Sippin' on Sake

Ed's family has had a long-running relationship with the World Monument Fund. His grandmother was an enthusiastic traveler and went on lots of their trips, and his mother took the torch from her, bringing Ed and his brother along for the ride several times. Recently, we met Pauline, an employee of the fund. She's been inviting us to events for the last few months, but last night's sake tasting was the first one we were able to attend.

The WMF restored this Japanese school, built in the 1950s

The tasting, held on the eleventh floor of the Google building in Chelsea, was geared toward younger people; the Fund is hoping to garner support for its projects in more diverse circles. Ed and I arrived right on time and sipped small plastic cups of tasty sake while chatting with members of the fund (who all seemed to know his mother) as the room filled. Then we took our seats and listened to a 20-minute presentation on some of the projects the Fund has been involved with in Japan. There was a slideshow, and I found myself feeling somewhat nostalgic, even though none of the projects are in Tokyo, the area with which I am most familiar. The WMF is responsible for restoring some beautiful buildings, both ancient and more modern. Along with that, though, they've opened education centers so that locals wishing to do similar projects can benefit from what the WMF learned along the way. I like this commitment to sustainability.

Rick and his wife

Then the official sake tasting began. Rick Smith, owner of the only respected sake shop west of the Rockies, took the podium while small cups of sake were passed around on trays. He talked to us about sake in general, and gave us particular notes on the sake we were sipping, then opened the floor to questions as the other two sakes went around. When I was living in Japan, some family friends took me on a brewery tour and I got to taste quite a few nice bottles, but because the presentations were always in Japanese, I had no idea what was going on. I learned a lot, and the number of questions the audience fired at Rick indicated that I was not the only one interested.

Inside Sakaya

Rick told us that sake is actually Japanese for "alcoholic drink" and so, technically, can also mean beer, hard liquor, etc. "Nihonshu," a term I'd heard in Japan, refers to the clear, rice-based liquid we think of as sake--it literally means the alcohol of Japan. (Rick's shop is called Sakaya, which literally means "liquor store." He said Japanese visitors get a kick out of that.) Nearly every prefecture in Japan produces sake. It's made from rice, and I've often heard it called rice wine, though this isn't really accurate because the process of making it more resembles the process for making beer. The alcohol content is closer to that of wine, though; it's generally around 15% or even higher. We learned that bad sake is always served hot, but most good sake can be served either cold, warm, and hot, according to the season, the food on the table, and the tastes of the drinker. He referred to the sake typically sold in American Japanese restaurants as "hot jet fuel." I knew immediately what he meant.

Ed and I enjoyed the event very much, and went out for sushi afterward. We've been talking about making our own sushi for a long time, but now it seems we have yet another reason to do it: we'll need some sake to wash it down with and so will have a good excuse to visit Rick's shop in the East Village.