In celebration of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Japanese Cherry Blossom (“Sakura”) Festival this weekend, we’re holding FREE sake tastings in Manhattan on Friday, May 1 from 5-7pm and in Brooklyn on Saturday, May 2 from 5-7pm. No reservations are required and the tastings will take place in the wine stores.

We generally know sake as “rice wine.” Sake is made from rice, but in truth the brewing process is more akin to that of beer than wine. In vinification, the natural sugars of grapes are fermented into alcohol. Malt and rice – the bases for beer and sake – have carbohydrates, not sugar. In order to produce alcohol, a two-step process must occur: first carbohydrates break down into sugar, then sugar converts to alcohol. For beer, these two fermentations occurs in sequence; for sake, they occur simultaneously.

Sake differs based on how much of the rice grain is “polished” off, how long fermentation takes, and what rice is used. Join us for the tasting and the next time you order in sushi, you’ll be prepared. Kanpai!

Sake to be tasted:

Manhattan:

Tozai Voices in the Mist 720ml
Tozai Well of Wisdom 720ml
Tozai Living Jewel 320ml
Fukucho Moon on Water 300ml
Hawk in Heavens Junmai Sake 720ml

Brooklyn:

Tozai Snow Maiden 320ml
Tozai Living Jewel 320ml
Sudo Honke Brewery Pride of the Village 320ml
Hawk in Heavens Junmai Sake 320ml