New Stock Arrived!

We received the new stock of sake yesterday. They are available now on our online shop.

The reviews of the new items including the new brand "Andosuigun" will be up soon.

Only a week left for the special price!

Thanks for all the current bookings to our sake tasting event "Sake wa Junmai 2012". Our special price expires on the 31st May. After this date the price will be back to $110.

Please don't miss this great opportunity!
This year's meal will be buffet style, sake will be paired with Australian/Mediterranean style dishes.

List of  the buffet dishe

Freshly baked bread rolls, Roasted vegetables with fetta and sun dried tomatoes, Salad of Moroccan cous cous with pumpkin and chickpeas, Dressed tabouleh salad of parsley, tomato and burgal in olive oil and lemon juice, Nicoise salad of potato, tomato and black lives in lemon dressing, Rocket with apples, walnuts and parmesan cheese salad, Lamb tagine infused Meddle Eastern spices with spinach, Coq au vin with bacon and mushrooms in red wine, Penne arrabiatta, spicy tomato sauce with olives and sun dried tomato, Turkish pide of spinach & fetta and Turkish pide lamb & pinenuts, Tiramisu, Vanilla panna cotta, Canoli filled with chocolate and vanilla custard, Seasonal fruit, Coffee, tea and soft drinks

*some items from this list are subject to change.

Sake Tasting Event "Sake wa Junmai" 2012 (Tickets on sale now)

[[ CLICK HERE for your booking! ]]
Tickets are sold on a first-come basis, so please order before you miss out.

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO TASTE PREMIUM SAKE AS ACCOMPANIMENT TO AUSTRALIAN CUISINE

Brewers from Shinkame, Izumibashi, Hiokizakura, Bentenmusume, Umetsu, Taketsuru, Taka and Morinokura will be presenting their finest Sakes married to dishes common to Australian cuisine.

Sake is designed to complement and enhance the enjoyment of food. In Japanese restaurants you can always drink sake together with Japanese food, but sake is more versatile than that and a sake can always be found to enhance any Western dish. At this event you will have the opportunity to taste a variety of premium Sakes as accompaniments to Australian dishes.

You will also be able to discuss all aspects of Sake brewing, serving and drinking (and anything else in between or beyond) with the brewers.

We look forward to seeing you at the event and sharing this beautiful experience with you on Sunday 8 July.

Event Name :	Sake Tasting Event "Sake wa Junmai" 2012
Date & Time :	8 July 2012, 16:00 - 19:00
Venue :	The Grace Hotel Sydney Corner of York & King Streets, 77 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Price :	$110 per person
Ticket :	http://sakenet.com.au Tickets will not be sold at the venue.

Here is last year's tasting featured on reviewed by Rebbeca Varidel.

 This Year's Guest Breweries

Shinkame (Saitama)	In 1987 this brewery became the first brewery to produce only junmaishu. Apart from the unpasteurised sake all other sakes produced are aged from 3~5 years at a temperature below 0C.
Izumibashi (Kanagawa)	Established 1857. This brewery grows 90% of the rice they use, the rest being grown under contract by other farmers in the area. 80% of the sake produced is junmaishu.
Hiokizakura (Tottori)	TBA
Bentenmusume (Tottori)	Established 1909. At this brewery all sake is hand made—a labour intensive procedure.
Umetsu (Tottori)	Established 1865. Since 1984 this brewery has also produced Shochu(Japanese spirit) in addition to sake. From 2002 Umeshu (plum wine) has also been produced.
Taketsuru (Hiroshima)	Established 1733. The sake from Taketsuru strikes a good balance between “umami” and acidity. It is delicious warmed, delicious with food and delicious when aged.
Taka (Yamaguchi)	TBA
Morinokura (Fukuoka)	Established 1898. All the rice used by this brewery comes from the brewery’s own farm or contracted farmers. This sake complements good food.

*this guest list may change

Tsukimi-zake

Tsukimi (月見) means "watching the moon". Normally it should be the full moon. During autumn in Japan, the air becomes cool and clear. It is good season for having a drink outside at night, and the moon is very beautiful. So "Tsukimi-zake" is drinking sake while watching the full moon.

Today is the 6th May. There is a full moon. It is a bit cold outside in Melbourne.

I caught the moon in my ochoko. This is the standard tsukimi-zake style (for me!).

 However the moon had gone somewhere when I tried to drink it. I think I need to develop some skills to drink it?

So I ate "Tsukimi noodle". This moon (egg) didn't escape from my bowl!

Ochoko

Ochoko is the small cup for drinking sake. There are lots of types (shape, size and material), but they are all small.

There are questions on the internet like "why is the ochoko so small?". I found many different historical and technical reasons but for me, I just feel they are beautiful. When you drink sake with ochoko, you have to repeat the action of "pouring and drinking". Sometimes another parson will pour the sake for you. This action adds to the beauty of drinking sake.

These are a pair of cups I purchased a few days ago. They are not ochokos but the size and the shape is perfect for drinking sake. They are made by a local artist (Tilly Juls) in Melbourne, she makes ceramic wears and jewellery inspired by bones and teeth.

Kan-zake

Kan-zake means hot sake. The temperature is up to you. I like 40 to 45˚C, but in winter sometimes I prefer really hot one as 50 to 60˚C.

Tin Sake Warmer

from left to right container-A, B and C

Sakenet has a good tool for Kan-zake, "Tin Sake Warmer". You can make your kan-zake easily with this tool.
(1) make boiling water with a kettle or a pot.
(2) put container-B into container-A.
(3) pour the hot water into A/B.
(4) pour sake into C.
(5) lower container-C into A/B.
(6) wait a minute or until the sake is heated up to the temperature you like.
(7) pour the heated sake into an o-choko (sake cup) and enjoy!

If you don't have a "Tin Sake Warmer"...
(1) make boiling water with a pot.
(2) pour sake into a tokkuri bottle.(3) put the tokkuri into the pot.
(4) wait a minute or until the sake is heated up to the temperature you like.
(5) pour the heated sake into an o-choko (sake cup) and enjoy!

If you don't have a tokkuri...
You can use a glass or a small bottle instead of a tokkuri.

tokkuri

If you don't have an o-choko...
You can use a small glass or a small cup (like an espresso cup) instead of an o-choko.

o-choko
(image from http://usagiotoko.sblo.jp)

So you don't need any special crockery in the end! However plates and cups are part of Japanese food culture, and we believe it makes it taste better.

There's no place like home...

Last week I ventured back to Tokyo. I sampled some fantastic food and sake and had the chance to visit some really good Izakayas. As one always does on a holiday (especially ones re-visiting homeland) I ate and drank too much but fortunately not feeling the aftermath except nostalgia for times gone by.

Yakigai Uguisu (specializing shell fish & sake) http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1311/A131104/13132969

TENYUDO (like small bar around the corner) http://tenyudo.exblog.jp/i3
Ginmasu (Sake bar near Ginza 4-chome, cheap) http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13136509
Kakuyama (traditional izakaya & family atmosphere) http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1302/A130203/13056498
Nekoya ( Sake bar near Tsukiji fish market charming mama-san & good sake)
http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1313/A131301/13054832
Shinpachi (very good izakaya near Tokyo station, Shinkame speciallist)
http://www.shinpachi-shinmaru.com/

Sasala (worth a visit for lunch if you ever have the opportunity to be in the area or decide to vist Shinkame) http://sasala.info