Sake to me! Fungi's Sake Journal

Fungi likes to drink good, cold, dry sake. This page is mostly meant as a reminder for him of the sakes he's tried and whether they were worth having again. If your tastes are similar to his, you might find it useful too (or you might discover he has the World's worst pallette for this sort of stuff, who knows?).

The List

I've been drinking a lot of sake for many years now; at the moment I've amassed a large collection of good sakes and have only just started recording my impressions here, but until I get through them this will probably be on the sparse side.

Sho Chiku Bai Organic Nama

This domestic sake is a staple in my refrigerator. It's a fairly inexpensive domestic with a slightly funky modestly fruity flavor. SCB is often referred to as The Budweiser of Sake and I usually don't go near the stuff, but this particular variety of theirs is not so bad. At the moment it's still one of the only easily-obtainable sakes labeled as organic in the USA. Don't let the claim to be a nama sake fool you though... while it is unpasteurized, it's still shelf-stable due to microfiltering and as such it shouldn't qualify as a real nama. I first tried it at Waraji in Raleigh, NC and found it to be to my liking, though nowhere near the best on their list. Since then the Earth Fare where I usually do my grocery shopping has started stocking it regularly, and I've begun to see it at a number of other places as well.

Tozai "Living Jewel" Junmai

A fairly easily-obtained import, made in Kyoto from Koshihikari rice... this is a pretty good sake (not great, but good). It's a bit fruity and somewhat dry but just ever so slightly harsh. I'm also able to find this one at Earth Fare most of the time, so I usually tend to keep a bottle of it on hand.

Sake Miscellanea

I'll wax philosophical about sake tasting, storage, production and many other things here. Feel free to ignore my ramblings.

Drinking Vessels

I've tried a lot of things, from typical sake cups to shot glasses to burnished Japanese Cedar masu... I've finally settled on a small glazed ceramic rice bowl which fits comfortably in my hand and holds roughly one masu, rather like a chawan.