Howdy! Kayoko here, Yoko’s other half. I’ll be taking over Sake Gumi for the next two installments, exploring the wonderful world of koji with you all. This is an incredibly dense subject and I hope to be able to explain myself in simple terms. This month,...
This month’s sakes tried on the rocks and with soda I write this in mid-June on a typical Bay Area morning, a thick layer of fog blanketing the block with trees swaying violently in the wind. I sit by the windowsill yearning for warmer days to...
Arriving at Heiwa Shuzo as the sun was setting Before visiting Wakayama last August, the only concrete thing I seemed to know about it was that they were famous for their ume. In...
President Toshimitsu Saika of Kokonoe Saika All members of Sake Gumi this month are getting Kokonoe Saika Sake Brewery’s Yamada Nishiki Junmai Daiginjo. Toshimitsu Saika, the president of Kokonoe Shuzo visited us back in 2023, and he took the time...
Before meeting Justin Potts, Director of Brewing Relations at Origami Sake Brewery, I heard him on the podcast Sake on Air. I learned a lot about the discussions he participated in. He had lived in Japan for nearly 20...
While Dassai has been a household name in Japan for decades, it's just the beginning of their notoriety in the U.S. Their junmai daiginjos are elegant and iconic, making it one of the few sakes that people actually remember and ask for by name at...
L-R: Me, Miho Imada and Kayoko at the shop in summer of 2024 Miho Imada has been brewing sake at Imada Shuzo since 1994 after taking a crash course in sake brewing at the National Research Institute of Brewing of Japan....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Visit the Amabuki Shuzo weekdays 9a-12pm, 1-5pm. Photos courtesy of the brewery. Both bottles this month for Sake Gumi are from Amabuki Shuzo, a brewery in...
Entrance to the brewery in Saga. Photos courtesy of Amabuki Shuzo It’s clear that whenever Amabuki comes...
Yuji Nakamura, head saker brewer and whisky distiller at Eigashima Shuzo Building off of last month's spotlight on bodaimoto, this month, we are exploring...
Master Brewer Teruaki Hashimoto. Photo courtesy Miyoshino Jozo. As part of the feature for bodaimoto month in July, we discussed the history surrounding bodaimoto. It was born in...
Preparing the rice for sake-making at Tsuji Honten, maker of Gozenshu Omachi Bodaimoto 1859 Junmai I have...
