Blog

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...

It was a exceptionally warm and sunny day in Oakland for our first ever Awamori Festival in August. It was a success! After spending five days in Okinawa with Yoko back in February, I brought back a suitcase full of bottles and...

On my recent trip to Japan, with my daughter in tow, I was able to confirm a few things about shochu: that while drinking it with soda is all the rage, I still love an oolong-hi, especially in the summer heat, and it continues to...

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...

We often get asked:  How do I pronounce sake: Is it sakay or sa-ki

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...

Bodaimoto being made at Terada Honke by creating soyashi-mizu (water of soaked, uncooked rice) We are kicking off Sake Gumi 2.0 with a theme I've wanted to run for the last six years – bodaimoto. With...

We are obsessed with this furikake by our brother Casa de Kei, who collaborated with Daybreak Seaweed Co. on this special edition mixture blending tart ume, earthy shiso, umami rich seaweed, and roasted sesame seeds. Yoko starts her day by sprinkling this furikake on a bagel or her morning oats....

When we pulled up to Ikehara Shuzo this past February, I would have never guessed that the building housed an awamori distillery. Situated in a residential neighborhood with no interior space to waste, the pint-sized distillery and tasting room is extremely organized, well-planned,...

Every Tuesday, I host Shochu’sday at our bar and guess what’s the most popular drink, week after week? After each shift, the recycling bin is full of tiny club soda cans, proof that I had just made a gajillion sodawari (spirits...

Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout the country. Join today!   Welcome to the 9th annual celebration of Sakqueso! Through the years,...

So far, this year has been an exciting year of events. And oh boy did y'all show up for NamaFest! It was a smashing event and the rain in the forecast did not deter anyone from celebrating namas from around the world....

  Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout the country. Join today!   Doburoku is considered one of the oldest...

  Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout the country. Join today!   My sake-loving father Kuni always calls himself a Junmai Guy – I didn’t...

Mizuba Tea's Daily Matcha is something we've carried since the early days of Umami Mart. In fact, it has been since Lauren Purvis of Mizuba Tea Co. visited our store in 2014, so that's a whole decade of Mizuba Tea's matcha living on our shelves....

Shochu Gumi is our quarterly subscription service with 80+ members throughout the country. Join today! We’re starting 2024 with a big bang here at Shochu Gumi HQ! Yoko and I are fresh off the heels of a trip to Okinawa, where we toured...

Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout the country. Join today!  It feels especially...