Umami Mart seeks a friendly and responsible team member to fill a hybrid, role supporting both the front of the house and Umami Mart Bar. This will be at our shop located at 4027 Broadway in Oakland. This position...
During our last Japan visit, I made a quick detour down to Kagoshima to visit shochu distilleries. As shochu director of the shop, I've gotta keep up with what's going on in Kyushu! Yoko and I went to Kagoshima nearly 10 years ago and while I...
I’m back from two days in Kagoshima and supremely pumped for shochu –particularly of the imo variety. It is in Kagoshima where the Satsuma Shochu designation is honored, where the sweet potatoes and water must be produced in the region. Additionally, only rice or imo koji may be used.
This month’s selections L-R: Narutotai LED Junmai Ginjo + Hanabusa Yamahai Junmai It delights me that every year I hear about a new woman sake maker. Since I started featuring Female Frontrunners in 2017, I feel a glimmer of...
Find Fifth Taste sakes on our shelves all year long. From funky and complex kimotos and bodaimotos to fruity and powerful MNGs (muroka nama genshus), Jesse’s portfolio is never boring. That’s why whenever he’s got another one to...
This month’s bottles from the Fifth Taste portfolio: Chochin 5055 Muroka Nama Genshu Junmai Ginjo + Asahi Mai Junmai Daiginjo Genshu It’s always heartwarming to reminisce on a first meeting you remember of a long time friend. For Kayoko and me, I...
Two years ago, when I woke up on New Year's day at an onsen in Kurokawa, otoso was served alongside an elaborate osechi spread. Otoso is a bitter, sweet, and medicinal spiced sake for New Year’s, said to chase away sickness for...
Me and Kayoko on Gumi Appreciation Night. Photos by Sachi Happy 2025! I am still glowing from the Gumi Appreciation Night we held on December 7th. It was an extravaganza where members from all walks of...
Last Saturday marked our first Gumi Appreciation Night! After nearly 10 years of Sake Gumi, 5 years of Shochu Gumi, and 1 year of Whisky Gumi, it was high time that we got all you crazy Gumi nuggets in here at the same time to party like its 1999. And...
Just down the road from Ikehara Shuzo on Ishigaki Island is Seifuku, renowned awamori and liqueur maker. President Kenryu Kanna graciously met with a group with us to talk about his range of bottles, which runs the gamut from awamori and rum and sweet...
It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since Shochu Gumi was born, in December2019. This was huge year for me – I bought a house and had a baby (yes, she’s 5now too!); Yoko and I moved our shop from downtown Oakland to the...
Otokoyama Brewery in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. Photos by Yoko Otokoyama or Man’s Mountain sake has always been iconic. Often associated with being dry, I wanted to dig deeper to understand its origin, and if indeed, it has to...
What: Mid-winter ryokan getaway tripWhere: Seiryuusou ryokan, Shimonita, Gunma Prefecture (about 3 hours from Shinjuku station)When: Saturday February 9 to Sunday February 10, 2008Why: Thaw out, eat, wash away the grub of TokyoThe food:In general, the food was unpretentious...
Unfortunately (fortunately maybe), I don't have the pictures to prove it - but I ate three meals just to confirm that Disneyland and its affiliates (DisneySea in this case), regardless of which shore it's on, serves food so mediocre that it sides on bad.I ate the following:Lunch...
In Japan, a must-do destination was DisneySea. Yoko blogged about it a while back, and I was intrigued. You know it is the most expensive...
I first heard about Matsuura Shuzo in our friend Hannah Kirshner’s book Water, Wood, and Wild Things. Kirshner lives in the same town as Matsuura Shuzo and staged at the brewery for a season (photo below). In her book, she described the tiny team at...
This month's Onikoroshi sakes enjoyed at our latest staff outing at Hog Island Oyster in Marshall, CA When someone walks in the door looking for sake, I usually ask them, “What kind of sake are you looking for?” One of the most...
Join us for an afternoon of food, drinks, and friends to celebrate Bartavelle and our cherished small business community. Only 100 tickets available, buy tix now! As you know by now, our beloved East Bay cafe Bartavelle has closed in the iteration as we have known and...
Shirataki Shuzo makes sakes that embody the tanrei-karakuchi (light and dry) style of Niigata. You may recognize their Jozen line of sakes by their iconic faceted bottles. They sparkle...
Honeybee on a plum blossom in Oakland on a spring day. Photo by Yoko Some of you may know that I am a beekeeper. I’ve been keeping bees for about 10 years...
