Dear Addressee_Placeholder,Dear Sake Drinker,
Welcome to the 105th Issue of America's sake-centric Newsletter. In
this issue get the low-down on the International Wine Challenge 2013
in London, learn how you can help better the sake market here and
abroad, find out how putting an egg in hot sake can bring you health,
discover which sake brewer ironically visited the store unannounced,
dig on the upcoming sake tastings, and hear the whispers about a True
Sake 10th Anniversary party that is on the hush hush!
In this issue:
Sake Judging - The International Wine Challenge 2013 London
I love the International Wine Challenge. It's just a terrific sake
competition that does so very much for the sake industry. Yes of
course the 584 sakes paled in comparison to the thousands of wine
submissions but the event is getting larger and more competitive each
year. I firmly believe in the quality of judging and the
professionalism of the event, so much so that I participated this year
on my deathbed!
No kidding! When I flew to London I landed with the flu. And that was
no usual strain of influenza! That baby was damn near bird flu quality
and it knocked me for a loop! Luckily when I fly overseas for tastings
and events I arrive several days early to "adjust" to time zone etc.
In this case I landed on a Thursday and our first commitment was on
Sunday evening (A panel chairman's meeting to discuss the tasting in
detail before the judging commenced on Monday). I was grateful to take
the flight that arrived in the morning on Thursday because it allowed
me an extra day to sleep. And I slept. And slept.
To be honest and on a personal note, I have never been so sick in all
of my life. This was a sickness that I have never felt before, and I
was extremely scared and saddened that I would have to miss the
tasting. But after sleeping for roughly forty hours on and off I felt
able to attend the meeting on Sunday night. It was good to see some of
my fellow sake judges who now have seniority at the event. There were
no major concerns about the tasting except for placement of the
flights and categorizing the flights. I do not know if I am at liberty
to discuss details but basically we discussed the merits of tasting
certain sakes before others and how to lump several categories
together.
Monday arrived - the first day of the scheduled two days of tasting -
and I felt terrible. But the gods of sake urged me to assume my duties
for the day! So I did not shake any hands and stood clear of my panel.
And I tasted and tasted and tasted. Remarkably my pallet was sound. I
did not suffer from a stuffy nose, and could really get my nose into
the action. Luckily the sakes really spoke for themselves. More on
this later!
If you recall I have mentioned in year's past that the IWC uses a
two-day program that has the sakes graded in two different methods on
each day. On Day One the sakes are judged under the following
standards: 100-85 points = a medal, 84-80 points = Commended, and
79-75 = Out. After completing a flight of sakes, which is usually
between 7 and 9 entrants, we go around the tasting panel and say
either, "Medal" "Commend" or "Out." To safeguard against a poor
tasting panel we usually insert several "Commend" sakes into day two
when they should not be there as only "Medal" sakes pass through. On
Day Two we determined which medal the sakes should receive. If the
sake scores 100-95 = Gold, 94-90 = Silver, 89-85 = Bronze, and people
offer their own tasting notes which get aggregated and sent to the
entry breweries for their own marketing efforts.
As the Panel Chair I never give my grade out until necessary, as we do
not want to influence the junior tasters. So after a flight I go
around the table and write down the judges' scores. Hopefully the
sakes speak for themselves and there is a consistent grade for each
entrant. But often the scores are across the board. I love it when one
taster has a sake as an "Out" and another has the sake as a "Medal."
Ha! That's when we need to speak to the sake and try it again and
discuss. This year luckily the sakes did speak for themselves so we
didn't have too many issues. That said there is no right or wrong so
that's usually when we go to my score/grade to see if that helps the
decision.
As a Panel Chairman I had a scorecard that had some "comments" for
sakes that do not show well. There were boxes that I could tick that
would explain a poor grade for the entrant sake. For example, too
evolved or flabby, lacks purity or unclean, dull or lacks intensity,
too green or under-ripe, too alcoholic or lacks balance, too sweet or
lacks balance, or too acidic or lacks balance. These faults sound
wine-like, but have a place in the scoring of sakes that don't make
the cut!
