Sake Day Preview 2026

0:20Hello, everybody, and welcome to Sake Revolution. This is America's first sake podcast. I'm your host, John Puma from The Sake Notes, also the administrator over at the internet Sake Discord, and also the mod over at Reddit's r slash sake community. And I'm your host, Timothy Sullivan. I'm a sake samurai, and I'm the director of education at the Sake Studies Center, as well as the founder of Urban Sake. And John and I are so happy to be with you again today. And we're so excited to chat about all things sake and do our best to make it fun and easy to understand. So John, we got a great topic today.

0:58So excited. Yeah. A little bit less of the making sake fun and easy to understand today. A little bit more about where can you have a good time with sake, which I think is fun. How to get your hands on sake. Yes, yes, yes. People may hear that and be like, oh, they're going to talk about putting sake in their suitcases again. It's like, no, no, no, no, that is not what we're about today. We are closer to home. We are closer to home. Yeah. And yeah, yeah. So this has become a little bit of a tradition for us. This is not the first time that we've done an episode like this. And when I say like this, what I mean is Sake Day is coming and we need to help you prepare.

1:44We think there's still enough time to make plans, book flights, get hotels. There is. There really is. And so, yeah, that's what we're going to do. We're going to talk a bit about Sake Day, about the various events going on for Sake Day, where they are so you could find the event near you. If we've been to one before, we'll give you a little dish on our experiences. And, yeah, that's the plan. That is it. That is what we're going to do. Yes, this is our Sake Day preview episode. And you know, John, for us, sake is like our Christmas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, all rolled into one.

2:22And this is a holiday that you cannot miss if you are a dedicated listener of our podcast. So we're so excited. And this was one of our most listened to episodes last year. So we really wanted to bring it back and dive into all the sake events dedicated to Sake Day that are happening around the country. And these go from end of September to middle of October. All right? Yeah. I like that Sake Day events don't necessarily have to happen on Sake Day. They just have to be Sake Day adjacent. Yes. And Tim, just to remind our friends at home, what day is Sake Day? Aha. That is a really good point. So Sake Day is October 1st, and you can think of it as like a global celebration of sake, but it wound up at that time of year because it's a kind of symbolic start to the sake brewing season.

3:22So sake brewing traditionally in Japan is seasonal, starting in the fall after the rice harvest and then ending in mid-spring. So many breweries, even the one where I did my internship, they have this seasonal flow still. So October 1st really is viewed as a kickoff to the brewing season for brewers. So it's a great time to celebrate sake. Excellent. Excellent. So what are we going to do first, Tim? Do we want to talk about one of our events? Do we want to start sipping some sake? How are you feeling? Yeah, let's introduce the sakes we brought. You and I have different sakes to sip on today, but we always like to feature something and taste something.

4:04So because we got a lot of material to get through, why don't we introduce our sakes first? That sounds like a plan for me. I hate to talk about sake events on an empty stomach. Wait a minute. That's not quite right. I'm excited about this. Okay, Tim, what do you have? I have a much beloved brand among you and me. Among you and me. I like that. I think, I hope there are other people who also enjoy this brand. I think there are. I'm not going to lie. And I might get fancy with the editing and insert some B-roll here of our bottle. All right. Yes. This is Suige Harmony. It's a Junmai Dai Ginjo. And it's known lovingly around the world as Drunken Whale.

4:55Yeah. Now we've had other Suiges on the podcast, but never this Junmai Daiginjo Harmony. Right. It's from Suige Shuzo from Kochi Prefecture. Again, it's a Junmai Daiginjo grade, super premium grade. The rice is Yamada Nishiki milled to 50%, 15 % alcohol. And our SMV is plus 4.5. And it is an acidity of 1.5. So looking at those stats, that kind of reads as something very balanced to me. Not a lot of extremes when it comes to alcohol level or SMV or acidity or anything like that. So I learned from some of the notes online about this sake that this is actually a blend. And that is really unique. And this is an exclusive US release.

