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Title: The Insider's Guide to Sake by Philip Harper ISBN: 4770020767 Publisher: Kodansha International Pub. Date: 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5
Rating: 5
Summary: Please don't heat the sake!
Comment: I am glad that Philip Harper wrote "The Insider's Guide to Sake." What you have here in this little book is everything a person needs to begin their exploration into the inscrutable world of Sake.
Like many alcohols, Sake is a beverage of wildly variant qualities. Some is made to be cheap and get you drunk quick, some is made to savor and enjoy. Of course, approaching a Sake label with little Japanese ability makes it difficult to discern the difference. Even if the label is translated, the meaning is not readily clear. What makes a good Sake? What qualities should I be looking for?
This books takes that exact frame of mind, leading the novice through all stages of Sake production from rice growing to brewing methods, both traditional and modern. Sake is quality-graded by the government, and by the end of this book a drinker will be able to choose with confidence between a Junmaishu, a Hinjozu or the ultra-sake Daiginjo.
A few other benefits of this guide are a sake alphabet, with facts and useful tidbits of information spread throughout the book in alphabet format. The tasting guide offers a brief glance at a hundred or so of the available 1,000 plus Sakes. I found this to be a very useful starting place, allowing me to make an informed choice at the Sake store. (The book also shows you how to recognize a quality Sake seller. a very useful piece of information.) Depending on where you live, the sake restaurant guide is useful.
All in all, this book picked my interest in sake and transformed my casual curiosity into a full-blown investigation. Don't go into a sake shop without it!
Rating: 5
Summary: Best Guide to Sake Out There
Comment: As a lover of great sake but one who did not know much about how to go about choosing it, I found this book to be very informative and entertaining at the same time. Entertaining in that this is a true "insider's guide" since the author is the only foreigner that I have heard of who has worked in a traditional sake brewery for an extended amount of time. The insights contained in this book can be found nowhere else in the English language as far as I know.
Sake, like wine, comes in many forms and can be an aquired taste. Really good sake served cold (were talking really expensive stuff) can be one of the best tasting drinks you will ever experience. Please don't judge the merits of sake by that cheap hot stuff thats often served in inexpensive Japanese restaurants.
I recommend this book for those even with a passing interest in sake - wherever you currently reside. For foreigners currently living in Japan, the book will encourage you to taste various sake available only in Japan (as you should while you are there). For those outside Japan, the book contains a very comprehensive guide to restaurants and stores that serve/sell premium sake.
Finally, I should also mention that "The Insider's Guide to Sake" is much better than other books you will find on the subject, including "The Book of Sake". It is an easy read, and is thin enough to fit in your pocket (OK, a large pocket) so that you can take it with you to the local liquor store.
Rating: 5
Summary: Useful restaurant and sake guides, fascinating bkgd info
Comment: The book includes two "sampler" guides: a sampler of 100-odd premium sakes (chosen somewhat arbitrarily, it seems, from the produce of the 1500-odd sake breweries in Japan), and a sampler of restaurants and bars in all large Japanese cities and a few large US and European cities where one can try premium sake. Of the two samplers, I think the second may be more useful. The average restaurant in Japan serves two kinds of sake: cold, and hot. This sampler helps those of us in search of real sake to find places to drink it -- an extremely useful piece of information.
The background information on sake brewing was fascinating, especially to a home brewer; I didn't put it down 'til I was done.
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Title: Sake Handbook by John Gauntner, John Gaunter ISBN: 0804834253 Publisher: Charles E Tuttle Co Pub. Date: 2002 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Sake Companion by John Gauntner ISBN: 0762408049 Publisher: Running Press Pub. Date: 15 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Book of Sake by Garrison, Hiroshi Kondo, George Plimpton ISBN: 4770019556 Publisher: Kodansha International Pub. Date: 1996 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Saké Pure + Simple : Facts, Tips, Lore, Libation by Griffith Frost, John Gauntner ISBN: 1880656744 Publisher: Stone Bridge Press Pub. Date: 2002 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: A Dictionary of Japanese Food: Ingredients & Culture by Richard Hosking ISBN: 0804820422 Publisher: Charles E Tuttle Co Pub. Date: 1997 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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