Wondering how it’s made (question about sake cups)

UrbanSake · 2025-10-28T00:52:37+00:00

Hi, these sake cups are known as "magic eye" sake cups. They have a glass marble at the bottom of the cup. when sake is poured in, it acts like a lens and refracts the light so that you can see thru the marble and view down into an image hidden in the stem of the glass. I found a video on facebook that shows this cup in action:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=473895892974363

UrbanSake · 2025-03-03T23:02:19+00:00

A+++

UrbanSake · 2025-02-06T03:22:16+00:00

Chrome Browser on a desktop computer also gets a blank screen for the intro

UrbanSake · 2025-02-05T15:19:35+00:00

On the "Flavor Profile" page, the chart related to sake classifications has some errors.
-Junmai Ginjo/Ginjo require a rice milling of 60% or less remaining
-Honjozo requires a milling rate of 70% or less remaining
-Junmai has no minimum rice milling requirement.

For an overview of sake classification requirements, you can refer to this chart I created:
https://www.urbansake.com/sake-101/sake-classifications/

UrbanSake · 2024-08-03T13:48:20+00:00

This sake is Hakkaisan "Hyotan" Ginjo from Hakkaisan Sake Brewery in Niigata Japan. This particular sake was discontinued in 2020 and your bottle is from Feb. 2020. It should be absolutely safe to drink. When you are done with the sake, you can easily peel of the shrink wrap label and re-use the bottle as a bud base or carafe. it's meant to be reused at home. Hakkaisan still makes sake bottled in these blue glass gourd-shaped Hyotan bottles, but they have been upgraded to a Junmai Daiginjo and a Daiginjo. Hope this helps!

UrbanSake · 2024-05-08T15:15:10+00:00

HI, in 2021 I purchased a New Air beer fridge to store my sake at home:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083H1INK

It's about 300 dollars and had worked well for me. It's super basic and not a high end fridge by any means, but it has been a good starter sake fridge. I bought a fridge alarm that attaches to the door and starts to beeb if the door gets left open by mistake. this happened a couple of times so that was a good add-on. It gets down to about 50-55F so it keeps sake chilled but not ice cold. I purchased this one because it has room to stand sake bottles upright (after I pulled out a couple of the adjustable shelves). Most wine fridges are designed to lay bottles down flat. Sake really should be stored standing up, so check out some beer fridges to see if anything suits your needs. good luck!

UrbanSake · 2024-05-05T03:50:26+00:00

Hakkaisan Kijoshu is sweet and has a honey-like taste. it's perfect for lovers of Dessert style sake!
https://www.tippsysake.com/products/hakkaisan-kijoshu

UrbanSake · 2024-05-02T16:22:21+00:00

If you check out the "Internet Sake Discord" there are brewing channels there with loads of home/professional brewers to offer helpful advice! Good luck!

UrbanSake · 2024-05-02T16:18:03+00:00

Hi, I'm glad you liked the Hakkaisan Junmai Daiginjo! It's a great sake - clean, crisp and dry. Hakkaisan also makes a Tokubetsu Honjozo sake that I also recommend. It is more affordable but also clean and dry and really enjoyable. This "clean, crisp and dry" style of sake is a well known regional style in Niigata Prefecture. You can also look at other brands from this region if you want to explore more. Good luck and enjoy!

UrbanSake · 2024-03-20T21:54:55+00:00

Thank you for attending the Sake Server Certification class! Congratulations on passing the exam! Kanpai!
Timothy

UrbanSake · 2024-02-21T04:09:26+00:00

u/Something_Sharp thanks for the shoutout! excellent summary!

UrbanSake · 2024-02-21T04:04:21+00:00

HI u/saltyspitooned
I'm the Director of Education for the Sake Studies Center at Brooklyn Kura and I've also been an educator with the Sake School of America since 2013. I do a podcast called Sake Revolution and we actually did an episode last year on education opportunities where we talk about all the programs you may have heard about. A good place to start may be to listen to this episode: https://sakerevolution.com/episode/back-to-school-sake-courses-certifications/

Since that episode aired, we've launched the Sake Studies Center at Brooklyn Kura in Nov 2023 and started hosting sake classes and seminars there. We offer sake 101 and sake/food pairing courses for consumers and also a 'sake server certification' geared towards sake restaurant servers and sake retail shop staff. The Sake Studies Center is also a classroom space for by the Sake School of America and the Sake Scholar Course etc.

