"RiceWine" news and stories

Also known as Shaoxing cooking wine, this essential Chinese staple can make or break a dish.

I recently learned from one of our sister blogs, Gadling, that there is a museum devoted to sake, one of my all-time favorite libations. That such a place exists is no surprise. There are several sakaguras, or sake breweries, that offer tours, but most are in Japan. The cool thing about this sake shrine is that it's in Berkeley, Calif., and it's free.

The museum is the creation of Takara Sake USA and features tastings, brief tutorials on sake making and exhibits of sake brewing equipment. It is my sincere hope that such a place will help broaden the tastes Americans whose only experience with the fermented rice wine has been hot sake or overly alcoholic and nasty tasting cheap cold sake. There's a whole world of flavor out there to experience in premium cold sakes. Among the many notes that can appear in a good sake are: licorice, peaches, cherry, herbal grassy flavors, and, of course, rice. If you're curious about sake and live outside the Berkeley area, seek out your local izakaya, or Japanese pub. Another good place to learn about sake is John Gauntner's Sake World. Kanpai!

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