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!

Recent Blog Posts

November 29, 2013 |

Sake – a Beginner’s Guide

What is sake? Sake is sometimes referred to as “Japanese wine”. However, sake brewing process is starkly different to wine making or any other beverage production. Wine is made when yeast – wild or cultivated – converts grape sugars to alcohol. Sake is made with rice. Rice has no sugars, only starch. To turn rice into alcohol, brewers first grow a special mould – kōji – on cooked rice. Same mould is used to create soy sauce and miso, by the way. Later, yeast is added into the mix and two processes – conversion of starch into sugars, and conversion of sugars into  alcohol – all happen at the same time.  The fermented starter...

November 17, 2013 |

Black Market Sake – beyond ginjō

This week, I was invited to come along to the event “What’s new”, a mini trade-show that highlights new wine and sake from a number of like-minded importers.  I had the pleasure of meeting Linda Wiss & Matt Young from Black Market Sake. Black Market Sake is a purveyor of artisanal, small production sake, most of which are very hard to find outside (or inside!) Japan.  For example, almost half of their range is ‘namazake’, or unpasteurised sake. Unpasteurised sake is very fragile, and sensitive to light and temperature (all sake is, but unpasteurised is much more so).  You need to take extreme care to properly store and transport namazake, so sourcing such sake...

November 9, 2013 |

Matching sake with seafood – better than white wine?

Pairing sake with seafood – better than white wine?

November 2, 2013 |

Welcome and Kampai!

Welcome to Sake Guide. This website’s mission is to convince you to drink sake. Once a mysterious drink that was drunk only upon reaching the shores of Japan, ordered hot (guilty) and imbibed with a sense of adventure, sake has taken up residence in Australia. It is not just served in specialised restaurants, but sold in bottle shops, offered in laneway bars and French fusion restaurants. It is very much a drink of the moment. Still, a quick poll of my friends and acquaintances reveals that people drink little and know less.  Many people have tried sake but not have gone back. That’s interesting, as with alcohol, the opposite is usually true  – you start...