Blog » Sake

John Gauntner's Sake Professional class in San Francisco. The three-day course covers the sake-making process, tastings, more.

A lecture and sake tasting event with Hakkaisan brand ambassador Tim Sullivan (Urban Sake) at Alchemy Bottle Shop on Grand Avenue, Oakland.

We visit Sake Nomi in Seattle, a pioneer in sake retail shop and tasting room in the U.S.

Don't Call This a Saketini is a take on the traditional Martini, using a dry sake instead of vermouth.

The third annual Sake Summit in San Francisco is your chance to try pretty much all the sakes that are available for consumption in the Bay Area.

We visited Oregon sake brewery, Sake One. Operating since 1998, Sake One produces all Momokawa sakes.

It's been a crazy sake week here at Umami Mart -- first we launched the Sake Gumi, and now, we're happy to announce a special tasting event with renowned Hakkaisan Brewery! We will be hosting an evening with Timothy Sullivan, founder...

We choose the sakes and you drink them! Sake Gumi is is our way of making sakes available nationwide. Two bottles a month sent to you.

With the opening of our bottle shop, I have been exploring the world of sake. Daiginjos, Junmais, Yamahais, Namas, I'm trying them all. While tasting all of the different sakes, there is one particular trait I'm always looking for: would this be good in a cocktail? Tis a...

Sake is one of those things that really makes you appreciate locality. It's like the meyer lemons in Berkeley. It's totally cliche and played out, but local food traditions are a sight to behold. The fact that they are native to their land, makes...

In 2011, we visited Hakkaisan, a sake brewery in Niigata. As one of the most well-known breweries in Japan, it was a wonderful experience to walk through the vast facilities, hosted by the production master, Mr. Nagumo. You can read about our visit here. Yoko and...

A recipe for a light, refreshing ice cream using Sakekasu (sake lees). Since the alcohol evaporates in the cooking process, kids can eat it too.

During our visit to Aoki Brewery in Niigata, we were told that the three most important factors of brewing sake is the rice, the water and the people. The rice that breweries use for sake-making are not the usual grains you find at the grocery...

Kayoko and I go to Niigata every February. Our friends in Tokyo gasp in horror, "Why would you go somewhere so cold? In the middle of February?" The reason is kind of simple: it's low season and getting around is cheap and less crowded. And...

A step-by-step recipe for a super moist sake-flavored pound cake, and a thorough explanation about cooking and baking with sake.

A recipe for Japanese shisomaki – the sweet, nutty filling and slightly crispy outer shiso roll is so satisfying and delicious!

When people ask Yoko or myself if it was "always in the plan" to turn Umami Mart into a brick and mortar shop, the answer is always "no." We do get this question quite often. But back in 2007 when...

We've been event-crazy here at Umami Mart. We've put on one event every week in June and we are not slowing down! We've hosted sake events several times at Umami Mart HQ (in Oakland), but on June 10th we took the show on the road...

Guess what?? Umami Mart Oakland will celebrate its ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY in August!!! Both Yoko and I are so grateful for all the support we've received this past year from our community, the Bay Area, and beyond. It's one thing to start...

We're going to LA! That's right, we'll be spending a few days in sunny Los Angeles, driving down Sunset Boulevard with the top down searching for the Walsh residence in Beverly Hills. Then, poolside sunbathing in our bikinis, sipping on Mai-Tais with little...