Kanpai Sakaya

        by Talia Berman

        As the sole sake shop in New York, planted among countless noodleries in the Little Tokyo of the East Village, Sakaya styles itself a tuition-free sake academy. So no surprise, then, that the tiny store on Ninth Street bustled discreetly at a tasting of sake from Akita, a northwestern province, despite the rainstorm last week. Unlike the bacchanalia that can characterize a wine tasting, the sake sampling is reserved and almost academic.

        Free tastings like this attract both sake-sensei and the innocent-curious, says Hiroko Furukawa, co-owner with her husband Rick Smith, who tries to schedule as many as seven tastings a month to shed light on an often-misunderstood potion.

        Sake drinkers and learners of all levels were represented the day I came by, from novice (“I live upstairs”; “My roommate got a newsletter about it”) to advanced (“I’m 28 and have been drinking sake for seven years.” “I took a course on sake last summer.”).

        As freelance sake sommelier Chizuko Niikawa poured minute tastes for guests, she discussed how the degree of polishing, or “milling away,” sake rice defines the different grades of sake, only to be drowned out by Akita rep Linda Noel Kawabata explaining how using different yeasts to make sake affects the flavor, particularly in Chokaisan Junmai Dai Ginjo sake that uses yeast made from pink flowers.

        Elsewhere in the room, urbansake.com author Tim Sullivan chimed in on why terroir is less important in making sake than it is in making wine (because rice is easy to transport; Japan is a small country). Latecomer Claudio LoCascio, sake brand manager at WineBow, topped off the list of “professors” in the room. Heads nodded as hands outstretched tiny plastic glasses for refills from a passing pourer.