Top 10 List – Ten Killer Turkey Sakes!
Do you suffer from the same old boring Red vs. White wine with your Thanksgiving turkey battle each and every year? Does your weird Uncle Joe break out that “Totally amazing red wine given to him by the Venezuelan fishing captain who swears it’s the best wine ever made” each and every year? Does your sister insist on that bottle of white that she somehow managed to keep from her days of picking grapes in Buffalo? Screw that! Don’t you know that a starch-based libation like sake goes far better with your turkey and all the sides than a grape juice? Let this be the year that you dump the wine for an amazing bottle of sake that will slay your bird and make for an amazing meal fit for you and your favorite people? Herewith are ten super sakes that pair very well with your holiday turkey!
10) Kenbishi Kuromatsu “Black Pine” Honjozo
This brew has Thanksgiving written all over it! A big full-bodied honjozo that will envelope all of the bird and side flavors in a deep and semi-sweet richness. And this sake warms so well that it would work as a hot sake turkey partner.
9) Shirataki “Jozen” Noujun Uonuma 80% Junmai
I just wrote the review for this bird and the description alone will tell you that this sake is perfect for your bird! It’s a world class new style Niigata rich and smooth sake and it would pair very well with your creation. This is probably the sake that will be on my table. Please see new store arrivals for the new review for this sake
8) Kiminoi Yamahai “Emperor’s Well” Yamahai Junmai Ginjo
This very tasty Yamahai sake is always on our Turkey Top Ten list for good reason. It drinks great by itself in a large glass, but it actually tastes even better paired with each bite of the turkey, gravy, and all the other amazing buttery and salty flavors. This Emperor’s Well is fit for a king!
7) Tengumai “Dance of the Demon” Yamahai Junmai
Dance of the Demon is almost always on the big bird top 10 list because it is the perfect sake to get big and funky with your gamey turkey. This Yamahai Junmai is a meal in a glass, big, bold, and so expansive it let’s red wine drinkers see the real depth and heights that a sake can achieve in a glass. It’s a monster sake perfect for your monster turkey.
6) Kura Kabuto “Samurai Armor Helmet” Muroka Junmai Daiginjo
Not the best name in the sake business, but this sake is very worthy of being part of your Turkey dinner arsenal! Not many Junmai Daiginjos have the chops to stand up to all of the turkey day flavors, but this un-charcoal filtered brew does! Made with a special brewer’s mold it is a sake that stands very proud and very flavorful in your glass! Complexity is the name of this sake’s game and your dinner will be all the more worthwhile when your glass is full of this brew!
5) Tenzan “Mt. Tenzan” Junmai Genshu
Not the best name in the sake business, but this sake is very worthy of being part of your Turkey dinner arsenal! Not many Junmai Daiginjo’s have the chops to stand up to all of the turkey day flavors, but this un-charcoal filtered brew does! Made with a special brewer’s mold it is a sake that stands very proud and very flavorful in your glass! Complexity is the name of this sake’s game and your dinner will be all the more worthwhile when your glass is full of this brew!
4) Sequoia “Nama” Junmai
Why think “Global” when you can drink local this Thanksgiving? San Francisco’s very own sake brewery called Sequoia Sake makes a very tasty fresh and living unpasteurized sake that would make your dinner all the more lively! Fresh bird with fresh brew! Come on this is a slam-dunk for certain!
Sequoia “Nama” From San Francisco. Junmai.
The nose on this local brew is a nice collection of citrus, lemon grass, and herbal components. This “Live” sake is made fresh and sold fresher! It has a collection of juicy and lively fruit tone elements that drink bright and fun rather than cloying and sweet. Fleshy and fun this brew is semi-thick and feels great in the palate. A nice acidity play makes for a good food-pairing partner that works well with richer and fuller cuisines including international spices. This is drinking sake at its freshest and most lively self. WORD: Bright WINE: Lively reds/ bright whites BEER: Crisp Ales FOODS: Cuisines with attitude.
3) Urakasumi “Misty Bay” Honjozo Genshu
Just say yes! Just say ‘Go for the Gold’ this Thanksgiving! Why not? This sake is a flavorful powerhouse brew that let’s you see how “big” a sake can actually drink! It is huge! There I said it. This amazingly tasty sake is a time bomb waiting to explode in your large wine glass. This by far is the most confident and bold sake on the list and it will not back down from any flavor on your Bird-Day menu. It is a pairing genius that will make your evening complete and you could actually make a toast with this sake that yells, “Give thanks to fermented rice and water!”
2) Kuroushi “Black Bull” Junmai Ginjoe
A Bull and A Bird! How fun is that? This amazing sake that features the Omachi rice varietal is a very confident brew that is a large red wine drinkers best buddy. Complex and layered this sake is a perfect bird companion on so many levels. Rich and chewy it would go right at the bird and then dance merrily with the stuffing, veggies, and of course those gravy covered mashed potatoes. This sake will cover all of the angles and will make your company bullish on this great meal!
1) Tsukasabotan Senchu Hassaku Reika “Nama”
So the time has come to make your own Thanksgiving history! In this newsletter you will find an amazing recipe for a True Sake Turkey rub that makes your Thanksgiving bird so much better. The sake used in this “infused” recipe is the pasteurized version of this sake. How cool is that? Use the pasteurized version for cooking and use the nama or unpasteurized version for pairing! This is now a three-dimensional Thanksgiving dinner that uses two fantastic sakes to work their wonders for your special meal! Now that’s called giving thanks!