This year I thought the strongest flight by far was the Ginjo and
Daiginjo offerings. They rocked and were extremely tasty and well
built. The Junmais seemed very distracted and off course, no real
Junmai impact. The Honjozos were okay, but also were all over the
board. The Junmai Ginjo and Junmai Daiginjo flights were very good and
solid, but didn't have the impact of the Ginjo and Daiginjo flight.
After the general tasting on Day Two the junior tasters get to finally
drink sake, but the Panel Chairmen have more work to do. This is the
crazy and pressured filled part of the IWC when you are sitting around
a large square table with some of the finest sake tasters in the world
both Japanese and non-Japanese. I love those guys, because they truly
love and appreciate sake. They also appreciate how much effort and
attention goes into each and every sake that we taste. They get it!
But that said it's also a way to judge us judges! We get to see how
our peers stack up in the final assessment of the sakes and I take
great pride in usually being in the top-tier of the tasting pack.
So before we got to "swallow" sake we had to determine the trophy
winners for each category and then we had to stack the trophy winners
of each category up against each other to see which sake was the Grand
Champion of the event. This by far is my favorite part of the IWC. I
call it "drinking gold" as we get to taste all of the Gold Medal
winners and rank them from first to last within their category.
Sometimes there are up to 15 or 16 medal winners and we have about 5
minutes (or less) to rank them personally from first to last in our
own opinions. Then we say out loud what our "answers" are and this
gets recorded. Let me just say that it is a goofy feeling when you
graded your top three and not even one gets put in the over-all top
three. I sort of expected that this year on account of the fact that I
was running on vapors and sick as a dog, but I did very well in
regards to comparing against the other Panel heads. (On a side note
and by the luck of the sake gods, my panel was hand's down the best
and most efficient panel at the IWC this year - go figure!)
Was the IWC over after we selected the Grand Champion? Nope. Four of
us had to conduct a Master Class for a large segment of the best wine
tasters in Europe. No easy task after two days of tasting sake with
influenza from hell! (Let it be known that by the last day of tasting
- I would later find out that I had pneumonia. But more on that below
in a section about Tamago-zake or egg sake that you drink when ill!)
This year's Master Class focused pairing sakes with Western cuisines
and I was in charge of beef! Ha! Where's the beef? Basically I was
charged with speaking about pairing sakes with center of the plate
larger flavored foods. Specifically we paired my April "Beau-Zone"
sake (How timely was that?) called Tengumai Yamahai Junmai with roast
beef! It was fun and we answered some amazing questions from the
audience. At that point I was my own personal roast beef as I was void
of any strength whatsoever!
All in all the IWC 2013 in London produced some very quality winners
of medals, and I am proud of the results! (I actually still have no
idea what sakes we tasted and awarded medals to - it's all hush hush
until next month I think, and then I will link to the website for the
results to see which winners and losers we sell at True Sake.) Lastly,
take note when you order sake from True Sake as many of the breweries
that participate with the IWC use their medal winnings as promotional
materials for marketing of their sakes. It is definitely a seal of
quality!
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Sake Industry - Protecting Against Poor Quality Sakes In The Market
In the April issue of the True Sake Newsletter I wrote a piece about
being served a bad sake in London. (LINK HERE PLEASE TO APRIL ISSUE
"BAD SAKE") Several readers emailed me about what I had written,
basically asking why I didn't look at the date of the label or send
the sake back. I had to confess to them basically what I wrote above
that I was deathly sick and didn't have the energy to talk the game of
sake with the sake sommelier there. I went to the restaurant battling
influenza and just wanted some simple food and a sake or two. But more
emails continued to flood my inbox and it seems to be a topic that
people are interested in.
I will answer their questions with a story that happened at the IWC
Master Class Seminar in London. At the end of our presentation we were
asked questions and as there were several presenters we all gave some
answers. But one question was asked and it was directed at me and
perhaps because I had pneumonia I went off. "Why do we not have very
good quality sake in London?" (On a side I did some homework and the
vast amount of sakes in basic Japanese restaurants in London are made
in California - you do the math!)
I basically said that the sakes were poor in London because of him! I
said the sake industry in London had languished because of the end
users. I stood and said that if you want better sake that you must
create a better sake market, which includes restaurants that serve
well conditioned sake, distributors who also well condition their
sakes and help educate the restaurateurs about sake, and importers who
bring in quality sake and get the product quickly to the distributors
and restaurants and markets and promotes sake to their fullest. It is
not one step. It is a series of actions to make a better market. And
it takes everybody from the customer and end-user to the importer
asking and demanding a better sake product.
The guy was a little baffled. I said to him, "Have you ever returned a
bad bottle of wine?" Of course he replied. "Have you ever returned a
poor tasting sake?" Never - not once. "Have you ever been served a
poor quality or off sake?" Yes of course! "And you just drank it?" It
didn't occur to me to return it. There in a nutshell is why the
quality of sake in London is poor. The end users do not know what good
sake is and they do not know how to ask for it. Period.
I am not saying this to promote myself or float my own boat, but I
personally changed the sake market in the Bay Area for the better.
When I opened True Sake the first deliveries of my orders were
shocking. One distributor tried to "dump" three-year-old sake on me. I
returned it! What? I was later called by the owner who said that
nobody had ever returned sake and what was my problem? Did I want a
discount? NO! That was exactly what I did not want. I wanted fresh
sake. So over time this particular distributor realized that he had to
make smaller orders of sake to keep their inventory fresh. Gone were
the days when they could make a huge order and sit on it. The Genie
was out of the bottle so to speak and we went from there. I also
frequently asked the importers to get their breweries to put a release
date on their labels so we knew how fresh the sakes were and when we
should stop selling them.
So what does this mean to London or for that fact certain parts of the
US? Sake drinkers MUST demand better quality sake. They must tell the
owners of restaurants that they want better quality sakes, they must
call distributors and tell them to stop delivering old sake to
restaurants, and they must call importers and tell them to get their
product into your specific areas. In a sense you must shame
restaurants or wine shops that have poorly conditioned sakes. Say
things like I am not going to pay for a two year-old sake and you
should not try to sell it. Ask to taste the sake first before buying a
glass! Ask to see the date on the label. YOU must push the market,
because trust me when I tell you that local distributors don't give a
hoot! Restaurateurs don't give a hoot either as long as the bucks are
coming in. But the bigger stink that you make at the ground level the
better chance you have at an improved market!
It's that simple!
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Sake Health - Tamago-Zake For When You Are Sick!
I am a great nurse but a terrible patient. I love trying to make
people feel better when they are sick, but hate it when others try to
help me. "Go away!" But while under the heavy influence of pneumonia
recently I received a lot of emails from friends in the sake industry
who all recommend the same remedy to get better - "Tamago-zake."
Hmmmm! I have always heard of Tamago-sake, but I have never given it a
try. Desperate times call for desperate measures! But wait! That means
Tamago-zake is "desperate." No it's not! I was desperate not the
egg-sake!
That's right! Basically in a word Tamago-sake means "egg-sake." So
what in the hell is egg-sake? Tamago-zake is when you heat up sake
(very hot) and add a fresh raw egg to the hot sake. Huh? Yes! Sounds
nasty but it is really quite rich and tasty! Some older recipes call
for freshly grated ginger as well as the egg. In the midst of my
delirium known as pneumonia I went for it. I made my own medicine!
Personally I greatly enjoy warming Kenbishi Honjozo - which so happens
to be my "Beau-Zone" sake for May. It is a rich and savory sake that
is smooth and fat and gets very therapeutic when warmed. So off I went
to my sake warmer. For a minute I did not know what to serve it in?
The o'chokko or small ceramic cup is too small for the egg and sake -
plus it would be way too difficult to crack it into such a small cup!
Do I crack the egg into the sake warmer? If I had a tokkuri the neck
would be far too narrow! Good thing I had an open warmer. Hmmmmm?
Finally I decided to get a bigger cup and make the sake hotter.
The taste of the Tamago-zake was very rich and very hearty. It went
well on the smooth and hot fluid, but as I drank it only the egg
whites mixed with each sip. (On my second foray into Tamago-sake I put
the egg in the cup and then used a chopstick to break the yoke so each
sip had both egg white and yoke.)
After a bit I had a little warm sake
at the bottom of the cup with an egg yoke floating like a ball on a
pond. I chugged it! It went down sort of thick and I envisioned Rocky
drinking his raw breakfast eggs!
Did it cure me? Nope! Was it tasty? Yes! Would I do it again when I am
sick next, which will never happen again? Sure, but I would definitely
break the yoke! Is it good in general and would appeal to sake
drinkers? Sure! If you like Hira-zake (fugu fin sake) or small dried
fish sake then you would like it even more. The egg does mask rather
than enhance the flavor of the sake so it's more of an egg sake than a
sake with an egg!
Lastly, do not get sick, but if you do please try Tamago-zake! It's
the ancient remedy of the sake industry.
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Sake Story - Sake Serendipity
No you are not crazy! (well just a little) Yes! There have been some
themes in this newsletter. I was in London. I was sick. I tasted sake.
I tasted poor sake at a restaurant. I tasted sake professionally. I
became sicker. I tasted egg-sake etc. Well as fate would have it! (I
love typing that when speaking about sake, because inevitably there
are always "Those" sort of stories in the sake market. Those
serendipitous stories that remind us that we are all connected in some
small way.)
As fate would have it I used a sake called Kenbishi from Kobe to heat
and add a raw egg to when I was sick. I made "Tamago-zake" with one of
my favorite warming sakes, and it was good. I slept well that night
and went to work the next day. Ironically and completely out of the
blue the soon-to-be owner of Kenbishi, Masataka Shirakashi (he is the
current owner's son) walked through the True Sake doors as I was
working! No way! WAY! He was there with Satomi Shimanuki, a
representative of his importing company called Silk Road Wine &
Spirits. I sort of chuckled and said guess what I drank last night! I
lead into it by saying "Tamago-sake" and he asked if I was sick? Then
I showed him a picture of the Kenbishi bottle and the egg in the cup
and said, "Thank you Doctor for making me better." He laughed!
How weird is that? Amazing sake timing!
So we then started speaking a little bit about Kenbishi and it's
important role in the history of sake. The brewery enjoys calling
itself the "Oldest brand of sake" with a historical founding date of
1505. (There is a brewery in Akita that has a documented history from
1141 - Sudo Honke makers of Sato no Homare "Pride of the Village"- but
they didn't get the national brand credit like Kenbishi.) (Also
Hiraizumi was founded in 1487) I told the owner that I always enjoyed
his original go-to sake, which is a Honjozo and is sold all over
Japan. Sadly, they didn't export this sake to us in the West! Instead
he sent a Yamahai Junmai that was aged I believe and I wasn't very
fond of it. But since then they did start exporting the Honjozo
(900ml) and I am thrilled! So thrilled I used it to improve my health.
After a few moments Masataka pulled out the coolest little 180ml clear
bottle of sake and handed it to me. "What do you think?" "It's
amazing." "I have never seen a bottle shape like this before and it
really makes your crest or logo (pointed sword tip) look amazing on
the label." "And best of all the bottle is thick so you can just put
it in a pot of hot water to warm the little bottle!" "Exactly!" he
beamed. Then came the bummer! "Will these bottles be available in the
US?" "No!" "Aaaaaaarrrggggh!"
Way back in the day I used to listen to certain music when drinking
sake. And I always used to listen to Aaron Copeland's "Rodeo" when I
drank Kenbishi. So one day I decided to send the brewery the disc and
told them to drink their rich and powerful sake to this rich and
powerful music. He reminded me that I did this and said that he still
drinks his sake listening to "Rodeo."
And also ironically I made Kenbishi Honjozo my "Beau-Zone" Sake for
June, so by all means check it out!
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Sake Tastings - Kirinzan / Dassai / Musashimo Breweries
- Owner of Kirinzan from Niigata Will Be At True Sake
Kirinzan Sake Tasting - Saturday, May 18
The president of Kirinzan Brewery in Niigata prefecture is coming and
pouring 3 kinds of their sake!
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When: Saturday, 5/18, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Where: True Sake 560 Hayes St. SF
What: Kirinzan Classic Futsu-shu, Junmai & Junmai Diginjo
How much: FREE Bonus: 10% off of your purchase of any of the sampled sake.
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- Dassai Sake Brewery from Yamaguchi June 7th
Dassai Sake Tasting:
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When: Friday, 6/7, 5:00pm-7:00pm
Where: True Sake 560 Hayes St. SF
What: 5 kinds of Dassi Junmai Daiginjo, Dassai 23, Dassai 39,
Dassai 50, Dassai 50 Nigori, & Dassai Sparkling
How much: FREE Bonus: 10% off of your purchase of any of the sampled sake.
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- Musashimo Sake Brewery Family Tasting June 14th
Musashino Sake Tasting:
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When: Friday, 6/14, 5:00pm-7:00pm
Where: True Sake 560 Hayes St. SF
What: 3 kinds of sake from Musashino Brewery: "Ten to Chi" Junmai Daiginjo,
"Nyukon" Tokubetsu Honjozo, & "Daku" Nigori
How much: FREE Bonus: 10% off of your purchase of any of the sampled sake.
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For regular updates, please check our
True Sake Facebook fan page.
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Sake Dinner - May 20th at Izakaya Yuzuki with maker of Chikurin
Izakaya Yuzuki will be hosting a special event on Monday, May 20. They
have invited Mr. Niichiro Marumoto, President & Owner of
Marumoto Sake
Brewery - makers of the well regarded Chikurin (bamboo forest) brand
of sake, to give a talk on sake making and organic rice growing. The
brewery is located in Japan's Okayama Prefecture.
Most sake breweries
buy their rice from rice farmers. But Mr Marumoto believes in farming
his own organic rice to make his sake.
Izakaya Yuzuki's chef, Takashi Saito, will prepare a special 5 course
dinner for pairing with 4 different kinds of sake at this event. There
will be two seatings, at 6:30 and 7:30. Seats are limited to 40,
total.
Reservations can be made through our website or by calling
415-556-9898.
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New Store Arrivals - Kamotsuru & Esshu
Kamotsuru Arabashiri Ginjo Muroka Nama Genshu
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From Hiroshima Prefecture
SMV: +4 Acidity: 1.3
$30 (720ml)
Big - Bright - Lots of presence - Super seasonal flavored nama
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Esshu Sakura Biyori Ginjo
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From Niigata Prefecture
SMV: N/A, Acidity: N/A
$33 (720ml)
From the makers of Kubota Manju comes a super seasonally released
spring sake that is extremely well balanced, fruit forward but not
sweet. Very clean, very smooth, very Niigata!
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You can review many of our sakes on our web site.
Our inventory list is here.
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Sake Images - Photos From The Soul Of Sake
Please be a part of our "Sake Images" section by contributing your
very select sake related photographs. I'm not looking for a batch of
your pictures, rather I'd like to see one or two really powerful shots
that could be in a brewery or at your own home tasting or event.
Quality over quantity here people! And then write one or two sentences
(if you want) about the picture that we can share with the other
readers.
Please send these very specific and stellar photos to
info @ truesake.com
with the subject line "Sake Images".
This month's Sake Image comes from Elliot Kallen:
"At the end of special events, the Japanese love to mark the occasion
with a party (who doesn't?). Here, at the conclusion of the World
Shakuhachi Festival held in Sydney in 2008, four of the world's finest
shakuhachi virtuosos, (one a Living National Treasure, no less), get
the party started by busting open a barrel of sake."
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Beau-Zone Layer - Kenbichi Honjozo
From Hyogo Prefecture. SMV: +/- 0.5 Acidity: N/A
The point of the "Beau-Zone" layer is to get you to taste sakes that
are different, unique and special to the sake world, because part of
the sake drinking experience is the story! Sake has a story in each
glass and this Kenbishi Honjozo is certainly no exception. It says it
right there on the label "Since 1505 The Oldest Brand" in sake, and
despite there being other perhaps older breweries this one has been at
the forefront of the sake industry. The distinctive label shows a
sword tip coming at you just like the deep rich and full-bodied
flavors come right at you! This brew is dense and thick and feels
great in the palate. Look for savory and rich sweet rice flavors that
flow on a fat liquid that is excellent for warming. A historically
sound Honjozo that has taken far to long to reach our shores! 900ml of
liquid history.
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Ask Beau - Are you going to have a party for your Tenth Anniversary?
Ha! Brandon H. from Los Altos gets right to the heart of the matter!
And the simple answer is YES! And each and every one of you True Sake
faithful will be invited. We will more than likely have a secret party
here in Hayes Valley somewhere close to the shop and it will be
sake-centric with some limited food and of course it will be free!
Shortly we will be handing out postcards at the store to our
"customers" (more like family members) who have been so very kind to
us over the years. Likewise if you want a post card sent to you via
snail mail please send your name and mailing address to
info @ truesake.com.
Basically the only way to gain access to the 10th Anniversary Party
will be with a postcard - no exceptions! Yes even you mom! So keep
your eyes peeled for the June Newsletter for more details.
Ten years is an achievement that needs to be heralded, because if it
were not for you then True Sake would have gone the way of the dodo
bird and the Thigh-Master.
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 other correspondence should use
info @ truesake.com.)
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The SECRET WORD
Ah, at last we have reached the end of this Newsletter and that of
course means that we have come to the now-famous SECRET WORD. To those
who are new the SECRET WORD is a chance for you to try a sake of note
for half of that sake's original price. Just for reading this
Newsletter. It is our way of saying thank you for trying to understand
the wonders of sake.
Please remember the rules: only one bottle per reader, and don't tell
your buddy at the moment if he/she isn't a Newsletter subscriber,
always use a hushed or secret agent voice when saying the SECRET WORD,
and lastly for those who have their sakes shipped we can only include
the SECRET WORD sake in a four-pack purchase - meaning you must buy
three other sakes. This month's sake is a Kimoto Junmai from Yamagata
Prefecture from a brewery called Dewanoyuki. Just say ******** and
get this tasty Kimoto for $14.
We only give out the
SECRET WORD in the mailed Newsletter! So
sign up for the Newsletter!
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Thank you for reading!
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Consider this...
O-shaku is the concept of pouring sake for your companion. Some call
it MAD - mutually assured destruction and in some senses it is as
folks just fresh from work look to get their buzz on by pouring
quickly for a thirsty friend. But at the end of the day friends pour
sake for themselves, and the act of O-shaku is more of a formality for
those who do not know each other that well. And contrary to popular
notion it is not bad luck to pour your own sake!
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True Reward Program
Frequent Buyers. Earn 20% Off!
How it works:
Earn one star per visit when you purchase at least one regular priced item. Limited to one star per day.
Five stars gets you 20% off towards your next visit! (Excluding sales items and the secret word sake)
Sign Up:
Name & Phone Number
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STORE HOURS
mon-fri:
12pm-7pm
sat:
11am-7pm
sun:
12pm-6pm
560 Hayes St., San Francisco, CA 94102
CONTACT US
415-355-9555
info @ truesake.com
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Sake - A Modern Guide
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