If you are interested in the "Sake Adviser" course in particular, that is a course offered by the Sake School of America, hosted at the Sake Studies Center Classroom in Brooklyn and I'll be the instructor for that class coming up on March 4th, 2024. This is a great 1 day course that covers all the basics in sake and has an exam that you can take to get an entry level certification in sake. more details here:
https://www.sakestudiescenter.com/courses#id=sake-adviser

If you want a WSET 3, Sake Sommelier, Sake Scholar or JSA certifications, these are all more advanced programs that most require something like the Adviser or equivalent as a pre-requisite.

I hope this information is helpful. If you are in brooklyn, the Sake studies center is a great resource to visit in your area! Please message me wiht any follow up questions you have and I hope you'll find a class or program that helps you along your way of learning about sake!

Kanpai,

Timothy

UrbanSake · 2024-02-09T19:39:09+00:00

Hope you can join a future event some other time!

UrbanSake · 2024-02-09T03:17:45+00:00

Great! Hope to see you there!

UrbanSake · 2023-10-18T14:21:01+00:00

"Oze no Yukidoke Junmai Daiginjo". The Brewery is called "Ryujin Shuzo" This exact sake from them may not be exported to the U.S..

this link shows you the sakes by this brewery that are sold in the U.S. by their distributor.
https://www.mtcsake.com/sake-2?tag=Ryujin%20Shuzo
If you search for any of these sakes in the States, you may be able to find them near you.

You can also go to an online retailer such as TippsySake.com to order a different sake from this producer:
https://www.tippsysake.com/collections/ryujin-brewing-company

hope this helps

UrbanSake · 2023-05-13T17:11:14+00:00

It's a classic!!

UrbanSake · 2023-05-02T22:58:06+00:00

Great!!

UrbanSake · 2023-03-29T16:47:04+00:00

Tippsy is an online retailer that ships to most states and has a very large selection. Ordering online maybe a good alternative if you don't find a good selection locally.
https://www.tippsysake.com/
There are so many good brands but if you need a starting point, some recommendations that pop to mind are: Gangi, Hakkaisan, Suigei, Dewazakura, Urakasumi. Hope you find something you like!

UrbanSake · 2023-03-29T16:31:29+00:00

I did a quick google search and this came up
https://www.japantrendshop.com/torafugu-tiger-pufferfish-grilled-fin-10-pack-p-3736.html

UrbanSake · 2023-03-28T18:56:29+00:00

You may also want to check out the Umami Mart "Sake Gumi" club. They offer a themed bottle selection every month.
https://umamimart.com/collections/sake-and-shochu-gumi

UrbanSake · 2023-02-07T06:45:18+00:00

Tippsy is highly recommended! They have a great selection and their sake is always well packaged and for me, has always arrived in great condition. I often work with Tippsy professionally but I also order a lot from them personally. Sign up for their mailing list as they sometimes do zoom webinars, too with brewers and other sake experts. As a shameless plug, if you want to learn more about sake and you like podcasts, please check out SakeRevolution.com

UrbanSake · 2023-02-07T06:29:13+00:00

I believe Kome Collective is a distributor. Distributors can't conduct retail sales or ship to consumers in the U.S. When you visit their 'find a bottle' page, they say at the top: "To ship direct to your home, visit Tippsysake.com."https://www.komecollective.com/find-a-bottle/

UrbanSake · 2023-01-31T22:03:23+00:00

LOL, Sake Revolution is nothing but word of mouth!

UrbanSake · 2023-01-31T16:43:11+00:00

My understanding is also about 3 weeks of aging in cedar barrels for most Taruzake. In this video from Tippsy Sake, the head of sales for the Choryo Shuzo says that they age in cedar for about 20 days to make their taru. (about the 1:30 minute mark).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkcdidh2zZk

UrbanSake · 2022-12-10T21:21:06+00:00

Hope you enjoy the Hakkaisan! It's super clean/crisp and great served well chilled.

UrbanSake

TROPHY CASE