Tag - sake

 
 

SAKE

LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Nov 9, 2000
More the merrier at Shinjuku's Zonbun
Shinjuku can be daunting, to say the least. Especially when you are in a group, looking for a place to hang and eat and drink. Where to begin looking can be as problematic as finding a place the whole group can fit. Add the prospect of everyone enjoying good sake, and you might as well throw in the o-shibori....
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Oct 27, 2000
'Tis fall, and the brewers gather around their vats
In sync with the new colors and cooler weather of fall, the brewing season begins. Except for a few dozen brewing factories operated by the largest sake-brewing companies, sake is brewed in the colder months, generally from the end of October to the beginning of April. Larger brewers' facilities keep...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Oct 12, 2000
A long, reflective sip of sake's craft and science
Sake's history goes back centuries and centuries, but just how many is a matter of debate. Regardless of the answer, over the last century or so gains in sake-brewing methods and technology have been exponential.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 28, 2000
Keeping it plain and simple for the serious sake drinker
Some of the best sake can be tasted these days at modern, shiny, artsy-craftsy sake pubs. These present some of the most lively and interesting environments in which to hang out with nihonshu. But sometimes, what we seek in a sake pub is more of an out-of-the-way feeling. Sometimes its anonymity that...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 14, 2000
Hatsu-nomikiri still a summer ritual for brewers
Sake breweries are usually fairly quiet in the summer. Except for the few large breweries where brewing continues all year, most places are dark and quiet and empty, as the brewers themselves have gone home for the summer. Traditionally, the kurabito (brewers) traveled great distances from their rural...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Aug 10, 2000
When you least expect distinction in Shimbashi . . .
It's always refreshing to come across a new sake pub, in particular one that breaks the mold of tradition and convention. It's even more refreshing to come upon one that defies all efforts at categorization, yet still satisfies in every way.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jul 27, 2000
For new sake sensations, seek out the 'brat pack'
After tasting sake for some time, we begin to search for sake we have not yet tried. Of course, we have our favorites, sake we can fall back on and drink any day of the week. And we already know about good, well-publicized sake, be they blue chips such as Kubota or powerful upstarts like Juyondai.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jul 13, 2000
Compulsories of sake keeps brewers in top form
Last month, I gave an overview of the Shinshu Kanpyokai, the national new-sake tasting competition held each spring, and its logistics. Here is a look at what kind of sake wins, and what the big deal is about anyway.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jun 8, 2000
A taste of brewers' best
The 88th New-Sake Tasting Competitions were held in Hiroshima May 16.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
May 25, 2000
Strong traditions flow through Iwate sake
Talk about a late bloomer. From its location in the northeastern corner of Honshu, Iwate Prefecture exerts a tremendous influence on the sake world. Yet, sake was not even produced there on any real scale until well after 1678, long after Nada, Itami and Kyoto were well into their sake-brewing heyday....
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
May 11, 2000
Recalling the toil of winter in the rites of spring
It's May, and for almost all of the nation's 1,700 or so sake brewers, this means brewing activities are over for the season. There are a handful of larger breweries that have climate-controlled factories, and do brew year-round (known as shiki-jozo). But everyone else is limited to the coldest months...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Apr 27, 2000
Nigorizake puts the fun back in sake drinking
It is all too easy to get all too serious about sake all too often. Ginjo this and ginjo that, highly polished rice, double-secret yeast, fancy fragrance, full palate, clean finish, yada yada yada. Sake in the end should be fun, and nothing reminds us of this better than nigorizake.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Apr 13, 2000
Fish, sake and crowds come together at Uoshin
Like the indigenous beverages of most countries, sake developed along with its national cuisine. Indeed, there are great differences in Japanese cuisine from region to region, small country though Japan may be, and these differences are reflected in the subtle differences in the sake.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 23, 2000
The magic of dancing spores
Sake fans these days are quite often inundated with information (much of it extraneous) about how a sake was made. The rice, yeast strain, water quality, nihonshu-do (specific gravity) and acidity are commonly found listed on the labels of most decent bottles of sake.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 9, 2000
Ryohana: brilliantly competent, and proud of it
The late Jerry Garcia, former Grateful Dead lead guitarist, was once asked in an interview if he would like to be considered a great musician. With characteristic modesty, he waved the idea off as something in which he had no interest. After a moment of thought, however, he responded: "I would like to...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 24, 2000
The go-mi system of sake tasting
Describing and conveying the flavor of sake has always been problematic. How does one explain a gustatory experience in words alone? It certainly isn't easy. And, as sake flavor profiles become more complex and subtle, it is bound to become even more difficult.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 10, 2000
Back streets in not-so-far towns
One of the great joys of sake tippling, especially after having searched the town for a while, is finding a new gem of a place. Just when you think you've seen just about any manifestation a sake pub could take, you stumble on something charming and warm, wondering how it could have escaped your attention...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 27, 2000
Polishing off more perfection
It is finally beginning to get cold, which must bring a collective sigh of relief from sake brewers all over the country. The unseasonably warm temperatures of late are not good for brewing sake. Since just about now is when brewers dig in and begin to brew their best stuff, not enough cold could spoil...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Dec 23, 1999
Sake tools you can trust
Happy Holidays to all Japan Times readers.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Dec 9, 1999
Plenty to imbibe on the Internet
Sake has slowly seeped through the Internet, having reached a fairly saturating presence there. Any search on the word sake will yield intoxicatingly broad results. A lot of it is good information, some of it is a bit light and some of it is pure business. Here is a quick rundown of what can be culled...

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