In this issue:

• Proof Is In The Pudding - 24 Typhoons Later
• Sake A Day - Keeps The Doc Away
• New Store Arrivals
• Special Events
• "Ask Beau"
• The SECRET WORD

As I mentioned in one of my earlier newsletters several months back, typhoons pounded Japan last year; 24 to 28 depending on whom you were speaking to and how much they had consumed. Nevertheless it was a horrible - and I mean absolutely awful - year for the sake rice farmers. Please recall that sake- brewing rice stands much taller than consumption rice, and as such strong winds play havoc on these top- heavy stalks of rice. Now that this brewing rice is in play, and being used the results are not as bad as perceived. I am happy to report that we need not beware the rice of March!

Not nearly as dramatic as grapes for wine, rice has its seasons - good and bad - as well. But when you really press a toji (master brewer) or a kuramoto (brewery owner) they can never really recall the great years, only the bad. I think the reason for this is that it is still possible to make good sake from average quality rice. They just have to work harder. And there are more steps available to make an improvement from a starch, unlike grapes, which are already glucose with little margin for error. I had a nice discussion with the owner of a brewery, who I consider the most knowledgeable sake guru that I have ever met, and he said that the rice this year was "okay'. When I asked him to expand on okay he said that roughly 30% of the rice that came his way was spoiled - presumably by the typhoons. I said that 30% sounded like a lot, and he said that because the rice was damaged does not mean it was unusable. Of course a lot of it is trashed, but even damaged rice can be tweaked was his point. Perhaps it doesn't mill as well or absorb as well, but tojis have generational old tricks to make sub par rice work. And that is why they don't really recall the good years, rather they remember the bad rice growing years as it makes them work harder and that is something that we all tend to recall more - working harder!

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Okay here is brief bit of info for all of you looking to justify your raging alcoholism. We all have seen the TV interview with the 120 year-old Bulgarian woman who when asked why she lived so long claimed that it was the shot of vodka every day (and the pack of cigs). Well maybe that old Bulgarian gal had something according to a study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Francine Grodstein of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston stated, "Low levels of alcohol appear to have cognitive benefits." For those who are reading this newsletter at their local Izakaya (sake drinking house) I will roughly translate this as "a good buzz means no fuzz."

The study of more than 12,000 elderly women found that those who consumed light to moderate amounts of alcohol daily had about a 20% lower risk of experiencing problems with their mental abilities later in life according to Rob Stein of the Washington Post. Furthermore "Women who consistently were drinking about one-half to one drink per day had both less cognitive impairment as well as less decline in their cognitive function compared to women who didn't drink at all," Grodstein said.

Now wait - the news gets better - as this study only focused on women it is assumed that men benefit even more as previous studies in this area indicate that men seem to benefit more from alcohol than women as they drink more than their female counterparts - one to two drinks per day - and apparently the more the better. Translation: Doctors recommend that you call True Sake 415.355.9555 or visit our website at www.truesake.com.

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For a limited time we still have the freshest Spring Released Nama sakes (unpasteurized) from Japan. Arguably these are the freshest sakes outside of Japan, and we are very proud to offer Nama sakes to you even before many Japanese can obtain them in their own homeland. There are four different Namas to choose from - Koshinohomare, Kamikokoro, Harushika, and Kaika - and they all rock!

I have also added a killer "Yamahai" sake (made in the traditional style with open-air yeasts joining the mix) from Akita that has really been floating my boat. It comes in the very cool Wakatake-style square bottle and has a wicked nose filled with nuts, wheat, powdered coffee creamer, and a hint of cereal in milk - no kidding! This nose translates into a subtle cream flavor in the sake itself that my wife claimed reminded her of cream sherry. I pulled hints of almonds and rice wrapped in a soft-spoken cocoa flavor. All together it is a semi-dry viscous sake with a rolling thickness that feels great, and is both chunky and chewy. A perfect Yamahai to explore the realms of a "wide" sake that welcomes all types of food pairings. Hiraizumi - Yamahai Junmai - From Akita Prefecture - SMV:+4 Acidity:1.9 $34/720ml with box.

You can review many of our sakes on our web site: www.truesake.com

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MARCH 15th - Shhhhhhhh! It's the "SECRET" Sake Tasting. This True Sake tasting will be held on Tuesday March 15th from 6:30-7:30 at Zonal -568 Hayes Street two doors down from True Sake. The price is only $20/person and there will be light snacks. Six "SECRET" sakes will be served and if you enjoy a mystery this tasting is for you! Once again there will be limited seating so get your tickets ASAP.

Stop by True Sake or phone the store at 415.355.9555 - we do not sell tickets at the door!

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Steve B. from Minnesota asked, "What does the word sake mean?"

Steve, firstly this is a simple but great question, and I will answer it by describing an embarrassing situation that happened to me in Japan. On one of my trips to Osaka - roughly the time when the True Sake concept began to formulate - I was with a Canadian fellow and we went looking for a "sake bar." Time and time again we would ask people to show us to a sake bar and they would keep steering us to nightclubs or typical bars that didn't really have sake. We kept asking what the F#^& are these peoples' problem? Aren't they Japanese? Don't they know what sake is? I mean come on! We were both frustrated and completely ignorant. Sake in Japan does not mean what sake in the US or abroad means.

In Japan the word sake means all types of alcoholic beverages. Thus those kind people kept showing us to sake bars - bars that served all sorts of alcoholic beverages. Sake can be wine, beer, spirits and even sake, but it doesn't just mean sake as we know it. The correct word in Japan is "Nihonshu" which translates roughly into the "wine of Japan." There is another more formal name for sake that was used when speaking in governmental or legal terminology, which is Seishu and stands for filtered sake. The word Seishu can be found on most bottles of sake, but the word to use to find "sake" in Japan is Nihonshu. And lastly what about that cute little accent above the e in sake? As they say in Hoboken "Fughetaboutit"!

Please send your sake specific questions to askbeau2 @ truesake.com. (This address is not for general questions and I only review the questions once per month. All correspondence should use info @ truesake.com.)

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If you are new to the Newsletter welcome to the most important part. Each month we select two different sakes for our newsletter readers to get at half price. The point is to continue your sake education by trying trying trying. What we do is we select a word that you must utter under your breath not alerting other non-readers who happen to be shopping at the same time. This has been hugely popular, and we often run out of one or the other at some point but we refill quickly so bear with us. We also encourage that you don't just show up at True Sake once a month to take advantage of the great deal only! We know who you are! That said this month's SECRET WORD sakes are Maihime, a semi- dry Junmai that drinks very dry, and Nanburyu a semi-dry Junmai that drinks far earthier and sweeter. And the SECRET WORD is Nihonshu!

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Thanks for reading!

True Sake