Blog

Yamamoto Honke was established in 1677 in the Fushimi Ward of Kyoto Prefecture. Fushimi is home to Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, Japan’s best-known Shinto shrine which serves as the headquarters for over 30,000 Inari shrines all over Japan.

When I learned that Tippsy would be offering a set of Hakkaisan sake, I couldn’t wait to try it. Hakkaisan was one of the first brands I purposely tried and shared with others, and it was even more memorable to me because we had interviewed Timothy Sullivan, Sake Samurai, Sake Educator and Hakkaisan Global Ambassador, for our first Spotlight interview.

Tetsuro Igarashi is a toji at Kumazawa Brewing Company. Their famous Tensei series is widely enjoyed as the perfect summer sake.

What characterizes the regional style of sake? First, breweries have historically chosen locations with certain conditions, such as climate and geographical features including abundant natural water sources. 

Starting this month, we are kicking off a new blog series, Sake Brewery Spotlight. The series starts off with a delightful dialogue with Miho Imada, a female toji (master brewer) at Imada Brewing Company which is known for its famous Fukucho sake.

Nigori, meaning “cloudy,” refers to a style of sake that is coarsely filtered, allowing a portion of the rice sediment to be left in the finished brew.

What’s on your summer bucket list? Here are ideas for fun things to do while practicing social distancing and keeping safe in the time of COVID-19.

Asabiraki “Suijin” is one of the popular sakes produced by Asabiraki Brewery located in Iwate Prefecture.

For many sake enthusiasts outside of Japan, myself included, drinking Dassai was a revelatory “Wow!” moment.

Fathers are a talented bunch. Even when something is new to them and there are no manuals or roadmaps, somehow, they get things done!

As the Japanese culinary trend evolves and consumers become familiar with sake, sommeliers are increasingly observing the rise of the importance of “sake and food pairing”. As a wine sommelier, I would like to introduce comprehensive sake pairing ideas for wine lovers and sake beginners, with reference to widely-recognized wine theories.

Brunch is a most pleasurable time. In some places, it can begin as early as 9:00 in the morning and end as late as 4:00 in the afternoon, solving the question of what to eat in one extensive, relaxing meal.

May rolls along and we find ourselves continuing to do our part to stay safe and healthy by remaining at home.

So it’s been a month now. A month of isolation, a month of social distancing, a month of sorely missing all the creature comforts we took for granted not too long ago.

As sake attracts growing interest among international sommeliers, the idea of cheese and sake pairing has become a trendy topic.

The weeks leading up to cherry blossom season in Washington, D.C., are packed with much anticipation and excitement.

Let’s face it: we’re dealing with some very strange and uncertain times. It’s more important than ever to find a way to inject a bit of joy into your life.

The next best thing to actually being in Japan is eating really good Japanese food with sake in hand.

I recently received my first subscription box from Tippsy, and couldn’t wait to see (and taste) what they had sent me. It’s so fun to get a package each month knowing you’ll likely enjoy whatever is inside, but having no idea what lies within. Kind of like getting a mystery prize!

February is just around the corner! That means that Valentine's Day is approaching. If you are looking for a perfect gift for your loved ones, how about trying something unique this year? Here are my 5 picks for your special Valentine!

It’s been an amazing year for Japanese sake and 2020 has much more in store! With sake, “beauty is in the eye of the drinker” and with so much variety and versatility, we thought we’d share some of our staff’s unique picks for drinkers who want to explore a little more in major categories: junmai, ginjo, daiginjo and flavored.

This is a refreshing and elegant sparkling sake made by Nanbu Bijin Brewery located in Iwate Prefecture.

The Thanksgiving meal is one of my favorite meals to prepare because it’s the single occasion out of the entire year when I don’t have to figure out what to make!

For many people, their first encounter with Japanese sake was through a sake bomb, a spin-off from the popular Irish car bomb but with the added attraction of chopsticks.