5:49So this is one of those rare sakes that you cannot get in Japan. So very excited about that. And I've had this before. I really love it. And before I dive in, do you want to introduce your sake next? Sure. You have this nice bottle and I've got – well, I'm going a little bit different on the form factor. I've got a can. Since we're talking about events taking place in the United States for Sake Week last year, I went to Sake Day East, which is up in Massachusetts. Last year was in Boston. And so I decided to represent with Massachusetts' own Farther Star Sake. This is a can that we've never had on the show before called The Needs of the Many.

6:35Yes, it is a reference to Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan. What you may not know, though, is that it is classified as like a Junmai Genshu. The rice in this one is going to be Yamada Nishiki and Titan. Seimaibuai is 70%, so that rice polishing ratio. The ABV, because it is Genchu, is 16.5, so it's not shy. But what's interesting is that the sake meter value is minus 6. Now, this is also a sake that I've had before. And when I see that minus 6, I go, wow, that sounds interesting, because that doesn't sound like what I taste when I have this sake. So I'm assuming the acidity is pretty high to compensate.

7:20But I don't have the acidity numbers, Tim. So that's where we are. This is a yeast strain sourced from Nippon Jozo Kyokai, but they don't tell us which strain. So it's a lot of mystery with this sake. But I'm a fan of it. And this was something that originally was their house-warmed sake. And occasionally I would have a sip of it. Like Todd would be nice and let me have some of it, even though they weren't packaging it yet. And I was like, you should put this in a can. And apparently a lot of people said you should put this in a can because they eventually did. And I'm a big fan of it. I like it a lot.

8:01Now, John, we're in New York, and I know that Todd does not distribute here. I think that's right. How'd you get your hands on that can? Aha, but Todd does distribute here. Sort of. Vino Shipper. so like many breweries in north america um that don't have the the means to really ship all over the country or you know the means and then like the legality to deal with that uh there is vino shipper which is a uh primarily focusing on wine and getting wine from local uh vineyards all over the country to different parts of the to different parts of the country so a lot of sake breweries use vino shipper to give them a way to ship sake uh over state lines i've used it for many different breweries over the years and uh yeah that is how i got this can of father star awesome all right well let's open up both our brews and uh see how these taste all right

9:05oh we didn't get any pop out of yours that time

9:13all right and uh my turn i heard that loud and clear yeah i'll pour some of that in here

9:28all righty

9:33all right so my sake smells like muscat grape that was also in the tasting note that i read online and it really is true so there's this kind of very luscious wild grape note in there and a little bit of pear as well really lovely gentle fruity aroma not tropical fruit but kind of gray pair that type of a fruity aroma yeah i really enjoy that sake and what's interesting to me about it is that it's very it's different from the normal suige profile like they're known for a certain style right they're known for a nice dry you know elegant a little you know you may you may think um like typical kochi style uh but this one that they just went you know and it is something that's made for the western market and they went for like let's do some fun interesting fruits with it and it's it's a it's a winner that's a great sake it's great and they are known for kind of a drier clean style which is right up my alley but this is a junmai daiginjo that's a blend it has a little more depth of flavor and it has it really spreads across the palate and has kind of this hint of rice along with these subtle fruits.

10:54Again, it doesn't get too fruity or too tropical, but nice green apple, pear, and the Yamada Nishiki rice flavor really comes through. It finishes kind of clean, doesn't linger too long. And this is a fantastic sake. It's not what I would expect from a Junmai da Ginjo necessarily out of the gate. It makes me think Junmai Ginjo when I have it. But it's so tasty. It's so tasty. Yeah, it's really, really good. I want to scream Khan at the top of my lungs, but I'm not going to give people that video clip for memes. No way. Memes are how you get out there, Tim. Do I see a little color in the glass?

11:39A touch, yes. There is a bit of color. It is not completely clear. and so one of the things i always like about this is that the aroma has got some like cherry notes to it which is something that that that the the toji at farther star todd had done at his previous uh his previous brewery um dovetail they had always had a little bit of a cherry note on their stuff and i always liked that a lot and so you know getting this and getting that cherry notes like, ah, he's still got his old tricks. I love it. You know, that kind of thing. It also, you can smell that it is a little bit, it's going to be heavy, that it's going to have that 16.5 % alcohol on it.

