Why Am I Writing About This?
For many years I have enjoyed drinking sakè particularly with Japanese food such as sushi. It was pretty much limited to few types of sakê that were available in my region. Though I had travelled a few times to Japan, I felt I did not know enough about sakè to ask for anything in particular. On my first trip I encountered sakè served chilled with a dinner of Shabu-shabu. It was an eye opening experience, with a completely different flavor, (and yes, delicious). On my second trip while in the "wilds" of Shikoku with litte Japanese language skills I dared to venture into a sakêya (sakè shop). I manage to convey that I wanted to sample other sake appropriate for chilled enjoyment, and the staff and other customers pointed me to a sampler of great sakè.
Some years later I found the Sake Tours website. Their tours provide both an in-depth experience of visiting the sakè breweries with the opportunity to meet with the owners and brewers as well as unique cultural experiences. After a few years I managed to go on the tour of the Okayama region. I learned quite a bit about the brewing process and tasted a variety of sakês from the region. This just continued to spark my desire to learn more about sakè. In the past year (2018) I was able to become a Certified Sake Professional by taking this course taught by John Gauntner. It was an intense 3 days of training covering almost everything you would want to know about sakè. In our class we tasted nearly 90 different kinds of sakè across numerous dimensions from the type of rice, degree of rice polishing, the type of yeast, regionality, and brewing methods just to name a few. It gave me a great appreciation for the wide varieties of taste profiles as well as the various ways to enjoy it (from cold to hot, for example). I am going to be taking another tour this year (2019) in the Niigata region. Another area known for great sakè.
My Goal
I am hoping I can share my love of sakè with other, particularly sharing a variety of sakè experience from travel to various sakès that come across my path. I will add blog entries to the sites to develop the story.