Blog

Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout the country. 

Visiting President Chobei Yamamoto at Yucho Shuzo in Gose City was one of the most educational brewery visits I’ve ever experienced. He invited me into his meeting room, where he had piles of very old books on Nara’s...

Yoshitani Woodworks was one of my favorite stops during my trip to Nara back in March. Yuki Yoshitani (the son) of the operation was there to greet me. He was energetic and really wants to visit the...

Me with Ohara-san, master brewer of Shroyakuji in Nara, at the birthplace of Bodaimoto and Seishu During my time in Nara in March 2023, I visited woodworkers,

After my visit to Nishiyoshida Shuzo in Chikugo, Fukuoka back in January, I had the distinct pleasure to tour Ikekame Shuzo in nearby Kurume. We first featured Ikekame Shuzo in February 2021 for Sake Gumi's theme Experimentations in Koji  –...

PINKBERRY DECRYPTED! (well, not completely, but this is as close as it gets without using crack/cocaine/heroin/chemical powder!)I went there 3 times last week, and each time, i was very careful to figure out what...

Our Holiday Shopping Guide has been updated this year! We first came out with this in 2021 when the world was coming out of the pandemic, and we wanted to make sure that our community of small retail businesses were being recognized during the holiday...

The jet lag was hitting me at once on the car ride to Furuse Gyozo Akahadayama in Nara Prefecture. But as soon as we pulled up to the gravel lot and I saw Noriko Furuse greet us, I was alert...

Shochu Gumi is our quarterly subscription service with 80+ members throughout the country. Join today! Looking back at 2023, we had some amazing club bottles, didn’t we?!? These past few quarters I have brought in shochus from Japan...

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...

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...