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Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 250 members throughout the country. Join today! Ever since March 2020, getting...

Behold: the laziest of all Lazyass Cookin' recipes I've ever written in the 15 years of this column. This salad is going to make the most uninspired cook weep with joy. I sure did. And with the summer heat coming up, when the last thing you want to do is cook...

I read Hannah Kirshner's book Water, Wood, & Wild Things on the Greek Island of Ikaria. The gentle breeze, the occasional rooster cawing in the distance, and the sounds of the Aegean Sea was a perfect soundtrack to this book that follows master makers all around Yamanaka,...

Shochu Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 70 members throughout the country. Join today! Take a stroll with me, glass in hand, down the white sand beaches of... Barley Shochu Island! Every year for the summer Shochu Gumi drop we...

Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 250 members throughout the country. Join today! In the seven years that...

The impetus for our Brooklyn trip was this: a brewery tour and tasting at Brooklyn Kura, a featured sake maker in our ABS (American Born Sake) Sake Gumi theme in April. Both Yoko and I had visited the brewery over the last few years (it only...

Brooklyn is hot for sake. During our first visit to New York since the pandemic, Kayoko and I visited two breweries, two bottle shops specializing in Japanese drinks, and several Japanese bars and izakayas – all in Brooklyn.  High on my list of places to visit this time...

Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 250 members throughout the country. Join today! Before I dive into this month’s theme...

Hanami (sakura viewing) season is upon us, as fruit blossoms are exploding worldwide, if not already. We are celebrating our release of the long-awaited Umami Mart Bitters by Miracle Mile and have been tinkering with it night and day to create a perfect cocktail for the season....

Co-founder Troy Nakamatsu (left) in the production room I am a proud ABJ (American Born Japanese). So when I see a new ABS (American Born Sake) on the market, I'm rooting for them. In the eyes of others, ABS' might be hard...

L to R: Troy Nakamatsu and Russell Wolfe of Sawtelle Sake, James Jin of Nova Brewing Co., Brandon Doughan of Brooklyn Kura Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 250 members throughout the country. Join today! I am a...

Co-Founder Emiko Tanabe holding up the peace sign and James Jin (in the mask) with their team. I am a proud ABJ (American Born Japanese). So when I see a new ABS (American Born Sake) on the market, I'm rooting for them. In...

Welcome to the first edition of Female Frontrunners for Shochu Gumi! This is a theme that is dear to us at Umami Mart, as a women-led company: Yoko has been featuring women for the last six years of Sake Gumi, to coincide with Girl’s Day in Japan and...

Welcome to the first edition of Female Frontrunners for Shochu Gumi! This is a theme that is dear to us at Umami Mart, as a women-led company: Yoko has been featuring women for the last six years of Sake Gumi, to coincide with Girl’s Day in Japan...

The team at Tsurunoe Shuzo with Yuri Hayashi (bottom right). This month, we introduce three queen bees of the sake world for Female Frontrunners month: Yuri Hayashi of Aizu Chujo, Saori Kobari of Daitengu Sake Brewery, and Akiko Hakuto of Hakuto Brewery. Their sakes are...

This month, we introduce three queen bees of the sake world for Female Frontrunners month: Yuri Hayashi of Aizu Chujo, Saori Kobari of Daitengu, and Akiko Hakuto of Hakuto Brewery. Their sakes are part of the selection for Sake Gumi this month...

This month, we introduce three queen bees of the sake world for Female Frontrunners month: Yuri Hayashi of Aizu Chujo, Saori Kobari of Daitengu, and Akiko Hakuto of Hakuto Brewery. Their sakes are part of the selection for Sake Gumi this month and...

Brandon Doughan and Brian Polen, co-founders of Brooklyn Kura. I am a proud ABJ (American Born Japanese). So when I see a new ABS (American Born Sake) on the market, I'm rooting for them. In the eyes of others, ABS' might be hard to categorize, are marginalized,...

We had such a wonderful event with our friends of Daytrip in Oakland for our Sake Gumi members. In conjunction with our sakes from last month's theme Kayoko's Hometown Pairings: Saitama Sakes + Oakland Eats, we partnered with Daytrip to pair the Gumi selections with their dishes. It...

On my first night in Kagoshima, back in 2017, I tried niku miso. Served alongside a few cucumber spears, like morokyu (cucumbers with miso), it's a miso dip that is mixed with ground pork. It's savory and sweet and really hits the spot with a glass of shochu.  ...