Tippsy Sake Blog

Enjoy our collection of unique stories written by our talented writers, many of whom are certified professionals in sake, wine, beer and spirits. Here you’ll find articles that are informative, entertaining, and span the gambit! Our blog has posts for both beginners and sake connoisseurs alike, with topics like sake trivia, cultural/educational readings, food recipes, travelogues, interviews and more.

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Farthest Star Sake: Brewed for New EnglandSpotlight

Farthest Star Sake: Brewed for New England

Taylor Markarian
Taylor Markarian

Where: 120 N. Meadows Road, Medfield, Massachusetts 02052 Hours: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. (Thurs, Fri); 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. (Sat); 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Sun) Todd Be...

Tokyo Record Bar: House Party on MacDougalSpotlight

Tokyo Record Bar: House Party on MacDougal

Where: 127 MacDougal St, New York, NY 10012 Hours: 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. (Mon-Wed); 6:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. (Thu-Sat) I love any place...

Juban NYC: A Sake Lover’s Journey Comes to LifeSpotlight

Juban NYC: A Sake Lover’s Journey Comes to Life

Where: 207 10th Ave, New York, NY, 10011 Hours: 4:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (Sun, Tues-Thurs), 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. (Fri and Sat) New York City’s Juban ...

NYC’s Accidental Bar Brings Local Flavor to Japanese SakeSpotlight

NYC’s Accidental Bar Brings Local Flavor to Japanese Sake

Taylor Markarian
Taylor Markarian

Where: 98 Avenue C, New York, NY 10009 Hours: 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. (Sun-Wed), 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. (Thurs-Sat) People often seek an authentic Japanese exp...

Sake Bar Decibel: NYC’s Favorite Japanese Dive BarSpotlight

Sake Bar Decibel: NYC’s Favorite Japanese Dive Bar

Taylor Markarian
Taylor Markarian

Where: 240 E. 9th St. New York, NY 10003 Hours: 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. (Tue, Wed, Thur, Sun), 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. (Fri and Sat) There is a reason Sake Bar D...

East Meets West at Rabbit House Omakase & Sake Bar NYCSpotlight

East Meets West at Rabbit House Omakase & Sake Bar NYC

Taylor Markarian
Taylor Markarian

Where: 41 Essex Street, New York, NY 10002 Hours: 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. (Tues-Wed), 5:30 p.m. to 12 a.m. (Thu), 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. (Fri and Sat), 5:30 ...

SakaMai NYC: Haute Cuisine Meets Sake ExpertiseSpotlight

SakaMai NYC: Haute Cuisine Meets Sake Expertise

Taylor Markarian
Taylor Markarian

Where: 157 Ludlow Street, New York, NY 10002 Hours: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. (Sun-Thu), 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. (Fri and Sat) Walk into SakaMai and you’ll immediat...

Yakitoriguy: Yakitori, Sake and the Art of Japanese CraftsmanshipSpotlight

Yakitoriguy: Yakitori, Sake and the Art of Japanese Craftsmanship

Taylor Markarian
Taylor Markarian

Editor’s note: This interview has been condensed for clarity. Yakitoriguy doesn’t tell anyone his real name. He doesn’t want people to get distracte...

Why French Master Blenders Are Making SakeSpotlight

Why French Master Blenders Are Making Sake

Taylor Markarian
Taylor Markarian

Editor’s note: Some quotes in this article have been translated from their original French. At Tippsy, we’ve long believed it, but two former chefs de...

Building the Aizu’s Terroir with Renewable Energy-YamatogawaSpotlight

Building the Aizu’s Terroir with Renewable Energy-Yamatogawa

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

While there are many sake breweries that aim to be sustainable and eco-friendly, Yamatogawa Brewing Company takes the extra mile by generating renewabl...

One of the Youngest Yet Most Refined Sake Brands, Ninki-IchiSpotlight

One of the Youngest Yet Most Refined Sake Brands, Ninki-Ichi

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

While there are many sake breweries with a long history in Fukushima, Ninki Brewing Company started its brand in 2007. The president, Yujin Yusa, chall...

The Secret of Long-loved Flavor of Naraman SakeSpotlight

The Secret of Long-loved Flavor of Naraman Sake

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

Yumegokoro Brewing Company is famous for their award-winning Naraman series. The brewery president, Nobuo Shoji, shares his humble work ethic of cheris...

Craftsmanship That Moves People—Homare Brewing CompanySpotlight

Craftsmanship That Moves People—Homare Brewing Company

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

Among Tippsy’s fruity sake fans, Homare is one of the most beloved brands with delightful and unique fruity flavored sake. The fourth-generation brewer...

Making The Best Quality Sake Accessible Worldwide—OkunomatsuSpotlight

Making The Best Quality Sake Accessible Worldwide—Okunomatsu

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

Anyone who follows major sake competitions have most likely heard of Okunomatsu Brewing Company, as some of their sake brands regularly win gold medals...

The Pride of Aizu Toji and Suehiro Brewing CompanySpotlight

The Pride of Aizu Toji and Suehiro Brewing Company

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

Suehiro Brewing Company is one of the most fun breweries to visit—located in one of the beautiful tourist destinations in Tohoku, Aizu Wakamatsu, Fukus...

How Heiwa Transformed Their Sake Brewery with a Startup ApproachSpotlight

How Heiwa Transformed Their Sake Brewery with a Startup Approach

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

Among many innovative sake breweries out there, Heiwa Brewing Company sheds light on a bit of a different angle to change the way they make sake. This ...

