The New York City Sake Enthusiasts Group

The New York City Sake Enthusiast Group meetup went quite well last night. Thirteen enthusiasts (actually, twelve cause one dude is not a drinker) shown up for the event. It was an awesome crowd!!! Sleezy and Big O made their special charitalbe appearance. Christina whom I spammed in Friendster made it out and Nathan the museum dude bought the group a bottle of Tamanohikari, a full bodied Daiginjo.

We started off with Yukiwatari, a thick Nigori from the Iwate perfecture, then the Ama no To, the cleanest tasting Junmai! My favorite came last which is the Wakatake Onikoroshi, a Junmai Ginjo from the Shizuoka perferture.

I am really looking forward to the next event which is the BYOS-Bring Your Own Sake. I am wondering are them any less than $20 hidden gems in the world of sake?

Brewer's Reserved

Ask Bruce Lee what's his style and he will tell you "No Style". Ask Shane Welch and Andrew Bronstein the same question and you will get jabbed with Sixpoint's Sweet Action and Bengali Tiger. Their philosophy through the interpretation of AzianBrewer, pretty sum up "Style" is the roadblock to freedom. It really takes imagination and experimentation to brew the good stuffs. The traditional stuffs such as Fuller, Pilsner Urquell or Tetley's will be there for next millenium but for the time being I am questing for more "No Style".


Where's my Sixpoint Craft Ale??

What about the Brewer's Reserved?? It is just the beer version of Vinter's Reserved. A small batch of the brewmaster finest just for the VIP or loyal customers!!!

Sleezy Sherm's Peanut Butter Porter v0.1

This is just another crazy brew from Sleezy Sherm. Cider, Sake or I Please America (IPA), you name it, Sherm touched them all. His latest and the sleeziest brew, Peanut Butter Porter. This is not as bad as it sounds!! In fact, the peanut butter really creeps in toward the aftertaste. Or I should say, it has a friendly finishing note of quality peanut butter.


Sleezy Sherm's

This is an all grain batch and we can taste the sleezy love! I can really see pairing up with a nice piece of Pu-Tang's (What...Pu-Tang is a famous pies maker) Pecan Pie with Sleezy Sherm's Peanut Butter Porter v0.1.

Told You Shochu is Good

So what's the drinking trend for the last five years in Japan??? No, it is not Suntory time and sadly the sales of sake are declining. Shochu!!! This is a drink of Oyaji or "Old man". It is relatively cheap and spikes with higher percentage of alcohol. These days Shochu or Soju (Korean version) are ultra hip to drink.

How does it taste??? Well...better than vodka and moonshine I would say. Basically, shochu can be made from rice, although it is more commonly made from barley, potato or sugar cane. Most shochu is around 25% alcohol, although some varieties (particularly Okinawan awamori) can go as high as 43%. It is perfect for making martini!!!


iichiko

Shochu should not be confused with sake, a brewed (not distilled) rice wine. However, in Southern Kyushu sake actually means potato shochu, imo-jochu; while in Okinawa it means the local brew awamori (泡盛, lit. "bubble top") and kūsū (aged awamori, lit. "old liquor"). Awamori, while also a distilled rice wine, differs from normal shochu as it is made from long-grained Indica rice, not the short-grained Japonica usually eaten in Japan.

Anyway, Big O and I slammed several rounds of Iichiko at Yoko-Cho last night. This is the first time that I have ever tasted this buckwheat shochu....The nose is always high in alcohol but leaves a sweet note in taste. Not a bad one comparing to the Korean's Jinro (Jinro is crap recently bought out by Hite Brewery; another crap beer). Had it on the rocks so no nasty headache this morning. Soul-Chu rules!!!

Team Homebrewers

Ladies, please feel confident to bring home these 2 young studs to ma.


Now Pouring... ...

Dirty Old Man Behaving Peachy

I just can't leave a wine shop with one sake...so I picked up the runner up or the sympathy screw; Chiyomusubi, Tokubetsu Junmai. It has the mild note of papaya and finishing of apricot. Some older gentleman said he tasted peach in that that sake. I think he is out of his mind and using that "peachy" comment to pick up the Desparate Housewives there in the tasting event. Dirty old bastard!!!


The Dirty Old Brewmaster at Chiyomusubi (check out his pinky)

Pride of the Village

Headed out to a sake tasting at Union Square Wines & Spirit with my bud Seb. I must had 17 flights of sake within 2 hours!!! Lot of hot chicks showed up and several smokin' Desparate Housewives! Anyway.....go back to sake here. One Junmai Ginjo really stood up at the tasting would be Sato No Homare (Pride of the Village). It is semi-dry with a nose of chocolate and a finishing notes of melon. Odd combo but it works!! I must had 3 shots of that at the place.


Mmmm...Melons!