by Robert Giles

Sake is becoming more popular every day. Easy drinking and full of flavor, sake can satisfy when you’re looking for a light summer beverage. A sake tasting is a great way to dip your toes into the wide range of sake styles.

To start with, you want to treat this like a wine tasting. While there are traditional glasses, using white wine glassware allows for sake’s aromas to really be explored. Because there’s a subtlety to sake, aromas and flavors aren’t going to be jumping out of the glass. Your patience and attention to sake’s nuances will be rewarded. I've collected four wonderful sakes in two different categories to start your journey, so let's take a look.

Sake has very regimented classifications, but there are sake brewers who break the rules. That’s what Kikusui Funaguchi Gold represents: an unpasteurized sake that will absolutely pop with flavor. Strong ripe fruit flavors like banana combine with light umami cereal notes that give this sake a strong, full body. The unpasteurized nature of the sake gives it a liveliness that you won't soon forget.

In contrast, try Nanbu Bijin Tokubetsu Junmai. This one uses methods to change what would typically be expected of its classification. More subtle than the Funaguchi, this sake has a more subtle aroma but a medium intensity palate of cooked apple with grain notes and an almost creamy texture. This sake can take you on a journey of flavor.

Rules have a reason

A blank canvas has borders

Art is created

I'm no poet, but I feel that this haiku explains what these two sakes represent. Chiyomusubi Kitaro is a representation of art in an unassuming package. A light fruitiness with honeydew melon, apple, and vanilla give way to a dry finish. Surprising and easy to enjoy.

Kikusui Junmai Ginjo goes a more tropical route. A slightly stronger palate of cantaloupe, banana, and orange with light notes of cereal, this medium bodied sake gives a dry finish that can pair with a wide range of meals.

These are only the start of what’s available in the world of sake. And many of them come in smaller sizes, making tastings easy to put together without having to commit to larger bottles. The options are growing as sake’s popularity grows, and more producers become available. Small tastings with friends may just give you a new favorite wine you had never imagined. Cheers!