ARTICLES

Articles

To Distill or Not to Distill: Why Sake and Awamori Taste So Different

Sake and awamori both start with rice, but one is pressed and the other distilled. That single step decides what stays in the bottle — and shapes taste, aroma, aging, and how each behaves in the kitchen.

Sake 101: Sake Labels Look Complicated. Here’s What Actually Matters

Sake 101 from a small shop in Okinawa: what sake actually is, what the eight label grades do and don’t tell you, and how to choose a first bottle.

Why Cheese Works with Sake — and When It Doesn’t

Cheese and sake are not simply “both fermented.” What they share is a history of proteins broken down. On continuity of umami, why blue cheese may amplify the sake beside it, temperature as a tool, and when similar aromas work against you.

Trad Sake and Craft Sake: Why Our Shelves Are Split

In Japan, new sake brewing licences are effectively closed, and a generation of brewers built a new genre inside a different tax category. Here is what Trad Sake and Craft Sake actually mean, and how to choose between them.

Warm Sake in Summer | How Temperature Opens Up the Flavors

Some evenings call for a glass of well-chilled sake. On others, the warmth rising from dinner makes you want t […]

How We Choose What Goes on Our Shelves

Nagahama 88 is a small wine and sake shop in Yomitan, Okinawa. We specialize in natural wine and junmai sake, […]