Tsukimi (月見）is an ancient Japanese tradition of autumn moon viewing. So what did and does tsukimi involve? At the very beginning, it was a moon-viewing party at which people play music and compose poetry. I assume that Heian aristocrats were drinking sake on those parties as well.
SSI taste profiles is a great way to assess and remember the sake you try. The Sake Service Institute (SSI) have divided all the sake into four categories, kun-shu, sou-shu, jun-shu and juku-shu based on two criteria: aroma and flavour. Read a brief overview of all the four profiles including examples of sake for each.
Rice is the essence of sake. It's the source of alcohol and gives it its flavour, aroma, texture and the character. It’s like grape to wine but slightly different.
Summer is a perfect time to try sake. You can enjoy a sparkling sake while chilling out in the shade, a robust junmai sake with BBQ or refined ginjo sake at a dinner party. Just look out for opportunities!
Hyakujuro Junmai Daiginjo is a sweeter sake with fruity aroma and some dried fruit and honey in the taste. It's full of umami and goes very well with hearty food like a miso marinated salmon we had with it last time.
Jin Kichi is an izakaya style restaurant at the heart of Hampstead. It's got an excellent food, a decent choice of sake and great atmosphere. Here is my little review of the place.
A weekend read for you! A slightly long post with a lot of beautiful images of sakura blossom in Japan from our trip a few years ago! Open a bottle of sake, snuggle on your sofa and enjoy. Kampai!
If you've ever been to any sake business presentation outside Japan, you had probably heard one of the most popular complaints about sake bottles: the labels are incomprehensible for foreigners.…
Last Thursday, I had an invitation to a sake workshop at Ichiba London, the largest Japanese food hall in Europe. The workshop covered usual topics of sake origin, ingredients, brewing method and the classification with a focus on rice varieties used in sake making.
Celebrating the London Sake Week we went to Chisou Izakaya and Sushi restaurant in Mayfair to treat ourselves with a nice dinner and free excellent sake.