12:30And the taste is very much what you're getting out of that aroma. You've got some cherry on it. You've got some like an herbally, or sorry, herbal, kind of clovey kind of flavor as well. The mouthfeel, it's like this is thick. There's a lot going on. It coats the mouth very quickly. It's really an enjoyable sake. And I like to have it cold. I like to have it chilled. But as I mentioned at the top, this is something that was originally their house warmed sake. So it's completely something you can warm up. And it goes really well. It changes really nicely. The herb comes out a little bit more. It's a really nice sake.

13:12It's very versatile. And I'm really happy they decided to make it something that's readily available instead of something you had to go to their taproom to get. Awesome. Yeah. Well, we're all set with our glasses at our side. So why don't we dive into talking about sake day? Yes. Yes. All right. So I think we're going to do this in chronological order. Is that right, Tim? all right so it's elementary you got it excellent uh we're gonna start off with the the first chronological item here and this is the fall sake con nyc uh and this is actually going to be on sunday september the 20th uh it's going to be from 1 to 6 p.m so this is a daytime event and yes yeah yeah yeah and it's hashtag day drinking well it's a sunday you gotta do the day drinking on sunday if you do night drinking on sunday it's hard to wake up on monday right so and this one is actually uh very easy for you to get to tim because it's really close to your place of work uh it is an industry city and it's the this is apparently the fifth time they're doing this is this right yeah nice i have actually never been to this event.

14:29And the other four times they've done it, apparently. Yeah. So SakeCon is a big walk around tasting. Brooklyn Kura and Hakai-san are going to have a table there. I'll probably be there in person. And it is kind of a kickoff event to the sake season. This is one of the big events in New York, and it's always a lot of fun. So if you want the details on this or any of the Sake Day events we're talking about, you can get links to buy tickets and you can get more information at our website, sakerevolution.com. Just go to the show notes for today's show and you will get all the links you need to purchase any tickets that are still available for the events we profile today.

15:20Excellent. Keep that in mind. All right. Yes, yes. So they're promising 150 plus sakes. That's a good amount. I like that. And they've got a bit of a tiering system on the tickets I'm seeing here. So the general admission is$65 and it goes up from there. There are a couple of different tiers that you can have. They'll give you things like additional tastings or early access, things like that. So, yeah, I've not done this before. Maybe I'll make my return to Industry City and check this out on the 20th. It's farther enough. It is early enough that I think I can pull it off in addition to my other plans for the season.

16:07Yeah. And it's a great way to get the ball rolling for us New Yorkers or people who are New York adjacent. So that's worthwhile. The next event that is on the calendar for the Sake Day season is going to take us to the West Coast. and we are talking of course about one of the very first sake events that ever happened in the country which is sake day san francisco and that is going to be on saturday september 26th from 4 to 8 p.m at the hotel kabuki on post street in san francisco now john this is a kind of expensive event a hundred dollar early bird 115 but it doesn't really matter right no it doesn't matter at all because it's sold out.

16:52Urikide. This is sold out and it's very popular. You have to jump on tickets super early. But in late breaking news, yours truly, Timothy Sullivan, will be there in person. So I will be at Sake Day San Francisco. So if you have a ticket already and you will be there, please stop by my table. You will get a free Sake Revolution sticker. maybe against your will, but I will be pressing them on everybody. So I hope to see you at Sake Day San Francisco. Have you been to this event, John? I have. I went to this event coming out of the pandemic, the first one post-pandemic. That's right. That's right.

17:31And it was the first time I'd ever been to San Francisco. And it was obviously the first time I'd been to this event. And it was spectacular. It was really a lot of fun. I had a blast. I did not jump on the tickets right away, so I did not get to go this year. But it is a fun time. And San Francisco is a fun town. It's a really great excuse to go over there. There's a lot of great stuff to do. And, you know, by the way, a quick little footnote on the stickers. There is a standing rule that any time that you see Tim or myself at a sake event and you ask us, we will give you a Saka Revolution sticker.

18:11Yes. At this event, Tim will be pushing them on you. That's the difference. Apparently, I will. Yes. Yeah. So, yeah, this is an exciting event. And if you can find a way to get a ticket to it, I would recommend it. But, yeah, for the rest of us, we'll move on to the next event. Yeah. It's always a lot of fun and very, very popular. Yes. We're going to stay in California. We are going to stay in California. We're going to mosey on down to San Diego for the 10th annual San Diego Sake Festival over on Sunday, September the 27th. This is another day drinking experience from 2.30 to 6.30. Hashtag day drinking.