Sake without limitation—DaishichiSpotlight

Sake without limitation—Daishichi

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

If you are a kimoto sake fan, you might have come across Daishichi Brewing Company at some point. They are known for brewing sake strictly with traditi...

Sake Evangelist, John GauntnerSpotlight

Sake Evangelist, John Gauntner

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

John Gauntner is one of the world’s first few leading non-Japanese sake professionals, and is celebrated as the Sake Evangelist. He has published books...

500 Years of History and Beyond—Shichi Hon Yari and Yasunobu TomitaSpotlight

500 Years of History and Beyond—Shichi Hon Yari and Yasunobu Tomita

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

Tomita Brewing Company is one of the most historical sake breweries in Japan. Their world-famous Shichi Hon Yari sake series is carefully brewed all by...

The World of Sake is Where Women Can Shine—Yuho and Miho FujitaSpotlight

The World of Sake is Where Women Can Shine—Yuho and Miho Fujita

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

Although female sake professionals are emerging more than ever today, the majority of brewery presidents in Japan (or any other industry in general) ar...

Sake for Everyone’s Bright Future—Atsuhide Kato and BornSpotlight

Sake for Everyone’s Bright Future—Atsuhide Kato and Born

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

Atsuhide Kato is an 11th-generation brewery president at Katoukichibee Shouten. With over 160 years of history, the brewery has been making high qualit...

Celebrate the New Year with Taru Sake—Hidekazu Tanisawa and ChoryoSpotlight

Celebrate the New Year with Taru Sake—Hidekazu Tanisawa and Choryo

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

|You might have seen images of sake in barrels, but have you tried it before? Choryo Brewing Company’s signature Yoshinosugi no Taru Sake is a bottled ...

Expanding The Horizon of Sake—Dassai and Kazuhiro SakuraiSpotlight

Expanding The Horizon of Sake—Dassai and Kazuhiro Sakurai

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

A number of Tippsy customers are sure to agree with us that drinking Dassai makes any dining experience magical. Dassai is produced at Asahi Shuzo Comp...

Ever-evolving Flavor—Kubota and Motoyoshi YamagaSpotlight

Ever-evolving Flavor—Kubota and Motoyoshi Yamaga

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

Many have heard of and tried Kubota sake, brewed by Asahi-shuzo Sake Brewing Company in Niigata prefecture. This year marks the 35th anniversary of Mot...

Organic Sake As a Positive Cause for The Future—Tentaka and Munenori OzakiSpotlight

Organic Sake As a Positive Cause for The Future—Tentaka and Munenori Ozaki

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

Munenori Ozaki is the third-generation kuramoto (brewery president) at Tentaka Brewing Company keeping up with the challenge of making sake delicious a...

Revitalizing The Sake Making in Shonan — Tensei and Tetsuro IgarashiSpotlight

Revitalizing The Sake Making in Shonan — Tensei and Tetsuro Igarashi

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

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

Flavor of “Never Giving Up” Passion—Fukucho Sake and Miho ImadaSpotlight

Flavor of “Never Giving Up” Passion—Fukucho Sake and Miho Imada

Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa
Mitsue “Mimi” Islas-Hosokawa

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 ...

Spotlight: Aya NomotoSpotlight

Spotlight: Aya Nomoto

Louie Anne Batac-Nguyen
Louie Anne Batac-Nguyen

Aya Nomoto is an accomplished and dedicated sake professional, sommelier, and educator with Level 3 WSET certifications and awards. As a business devel...

Spotlight: Jessica Joly (Part 2)Spotlight

Spotlight: Jessica Joly (Part 2)

Louie Anne Batac-Nguyen
Louie Anne Batac-Nguyen

Jessica Joly is Marketing Director for Sake Discoveries, a New York-based company spreading sake awareness through events, branding, and education. Soo...

Spotlight: Jessica Joly (Part 1)Spotlight

Spotlight: Jessica Joly (Part 1)

Louie Anne Batac-Nguyen
Louie Anne Batac-Nguyen

Bringing Sake to New Audiences Jessica Joly is bringing sake to new audiences around the country with her passion, energy, and extensive knowledge. Ba...

Spotlight: Bridging Sake & Wine, Tippsy Interviews Alice HamaSpotlight

Spotlight: Bridging Sake & Wine, Tippsy Interviews Alice Hama

Louie Anne Batac-Nguyen
Louie Anne Batac-Nguyen

LA: What inspired you to become a wine sommelier? And why did you choose to focus on wine more than sake? ALICE: It was September of 2007. I was in Fr...

Spotlight continued: Tippsy Interviews Timothy Sullivan (Part 2)Spotlight

Spotlight continued: Tippsy Interviews Timothy Sullivan (Part 2)

Louie Anne Batac-Nguyen
Louie Anne Batac-Nguyen

Last week, we shared Part 1 of our interview with sake educator, sommelier, and Hakkaisan's Global Brand Ambassador Timothy Sullivan. Timothy is deeply...

Spotlight: Tippsy Interviews Timothy Sullivan (Part 1)Spotlight

Spotlight: Tippsy Interviews Timothy Sullivan (Part 1)

Louie Anne Batac-Nguyen
Louie Anne Batac-Nguyen

Timothy Sullivan’s passion for Japanese sake has played a significant part in the opening and evolution of the sake industry in the United States. In 2...

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