“Sake made within the States is prepared for its close-up!” says Timothy Sullivan, pointing to the rising home trade, with new breweries opening recurrently. Enamored by the complexity of sake, Sullivan has spent the previous 20 years exploring, studying, and selling the class. A licensed WSET Stage 3 sake educator, Sullivan can be the founding president of the American Sake Affiliation, and in 2020 launched his Sake Revolution podcast. Primarily based in New York Metropolis and at present serving because the director of schooling 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 singular American sake model emerge as increasingly home producers pop up,” he says.
Brooklyn Kura, “Quantity Fourteen” Junmai Ginjo Nama
Brooklyn Kura was New York state’s first sake brewery after they opened their facility in 2018, and so they 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 recent 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 totally 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 brilliant 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 well-liked 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”
“Scorching Springs, Arkansas, is likely one of the premier rice-growing areas in america,” explains Sullivan. With farmers comparable 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 immediately 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 methodology,” says Sullivan. The standard method to brewing depends on naturally occurring micro organism within the air to domesticate lactic acid. “This old-school, fermentation-starter methodology brings in extradepth of taste, making this sake a standout.” $28, propersake.co
