Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE May 11, 2012

How I learned to stop worrying and love the shochu

by Melinda Joe

Nearly 10 years ago, shōchū was all the rage in Japan. In 2004, shipments reached an all-time high, and producers were struggling to keep up with the exploding market. Everyone was drinking it — everyone, it seems, but me. I vaguely recall my first ...

Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Apr 13, 2012

Do girls just wanna have weaker sake?

by Melinda Joe

When it comes to sake, I consider myself something of a traditionalist. If anything, my tastes veer toward the masculine: I tend to favor ricey, muscular styles like kimoto and yamahai over a delicate daiginjō. Funny, then, that I should find myself enjoying a ...

Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Mar 9, 2012

Tohoku's sake breweries one year on

by Melinda Joe

The narrow, winding road that leads to Senkin Shuzo, a small sake brewery in the tiny town of Iwaizumi, Iwate Prefecture, is icy and treacherous. The train lines that used to connect Iwaizumi to Morioka, the nearest major city, were closed after landslides dislodged ...

Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Feb 10, 2012

New to sake? Here's where to start

by Melinda Joe

“Is it always this crowded?” I ask a happi-coat-clad clerk at the Meishu Center sake shop in Hamamatsucho, as she pours me three glasses of sake from hefty, 1.5-liter isshōbin bottles. “Well, it depends on the day, but Friday nights are usually busy,” she ...

Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Jan 13, 2012

Raise a sake cup to Chinese New Year

by Melinda Joe

I’ve already started planning my dinner menu for the Chinese New Year on Jan. 23. Like many Chinese people around the world, I look forward to the lunar New Year with great excitement. My love of this holiday has nothing to do with dragon ...

Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Dec 9, 2011

Why I finally warmed up to hot sake

by Melinda Joe

The first time I tried sake, it was served piping hot, as was the custom in North American sushi restaurants at the turn of the 21st century. My friends and I clinked our tiny sake cups as we nibbled on pieces of tuna and ...

Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Nov 11, 2011

Local brewery brings sake to Toronto

by Melinda Joe

Toronto’s Distillery District, located on the site of the now defunct Gooderham & Worts Distillery (which was once the largest whisky producer in the world), is a charming enclave of restored brick buildings housing upscale boutiques, cafes and galleries. When Ontario Spring Water Sake ...