview of a single ingredient, rice. There is also advice on sake selection, insider information on best sake bars in Tokyo and a report on sake activity around the world. My personal favourite was the article “Regionality in Japanese Sake: East and West, coastline and mountains” by Haruo Matsuzaki. With Ry’s permission, I am publishing an...
February 5, 2014 |
My top 5 sake
Top sake brands – how many? I have already written about (an arbitrary) list of current top 5 sake in Japan. I say arbitrary because there are hundreds of stellar sake brands. Sake brewers pour so much effort, precision, and love into their craft, more often than not, they end up making something delicious. There are about 1250 active breweries in Japan, and John Gauntner, the father of modern-day sake appreciation, recommends about 400 sake brands. That means one in three breweries produce something worth seeking out. In the presence of so much great sake, how do particular brands become super-popular and end up in various “top 10” lists? There is, of course, marketing....
February 3, 2014 |
Taking the Sake Professional Course with John Gauntner
I have just returned from Japan as a newly minted Certified Sake Professional. This qualification is granted by the Sake Education Council, a non-profit organisation created to promote sake outside Japan. It was the first of its kind, and to this day, the best. The SEC is headed by John Gauntner, the teacher of the CSP course. John quite modestly refers to himself as “sake’s biggest evangelist”, but to his students and sake enthusiasts around the world, he is the sake guru. In the English-speaking world, his knowledge of sake is without rival. When I went to study with John, I understood the sake fundamentals quite well. Each day of his course, however, was a...
December 17, 2013 |
Chef’s Armoury Sake Tasting
Last Saturday, I went to taste a few new sakes from Chef’s Armoury. I have been a fan of this Japan-centric business for a long, long time. Chef’s Armoury first established itself as the dominant supplier of quality Japanese knives, becoming a favourite with chefs and serious home cooks. It then steadily added to its range of covetable cooking tools – coal-fired konro BBQs, cast iron cookware and hard-to-find Japanese ingredients. Chef’s Armoury people also teach how to use the things they sell. I left knife sharpening alone, but went to a multitude of Japanese cooking classes, with some astonishing results – I can now give Osaka takoyaki cooks a run for their money! Stephanie and Leigh...
December 7, 2013 |
Top 5 sake in Japan
There are around 1300 breweries in Japan, many making more than one brand of sake (and under each umbrella brand, several varieties). That’s quite a lot of bottles to get through to find a good drop. Throw in the language barrier in the mix, and the resulting confusion is enough to make the less adventurous drinker give up the search. Fret not. There is a definitive list of most popular sake brands that you can use as you begin your exploration. Here’s the top 5 sake brands in Japan – three of them are even available in Australia! Print it and take with you on your next trip to Japan. Or keep it handy for your next...