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Event Recap

The SG Club @ Umami Mart

When we were approached to host a launch event for the new line of The SG Shochus, we were floored. Why, yes, we would honored to host Shingo Gokan and his crew! World-renowned cocktail champion, bartender extraordinaire, and founder of the SG Group and SG Shochu brand, Shingo Gokan was voted by...

Event Recap

Sakqueso! 2022

It's been two years since we did Sakqueso! in person, and it's GREAT to be back! This year, Kevin Corcoran joined me behind the bar, so we could all eat cheese and drink sake together. The knowledge he offered during the class was both entertaining and...

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Making Umeboshi w. Hannah Kirshner

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,...

Event Recap

Umami Trip @ Daytrip

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...

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Iwai 45 Cocktail Party

What better way to kick off the holidays than an intimate cocktail party at our bar? We were jazzed to partner with our favorite bar man Chris Lane, currently the Spirits Specialist for Skurnik Wines West, to bring on a night of cocktails made with Iwai...

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Umami Mart Junmai Sake Launch!

It's been several years now, since we first met Mayuko Kita of Kita Shuzo in Shiga, Japan. I first saw her at a sake show in San Francisco, it must have been in 2016, at the Toto Washlet showroom of all places. From there, we met her...

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Basuku Cheesecake Flash Sale

It all happened organically, like all things do here at Umami Mart. The other day, Charles Chen, of the wildly popular Basuku Cheesecakes walked in to get some tea from our shop. He was dialing in a new hojicha flavor for a new, seasonal cheesecake. After chatting and catching...

Event Recap

Sake Talk

Sake Talk was our first class on sake at our new space. We wanted to create a 3-D version of the sake part of the zine, Sake + Shochu Talk, in seminar form. During this course, we touched on sake types, koji, and serving temperature....

Event Recap

Hinamatsuri 2020

The Hinamatsuri (Girl's Day) celebration was very special this year because it was the first time we threw the event in our new space and it was the first Hinamatsuri for Kayoko's daughter, Mion! This is one of...

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Chiyomusubi Shuzo Sake Tasting

We celebrated muroka sakes in January. So what does muroka mean? Muroka is comprised of the following kanji characters, 無 (mu): nothing; 濾過 (roka): filtering, referring to sakes that have not gone through charcoal filtering. You can read more about muroka here,...

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Batch 8 Release with Den Sake Brewery

It's incredible how successful Den Sake has become in just a short year - while their fanbase is strong in the East Bay, their popularity has soared further after their James Beard nomination. While Yoshi, Den's toji (master brewer) has been brewing sake for...

Event Recap

Kita Brewery Sake Tasting

If you've followed our blog, you know that Kayoko and I went to Shiga prefecture in January, earlier this year. The main reason we went to Shiga was to see Mayuko Kita at her brewery, Kita Brewery. Her entire family was just as warm...

Event Recap

Sakqueso 2019!

It's a special treat for us to be able to host Sakqueso! every year – it's such a fun event! This year marked the fourth annual Sakqueso!, where we pair the month's Sake Gumi bottles with cheese.  This was the very first Sakqueso!...

Event Recap

Grand Opening Matsuri 2019

Every year, right before Matsuri, I freak out. For about a week, I worry that no one will show up. This year was no different, and posed the biggest question: what if no one knows we've moved??? What a tragedy it would be if we opened...