Hello there, I'm 
This is my first time posting in Weekend Experiences, and for this post, I would like to share my experience with the Sho Chiku Bai Sake Tasting we had. This sake tasting is hosted by Takara Sake USA Inc. They are located in 708 Addison St., Berkeley, CA 94710. They offer the sake tasting experience in-person in their brewery, or online via a video call. The online version was the norm during the height of the pandemic. We wanted to do the in-person tasting, but due to schedule conflicts, we decided on the online one.
My sister has done this multiple times in-person with their other guests. It is usually done in a nice area with other people, and you can also see the different areas of the brewery. The sake are already prepared, and you just go there to learn and experience it.
For the online tasting, we are given a sort of tasting kit. The contents are listed above. These include different sake bottles, as well as some infographic detailing the tasting notes, chart, and other reference materials. There were also some instructions to chill the sake and have multiple glasses to compare the different tastes.
While waiting for the session to start, I looked at the different reference materials included in the kit. I saw that they had a lot of different sake available. I have tasted some of these, since my sister loves them and keeps a few bottles in their fridge.
On of her favorites, the Yuki Nigori, seems to be very popular since it even has its own flyer. This is the one I have already tasted, and I have to admit that it is really good. It tastes sweet, and has a very light alcoholic taste, which makes it easy to drink.
After a while it was finally time for the tasting session to start. The presenter welcomed us, and told us that we were the only ones doing the online tasting for this schedule. This was advantageous for us since we have the presenter all to ourselves, and we can go at our own pace.
The presenter first discussed the different forms of alcohol fermentation. She then went through a quick rundown of the different steps for Sake making. The process has pretty much been the same since olden times, and it is mostly the tools used that has changed and improved. The infographic below shows how it was done ages ago.
It was then time to start the tasting. We already prepared two different glasses for the tasting. The wine glass is for the chilled sake, the traditional sake cup was for the warmed sake. We had a glass for water as well, so that we can cleanse our palette between sips.
I didn't want to take pictures of the presenter during the session, so I just took pictures of the sake bottles as we tried them. I have been to a few whisky tasting so I have some experience about what to do. The presenter first asked us to take in the smell of the sake. Afterwards, take a sip of it. She didn't tell us, but I also slightly sloshed it around in my mouth to fully cover my tongue and get a good taste of it. We discussed the flavors we noticed, and the different food it would go well with.
The image above is the tasting notes of the sake that we had. The Classic Junmai can be served both chilled and warmed, so my brother in law warmed some of it as well to compare. When we tried it, I was surprised that there was a noticeable difference, and it tasted like the alcoholic taste was a bit more pronounced on the warmed one.
In their reference material, they separated the different sake we had into different groups:
The presenter then discussed the different sake types in more detail. Looking at the bottles we had, I noticed that we tasted a wide variety of sake types. We had the Junmai, Nigori, Nama, Ginjo, and Daiginjo.
Since we were the only ones in the session, we had more time to talk with the presenter. Our conversation eventually shifted to their other products, and my sister brought out her own bottles.
We talked about the different food they go well with, as well as the different mixes of sake we can try. After a while, it was time to end the session and we bid farewell to our presenter.
All in all, I think it was a very wonderful experience. The selection of sake provided to us was varied and they all tasted wonderful. I learned a lot about sake, as well as how its made. This tasting experience increased my appreciation of sake, and I was very thankful I got to try it. If you are in the US, and like alcohol, I would definitely recommend trying their sake tasting.
