Blog

Looking back at 2023, we had some amazing club bottles, didn’t we?!? These past few quarters I have brought in shochus from Japan just for the club, and I hope to continue this as much as possible going into the new year. I truly believe that...

Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout the country. Join today! As we approach the end of 2023, I look forward to...

 Yume Ikkon rice growing in Fukuoka. Photo by Ikekame Shuzo In 2016, Yoko and I met our friend Anders in Kyushu. It was my first time on the southern most island of Japan...

I never felt like I could explain just how deep and complex the chasen (matcha whisk) making culture is in Japan. But all of it became clear to me after meeting Yasaburo Tanimura and his son Keiichiro Tanimura of Suikaen Tanimura Chasen in the Takayama...

Umami Mart seeks a friendly and responsible team member to fill a hybrid, seasonal role supporting both the front of the house and Umami Mart Bar program staff. This will be at our shop located at 4027 Broadway in...

Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout the country. Join today! Considering that sake is made of 80% water, it is no wonder why almost every brewer we visit obsesses...

Shochu Gumi is our quarterly subscription service with 80+ members throughout the country. Join today! We are in peak produce season here in the Bay Area and I am constantlyinspired by all the radiant, bulbous fruit and vegetables that I find at the farmer’smarkets and...

Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout the country. Join today! Natsuzakes (summer sakes) typically get released starting in June, and satisfy thirsty sake lovers through the hottest months in...

Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout the country. Join today! I am going out on a bit of a limb here, introducing umeshu for Sake Gumi, but Umami Mart has always been about breaking boundaries. And based on the...

I visited Maruyama Fiber Industry who make Nawrap towels in Nara and learned about the traditional weaving technique native to the region. This was a few months back, in March of 2023 and I'm glad to finally be able to blog about it. When I got...

Hi everybody!  We've had a fantastic time with our later summer bar hours - finally, our guests are able to make it by our bar for a quick one, two, or three on their way to dinner or just after. While we were enjoying our supreme reign as the top...

Originally from Oakland, twin sisters Sam (above left) and Ali Blatteis were living across the country from one another when they developed a passion for whisky. After many distillery tours, countless tastings, and their own personal studies, they launched Home Base Spirits together in the Bay Area in...

I'm not sure if it was the pandemic, or having a child, but everything I do these days is last minute. I don't really like making commitments or plans for anything – doctors, dinners, trips – and instead my friends will get regular texts asking if they want to meet...

Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout the country. Join today! Greetings Gumi folks, your whisky liaison and friendly neighborhood Dre is taking over Sake Gumi this month! It's the same feeling as when you played Pokemon Red on your...

Shochu Gumi is our quarterly subscription service with 80+ members throughout the country. Join today! Originating over 600 years ago, awamori predates shochu and is the original zenkoji spirit. This refers to a style where the entire moromi (mash) is made of koji...

On my way back to NY, I had a stop over in Madrid for a few hours. Marta and Jose whisked me from the airport to take me to a...

Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout the country. Join today! Ah, June – it’s when summer break kicks in, the days are long, and the tank tops come out. And, if you’ve been a part of our little Umamiverse for a while,...

The timing worked out perfectly. I was running an Organic Sake theme in April for Sake Gumi, the monthly sake club I program at the shop. So closing out the last day of the month with the...

Walking into a sake brewery is like walking into someone's home. In the old days, it was customary that the kurabito (brewery workers) all stayed in shared housing at the brewery during the brewing season – people traveled from far and wide from their hometowns...

Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout the country. Join today! These days, there has been a bit of buzz about blending for sake, with the emergence of bottles blended by legends of the wine world in Europe and Canada....