“Sake made within the States is prepared for its close-up!” says Timothy Sullivan, pointing to the rising home business, with new breweries opening frequently. Enamored by the complexity of sake, Sullivan has spent the previous 20 years exploring, studying, and selling the class. An authorized WSET Stage 3 sake educator, Sullivan can also be the founding president of the American Sake Affiliation, and in 2020 launched his Sake Revolution podcast. Based mostly in New York Metropolis and presently serving because the director of training on the Brooklyn Kura Sake Research Middle, Sullivan eagerly shares his recs for bottles of American-made sake. “We at the moment are witnessing a novel American sake fashion emerge as an increasing number of home producers pop up,” he says.
Brooklyn Kura, “Quantity Fourteen” Junmai Ginjo Nama
Brooklyn Kura was New York state’s first sake brewery once they opened their facility in 2018, they usually proceed to brew each conventional kinds of sake in addition to extra experimental batches with substances like hops. “‘Quantity Fourteen’ is a flagship sake for the Brooklyn Kura model,” says Sullivan. “Produced with domestically grown Yamadanishiki and Calrose rice and utilizing New York Metropolis’s famously tender water from the Catskills area, the sake has a taste that’s contemporary and juicy with notes of melon.” $35, tippsysake.com
Den, Yamada Nishiki, “Pink Label” Junmai Ginjo
Yoshihiro Sako was a longtime bartender and sake sommelier. However to extra absolutely perceive sake, he needed to brew it himself, founding Den Sake Brewery in Oakland in 2017. “The Den model is actually small-batch sake,” says Sullivan, recommending the “Pink Label” Junmai Ginjo. Made with Yamadanishiki sake rice grown in California’s Central Valley, the well-balanced sake shows vivid and fruity traits with a touch of savory umami. $34, truesake.com
Sequoia, Junmai Ginjo Nama
“Sequoia is an area brewery in San Francisco and produces a preferred line of unpasteurized sake,” says Sullivan. Based in 2015, Sequoia Sake makes a speciality of these energetic, unpasteurized sakes that spotlight the brew’s fruity notes. “This Junmai Ginjo Nama is wealthy and velvety in texture, and is finest loved from a wine glass to seize the apple, citrus, and rice aromas,” Sullivan says. $36.50, sequoiasake.com
Origami Sake, “A Thousand Cranes”
“Sizzling Springs, Arkansas, is among the premier rice-growing areas in america,” explains Sullivan. With farmers corresponding to Isbell Farms specializing in Japanese rice varieties, the area is contributing to the booming progress of home sake, and brewers like Origami Sake, based in 2022, supply straight from the farm. “Utilizing hyper-local sake rice, they produce their ‘Thousand Cranes’ sake, which has a pleasant acidity and crisp end,” says Sullivan. See drinkorigami.com for distribution.
Correct Sake, “The Diplomat” Junmai Ginjo Yamahai
A longtime chef with an curiosity within the alchemy of fermentation, Byron Stithem based Correct Sake in 2016. “Stithem makes his sake in Nashville, Tennessee, and has grow to be a champion of the Yamahai sake manufacturing technique,” says Sullivan. The standard strategy to brewing depends on naturally occurring micro organism within the air to domesticate lactic acid. “This old-school, fermentation-starter technique brings in extradepth of taste, making this sake a standout.” $28, propersake.co
