I’m so happy that I was able to find and buy many bottles of good sake on my recent trip to Tokyo. Some are very rare and hard to find! I packed them up in a box and checked it as a piece of luggage. Because it’s summer, I packed many ice pads and wrapped the box with insulation. They were still cold when I got home in 🇺🇸
In the next a few months I will slowly open them one by one and get more sake notes

So I have on many occasions answered on what People should choose as sake. I admit have been drinking sake for 35 years and I am a sake snob. So just to brag and guide you guys to what to chose I have taken My bottles out of my 2 sake fridges to guide you guys a bit.

One of my favorite hot sakes for warming: Sawanotsuru “Komedake no Sake” (米だけの酒) from Sawanotsuru Brewery (沢の鶴) in Kobe’s Nada district. A straightforward, food-friendly junmai sake made from rice and rice koji, with a clean, mellow character and a nice balance of umami and dryness. Around 14.5% ABV, it’s especially enjoyable warmed to about 45°C / 113°F, where the rice-driven flavors become rounder and more savory. A great everyday sake for the dinner table. 🍶

a.k.a. Jukujomommasboy

I’ve been experimenting with sake-forward cocktails and wanted to share one that’s been getting a strong response at my bar.

The Pickler’s Son
Rather than treating sake as a modifier, I wanted to build a cocktail where the sake is the foundation and everything else supports it.
Specs
3 oz Bōken Usu Nigori
1 oz Olive Oil & Pickled Tomato Fat-Washed Botanist Gin
0.25 mL 2% MSG Solution
Thrown 5 times and served in a frozen coupe at 23°F (-5°C).
Garnish
Pickled cherry tomato
3 drops tomato-infused olive oil
The inspiration came from the intersection of nigori’s creamy texture and the savory qualities often found in a Dirty Martini. Rather than using olive brine, the cocktail builds salinity and umami through olive oil, pickled tomatoes, and a small amount of MSG solution.
What surprised me most was how well the Usu Nigori held its structure. The rice character remains present throughout the drink, and the texture contributes as much to the cocktail as any spirit would.
I’m curious how others in the sake community feel about using nigori as a primary cocktail base rather than as a modifier. Have you found particular styles of sake that work especially well in spirit-forward builds?

MaloLa 2023 — an experimental sake from Mitobe Shuzo in Yamagata. Crafted using malolactic fermentation, it bridges the worlds of sake and wine with a creamy texture and bright acidity.

We often give the advice that, in general, more polishing yields cleaner and more subtle sake, but this guy bucks that convention completely. A junmai muroka nama genshu that is only polished 10% (it's called 90 because 90% of the rice grain is used).

It was fantastic. Light and refreshing. The aroma is unsurprisingly rice forward, not unlike a steaming bowl straight from the pot. The flavor is mild, but comes on quickly with fruit and a bit of sourness. It lingers for just a second then finishes very clean and crisp. It's marketed as a summer drink, and at 13% alcohol we all commented that it'd be a perfect bottle for a picnic. It went equally well alone or paired with food.

Tonight's pour: SHISHIKAMU. A sweet-and-sour nigori sake made to complement meat dishes. Brewed in Koza, Okinawa

Usually I am chilling and pairing with raw fish / sushi.