On August 24th, 2010 Hakkaisan Sake Brewery sponsored a sake tasting and virtual brewery tour at NYC’s beautiful Astor Center. Our goal with this event was to allow our guest to develop their sake palate by tasting all Hakkaisan sakes imported into the US side by side in one sitting. This type of “vertical” tasting is valuable to pick up on the common thread among all Hakkaisan Sakes.

Photo © Kumi Hayase

Sakes we served included our:
• Futsushu
• Tokubetsu Junmai
• Honjozo
• Ginjo
• Junmai Ginjo

We also included a special treat! We had samples of our special “ume shu” or Plum sake available for everyone to try. This Ume Shu is not for sale in the US.

Photo © Kumi Hayase

To accompany the sake tasting, Sake Samurai Timothy Sullivan gave a guided video presentation of our Hakkaisan Sake Brewery, taking our guests on a guided virtual Brewery tour that walked our guests through the entire brewing process.

From rice washing to the final pressing, we walked through each step of the sake production process and enjoyed seeing 3D models of our Brewery on the video that allowed our guests to literally “see inside” our brewing facility! It was literally as close as you could come to visiting us with out leaving New York!

Last but not least, we had 6 dishes especially prepared by the chefs from Wasan NY who paired their special flavors to match beautifully with Hakkaisan’s clean, clear and smooth profile. The food was delicious and won many rave reviews.

I think many of our guests and this tasting enjoyed the experience of tasting all the Hakkaisan sakes side by side and now they can use this knowledge as they explore the tastes and flavors of other sakes, too! Check out our gallery to see all our photos from this event!

UPDATE! Our guests really loved our event! Here is some feedback we got from our attendees!

“I had the BEST time! I felt that the event was well-organized and extremely educational and informative. The virtual tour was helpful in learning about the brewing process and it allowed me to truly appreciate not only the sake I was tasting – but I left with an even deeper respect for sake in general.

I also enjoyed learning about Hakkaisan and its philosophy around sake. Each sake was a subtle complement to all of the yummy food. “

“I really thought everything was great…your lecture was very informative, and it was great to have the video accompaniment so we could see what you were talking about. The space and the food was amazing, and everyone was so nice. And of course, the sake was delicious!”

“My girlfriend and I really enjoyed ourselves at your event on Tuesday night. The sake selection was superb – each one was delicious and I will surely be on the lookout for the Hakkaisan brand when I am shopping for myself or as a gift. I usually buy a bottle of red or white when I go to a friend’s home for dinner, but after this class, I would be more likely to bring a bottle of sake so I can show off what I learned from the lecture.”