FOR RICE SAKE BY JOSH NEWBY
S
Sake. Is it hot, cold, strong, weak, good with everything like a pineapple Malibu or only to be paired with certain foods, like a cabernet sauvignon? It wasn’t until I started talking to the city’s resident sake experts that I realized how very little I knew about the Japanese alcohol. As sake sales are at an all-time high in the West, I decided it was time to get educated. And not educated under the same desperate and hazy circumstances I experienced during my first and only bout with sake at a chain restaurant in Tampa; no, this time I would learn from people who peddled the good stuff and knew their nihonshu. Sake, for those who don’t know, is a drink made in much the same way as beer. Except, instead of being fermented from wheat, it is made from rice and features an alcoholic content of about 18 percent. That puts it ahead of wine and beer and places it firmly in liquor territory. Undiluted sake is the real deal. According to Marissa
Register, who works at Sumo Sushi on East Garden Street, most people prefer hot sake, the traditional way to experience the beverage. “People prefer hot sake, but the rule remains that you either love it or hate it,” says Register. “If you try it once and you hated it, don’t be discouraged from trying it again.” Register is preaching to the choir here, as my ill-advised induction into the realm of heated alcohol made me swear off the stuff for life at the tender age of 21. “We have an entire cocktail menu featuring different types of sakes,” says Daisy Doyle, a bartender at Khon’s on Palafox and avid sakesipper. Now she’s speaking my language. Apparently, sake can be rich, sweet, spicy—a whole range of characteristics. And, not surprisingly, those drinks go best with certain other drinks. Doyle mentioned sakito, for example, a cocktail of her own design that involves cucumber, mint, ginger root and sake. If you’re more into alcoholic beverages that mimic desserts, combining sweet purple yam ice cream with sake and shaking it up will result in a bushwackertype drink. Alternatively, you can add the steaming brew to hot cocoa with peppermint for a sweet and savory winter-time treat. “It’s very versatile,” said Doyle. “I wouldn’t combine it with juices or fresh fruit, but pretty much everything else is fair game. Women generally like sparkling sakes, while men may prefer
Photo: Kazuki Kolkeda
the dryer stuff. It’s fun to Photo: Scott Akerman experiment while you’re eating, because sake generally goes well with any Japanese food.” Relieved that I wouldn’t have to work out advanced computations to pair things just right (looking at you, winos), I feel more confident recommending the Japanese standard to other squeamish drinkers such as myself. Downtown offers a great variety of sake options and a knowledgeable staff—like those at Sumo Sushi, Khon’s and Nom Sushi Izakaya on South Palafox—ready and willing to help you through the unpredictably formative times of adopting a new favorite brew.
Photo: Jouko Karvonen
downtowncrowd.com Feb 2015 15