Friday, November 7, 2014

Happy Hour: Saké






With the help of Portland's burgeoning saké market, Ben and I recently started enjoying saké. Growing up in Hawaii, I distinctly remember being introduced to saké on many occasions and I have equally distinct memories that it tasted like dirt. I think that we once bought a cheap convenience store bottle in Vegas and that absolutely didn't help my impression of the liquor. Cue Ben's eternal alcohol curiosity and a nice dinner at American Local where the waitress brought around samples of Momokawa saké. Momokawa is a local saké maker in Portland that produces some delicious and well-priced alcohol and we were blown away by our sample. We went home and purchased some immediately (you can get it at Safeway here in Portland or any liquor store) and were surprised at how good it was, again. The second time we tried Momokawa's nigori saké, Pearl, which is unfiltered and cloudy and a bit sweet.

Fast forward to an asian-inspired meal night with some friends and they brought out their saké set and served us some Momokawa Ruby, a bright, delicious sake. We've been drinking Momokawa since and have ventured forth into their three primary saké offerings - Ruby, Pearl, and Diamond. Diamond is my favorite and insanely drinkable. Perfect for a sushi night! 

Like all things sort of weird and out of place, Portland's actually becoming a great spot for saké. We currently have a festival dedicated to the alcohol in June, Momokawa being brewed here in PDX, and a whole host of restaurants serving both local and non-local saké. 

We have been whole-heartedly jumping on that bandwagon with our love for all things Japanese and recently themed a day around Japanese food, drink, and Hayao Miyazaki films. My three favorite things bundled into one day! In order to further our obsession with both alcohol and glassware, we decided to finally buy a saké set and settled on the one you see above - perfect for serving chilled sake (the little blue insert is an "ice pocket" to keep your sake chilled). You can purchase the carafe at a bunch of stores, but here's a link if you're intrigued.

*The photo above is not of Momokawa, it's of a little bottle of nigori sake called "Sayuri" that we picked up at Uwajimaya (an asian deli/grocery/home-goods store in the PNW). It was also really delicious but not local.

21 comments

  1. Oh, I'm definitely going to try this. My boyfriend is a big sake fan, and I didn't realize there was a PDX sake company!

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  2. Lovely photos! Sake is definitely an acquired taste, and I only like the ones I've tasted from Sake One so far. Love the sake set!

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  3. So yummy!

    ♥XO♥

    Jeanne

    http://fashionmusingsdiary.com

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  4. Wait, is that Dress to Kilt? hahaha it's sad that I was drawn to that...but hey it's true! Love the jewelry you have on too!

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  5. lol! of course it's dress to kilt. technically these photos were taken 3 polish shades ago. whoops!

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  6. Especially when I have a sore throat or it's a cold blustery day, I like going to happy hour for some hot sake!

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  7. You should totally link this up with my Thursty Thursday linkup from yesterday!! It's perfect. I never even thought of having sake at home! Looke yummy!! hopelesslyeverafter.blogspot.com

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  8. I have to say I've never tried sake, better add it to the bucket list. Love all the pink tones in these pictures.

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  9. Look at your gorgeous pictures! Love. And is it wrong to want some sake at 10:30 on Friday morning?!

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  10. In all my time here, I've never had Sake! There is a Sake maker (vinter?) near us...maybe we'll drive out and try it some time...

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  11. Too bad my body doesn't do well with alcohol. This looks like fun!

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  12. Beautiful pictures! As always :)

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  13. nice post!

    XX
    www.floortjeloves.com
    www.facebook.com/floortjeloves

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  14. Those look so adorable and I assume they taste as good as they look too.

    Loving the blog vibes

    Much Love, Karen

    www.stylesmorgasbord.com

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  15. wow! enjoyed reading this article! learned a lot from you :D

    New style post now posted!
    http://michaelmacalos.com

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  16. I don't know what this food is but it looks really good!!!!!!!!!

    http://mariannapapagiannopoulou.blogspot.gr/

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  17. Amazing and yummy post. Would love it if you could check out my new autumn look book! And maybe follow each other too?

    Kisses xo | From Aliona With Love

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  18. Love sake and your pictures are amazing!

    http://fashion-soup.com/

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  19. "Tasted like dirt", exactly what I thought! I'm not much of a drinker though. I would have never guessed it was such a booming industry over in Oregon. Ya learn something new every day!

    V
    Life+1

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