Coffee Cupping: How to Taste like a Pro

If you hang around "third-wave" coffee houses or coffee geeks you probably have heard the term "cupping." Yes…

With Sake, Rules Are Made to be Broken: In the Class with John Gauntner

I'm in Las Vegas now, for John Gauntner 's sake professional course. John is the foremost non-Japanese expert on …

The Birth of Sake: A Look Inside Japan's Yoshida Brewery

Cooling just-steamed rice at Yoshida Brewery. Photo by Yasuyuki Yoshida. Those who love sake or Japan or both will want to see &q…

When Cheese Met Sake: The New Franco-Japanese Alliance

Hakkaisan Sparkling Nigori sake with (clockwise from top left, Bleu d'Auvergne, Brillat Savarin,  and 18-month old Mimolette …

Notes on Sake: New York, Tokyo, Hiroshima

The bar at Saikai. Photo: Paul Wagtouicz An article I wrote on the growing sake scene in New York City appeared this week in the…

Kasujiru

Soup made from sakekasu. 粕汁。 Made by adding sakekasu to dashi. As other ingredients pieces of boiled daikon, boiled carrot, abu…

Sakekasu

Sake lees. 酒粕. At the end of the fermentation process of sake, the moromi is squeezed through a fine mesh. The clear sake will …

Kasuzuke

Pickled with sake lees (kasu). 粕漬け。 Kasu are sake lees, the residue of rice mixed with yeast, koji and sake, which is pressed ou…