Top Sake with Kurtis Wells at Toranoko, Sunday, August 21st
Ian Blackburn, Founder of LearnAboutWine hosted this year’s first Sake Event “Top Sake with Kurtis Wells” on Sunday August 21st at Aburiya Toranoko, Downtown LA.
The guest teacher Kurtis Wells is a Beverage Director & Mixologist at Aburiya Toranoko Sushi Bar & Izakaya and has a broad knowledge in Sake characteristics and how they are made.
He is one of the pioneers to educate and promote sake to the American community and he describes Sake as “the most amazing alcohol beverage on the planet”.
With increasing appearance of Sushi and other Japanese meals in the current restaurant world, Sake has secured a position as one of trendy alcohol beverages in the United States.
But what is Sake anyway?
Sake is a rice-based alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin. In English, it is often referred to as “rice wine” but it has higher alcohol than wine and its brewing process is more like that of beer.
Sake’s aromatic components vary through fermentation process or by way of processing rice, therefore some Sake share similar aroma profile with certain high quality white wines. This is one of the reasons that Sake gained fans from white wine lovers.
Kurtis explained how Sake was born and the history back in Yayoi Era (B.C.300 – A.D.300) where Sake was used only for a religious purpose.
Then the group went over Sake jargons such like “Junmai”,“Honjozo”, “Daiginjo” and tasted and compared how each differs from the others.
Sakes were paired with special 5 Japanese dishes prepared by Japanese chefs at Toranoko.
Sake List:
Hideyoshi Namacho Honjozo (300ml)
Ichishima Tokubetsu Honjozo (720 ml)
Dewatsuru Kimoto Junmai (720 ml)
Manabito Ginjo (720 ml)
Manabito Kimoto Junmai Ginjo (720 ml)
Chokaisan Junmai Daiginjo (720 ml)
Minato Harbor Tsuchizaki Yamahai, Nama Genshu (720ml)
Ichishima Silk Delux Junmai (500 ml)
Sake with “Junmai” in the label, meaning the Sake is made only with rice, water, yeast and koji, seemed to express more fruity characters where the sake with the listing of only “Honjozo” or “Ginjo” that have a small amount of distilled alcohol added during the process had more depth and body. (*note the definitions may vary depending on regions or tradition)
The tasting group liked Nigori very much, the unfiltered Sake with a soft texture.
It was a rare and special opportunity to taste and learn the basics of Sake from the expert.
Kurtis is working on Sake Program where he teaches details of each Sake category. Check his program at Aburiya Toranoko, Downtonwn LA!
Also, CLICK HERE to see LearnAboutWine’s upcoming events!
Click to download the class brochure: Sake Class Brochure
Blog by Alice Hama