18:55Hashtag day drinking, yes. And this is over at Julep Venue. Julep Venue? Over at Julep on Hancock Street in San Diego. I do not know anything about San Diego. I'm sorry. I might be butchering these things. I apologize. How embarrassing. I know. That's actually a lie. I was in San Diego once when I was like 16. I don't think that counts though. Couldn't drink. Wasn't there for Sake Day. Not appropriate for this conversation. Anyway, general admission for that one is$85. And they're talking about 100 plus different premium sake and shochu. Yeah. That sounds like a good time. Yeah. Yeah, and this event also has some VIP levels.

19:41John, what do you think about that at events where they have regular admission and then they have a VIP level for early admission or for special sake? Is that something you like? What do you think about that? I am of two minds on this one, Tim. My number one, I'm like, well, just make it – give me one thing that I'm not going to buy and give everybody the same access. But on the other hand, I am a sucker and I always do it. If they give me another tier, I'm like, well, obviously. As long as it's not ridiculously expensive, I will – Yeah. It's like, oh,$10 more? Say less. And I will generally go for it.

20:24Yeah. It's something that a lot of events do, so it must be pretty popular. Yes. I think so. Yeah. I've never been to this Sake de San Diego event. Have you been to San Diego? I think I have. Yeah. I went on vacation maybe 10 years ago, family vacation there, but I've never been for Sake Day. So I think that this is always a great event. It's been very popular. It's been running for a long time. And yeah, so if you're in the San Diego area, it's really worth checking out. Yeah. And now don't get whiplash because are coming right back to New York. Yes, back to New York. Back to New York. Yeah. And this is the same day, September 27th, Sunday from 4 to 9 PM.

21:14So this is a long event into the evening. And this is World Sake Day New York City, 2026. This is the sixth year they're doing this World Sake Day event. It's at the W Loft rooftop on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg. So this is a Williamsburg, Brooklyn event. And this was founded in 2021. And let's see if we have the price here. Yes. So the ticket price is$65 with a VIP for 95. And yeah, so this is another really exciting event that is taking place in New York a few days before Sake Day. Have you ever been to this one john no i i haven't world sake day new york no no i've seen um photos from it i remember the first one at me at mika i looked i saw a lot of um video and and photo it looked like such a good time but i had a conflicting event and i went to the other event and i was kind of like man everybody's having fun on sake day i think that was like there was one year where everybody tried to have their event on October 1st.

22:22And so there was a lot of like, a lot of, um, not FOMO, but there was a lot of missing out. Uh, and so I missed out and the event I was at was a lot of fun, but I was a little bit sad that I couldn't go to all of them. So I might check into this one because I, uh, I also like rooftops. That sounds like a fun thing. Yeah, it's a beautiful space and great views. And I think that maybe over the years, different event people have learned to not do everything on the exact same day all the time. Yeah. Because that just causes – nobody wins in that scenario. No, nobody wins. So the events are really spread out.

23:04So I think that's great this year. Yeah. All right. Really quick question. Are you going to be at this one? I will not be at this one. I'm going to be traveling on that day, so I won't be at World Sake Day. But I think Brooklyn Kura will definitely have a table at this event. So you can stop by and see a Brooklyn Kura rep and get a Brooklyn Kura sticker. Oh. Speaking of Brooklyn Kura. Yes. Our next event. Speaking of Sake Revolution. Our next event is actually shameless self-promotion. It is on Thursday, October the 1st. Yes, actually on Sake Day. And it is the Sake Revolution event. And it will be a Sake Revolution live stream Sake Day edition.

23:53We've done this a couple of times now. And we're going to do it again. And we're going to be at Brooklyn Square in the tap room. We're going to be on stage. And we are going to have the two of us and definitely a guest. We haven't decided yet who. And we're going to talk about sake. We're going to sip sake. getting into the event means that you're going to sip sake with us because what we're going to be sipping on stage is what you're going to be sipping at the tables. And so it's a little more interactive. It's a good time. I enjoy doing this every year and I'm really excited to be through it again in this every year.

24:22And I'm really excited to be through it again. