I have been a sake lover for over two decades now. In my opinion, we all have that one moment, when we have our first taste of a wine, beer, bourbon, or any other alcohol style drink we can think of, and then we become a fan of it.
To give you a bit of a background on how I fell in love with sake, we had a Japanese friend, Phyllis, come over one evening with a large format bottle of sake -It was the type you heat up.
To this day, I laugh about it because the bottle she brought over was 3/4ths empty. It was a leftover from one of her family gatherings. She knew I loved wine, and she wanted to introduce something new to me.
She wanted to introduce the drink in a ceremonial manner to Babito and me, just like how they do it in Japan.
In addition to Phyllis bringing the sake which we sipped from a hundred-year-old (100 years) Ochoko set. This particular set has been handed down in her family for generations and yet, she generously gifted this to us!
I’m sure it was part-romanticism and part-flavor but, as I observed how gently she heated the sake, it was not like the scorching stuff that they serve you at sushi bars – as if they were trying to kill all the bacteria.
Traditionally you are not to pour for yourself, but for others. Once everyone’s vessel is filled, we announce Kampai! And we only take a small SIP.
For me, that is a beautiful thing. I was surprised by how comforting it tasted and how delicate the nuances of flavor blanketed my palate. I will never forget that moment.
Since then, my palate has taken a liking to the taste of sake. I would never have known how enjoyable it was if it wasn’t for Phyllis. –Arigato Phyllis!
I never really knew anything about this alcoholic rice beverage, except in reference to sushi. If anyone has ever been to a sushi bar, we are only familiar with the headache- inducing-day- after- hangover of hot sake.
It’s a shame that a drink that has been around since B.C made for the imperial court of Japan, has been given this crazy, misunderstood image.
Come! let me inspire you to explore a drink fit for Japanese Royalty!
