Explore Japanese Sake with Author Nancy Matsumoto at Tonari

Photo: Marcin Jucha

Matsumoto will introduce her latest book “Exploring the World of Japanese Craft Sake” to Washington, DC at Tonari on August 30

By Tim Ebner | EdibleDC

Japanese craft sake can be frequently misunderstood by Americans, and it’s typically pretty hard to find in bars around the country.

But that is quickly changing thanks to communities like DC Sake, which doubles as an e-commerce shop offering sake bottles delivered straight to your door. There are also several sake breweries in the United States, which also hold membership in the Sake Brewers Association of North America, headquartered in Washington, DC.

To better understand what sake is, you might consider picking up a copy of Nancy Matsumoto’s latest book, Exploring the World of Japanese Craft Sake: Rice, Water, Earth. She visited 35 artisanal sake breweries in Japan, the U.S., and Canada to interview makers and documents sake at every stage.
Sake and its brewing process resembles something like American-style craft beer. The processes and steps are similar and some of the techniques have been passed down through generations to produce sakes with subtle expressions.

If you are new to the subject of sake, then you might consider purchasing a ticket to Nancy’s upcoming tasting at Tonari.

The experience (priced at $50 per person) includes five-courses of sake sips accompanied by small-bites from Chef Katsuya Fukushima. Tickets for the event on August 30 are still available, and it includes a signed copy of the book.

Recently, Edible DC’s Tim Ebner had the chance to ask Matsumoto a few questions about her book and the upcoming tasting. She offers fascinating insights, practical tips, and rich stories about the fermented rice beverage she explored with co-author Michael Tremblay.

Tim Ebner: What will readers take away from reading your book and why should they attend the event at Tonari?

Nancy Matsumoto: I hope that what readers take away from our book is a sense of sake as a fantastic drink equal to wine in complexity (I might be biased!) and superior to it in the skill needed to make great craft sake.

They will also understand sake’s place in Japan’s founding mythology and religion, and how it has played a central role in Japanese society throughout much of the country’s history.

People should come to this event to learn more about how we made the book, including the more than 30 sake breweries (many of them multiple generations old) we visited in researching it, but also to discover five stellar sakes and the stories behind them.

TE: Why are you drawn to sake, and what do you think is the biggest misconception about sake?

NM: As a third-generation Japanese American, I was initially drawn to sake by its connection to my own culture and family history. My maternal grandmother’s family brewed both sake and soy sauce in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

As I wrote and learned more about sake, its brewers and generational brewing families, I came to appreciate just how good today’s craft sake is, and what a fascinating history it has. I think one of the biggest misconceptions about sake is that it is “rice wine."

It is made with rice, yes, but it is brewed more like beer, by converting the starch of the grain of choice to sugar (with beer, done through the malting process, while sake relies on magical koji fungus to do the trick), and then letting yeast ferment those sugars. Another misconception is that it is a distilled spirit; again, it is brewed, not distilled.

TE: There are several sake producers outside of Japan now. Do you think sake is taking root in America?

NM: Yes absolutely! If you look at a chapter in the book (“Craft Sake and the World”), you will see how sake breweries have taken root all over the globe from New Zealand to Europe, North America, and beyond.

In the U.S., it seems like every week I read of a new sake brewery opening somewhere. Near Washington, D.C., there is North American Sake Brewery in Charlottesville, Virginia; Sango Kura in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania; and two in New York City, Brooklyn Kura and Kato Sake Works.

Recently the southern U.S. has become a center for sake making, with breweries opening in New Orleans, Nashville, and Hot Springs Arkansas. There is a growing interest in this craft beverage that is so versatile and food friendly that it can be paired with any type of local cuisine.

TE:  Do you have a favorite brewery or way to drink sake? How do you encourage people to try sake?

NM: It’s hard to pick one sake brewery because there are so many great breweries. But I can say that all of the sakes in our lineup at Tonari are beloved brands in Japan and among overseas sake enthusiasts.

Amabuki Brewery from the island of Kyushu specializes in a variety of flower yeasts. Kodama, the maker of Taiheizan, is from the opposite end of the country in Akita and makes a wonderful native yeast and lactic acid kimoto sake that we’ll be trying. Tenzan is an iconic brand that has become huge in France since taking home several gold medals at a French-sake competition.

Imada Brewery, makers of the Fukucho brand, is led by one of Japan’s pioneering women master brewers. Banjo Brewery, makers of the Kuheiji line, make some of the most delicious, French-influenced, wine-like sakes out there. All of them are generations-old, families’ breweries that have done a great job of modernizing as sake tastes have changed.

And there are many ways to drink sake. If the sake is not a delicate junmai daiginjo, often you can play with temperature to bring out different qualities in a sake. Warm sake used to be the norm, in those hot sake dispensers you saw in sushi restaurants a long time ago.

Then, with the rise of highly polished ginjo sakes, people switched to cold sake. Now people are beginning to realize that many sakes can be enjoyed at different temperatures. Often if you check the back label, makers will offer temperature serving suggestions.

Warming tends to soften and round out sake in a lovely way that matches savory izakaya-style food well. Chilled sake is the best way to serve highly polished, aromatic sakes that you might have as an aperitif or with sashimi or very light seafood dishes.

Nancy Matsumoto with Imada Shuzo, master brewer of Miho Imada.

Tim Ebner is a Tim Ebner is a food and travel writer based in Washington, D.C. He is an editor and writer for Edible DC, and won the IACP award for his beverage column, “The Buzz.” He also writes for Eater DC, Thrillist, DCist and Forbes Travel among others. He's from Maryland and has a weakness for Old Bay seasoning. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.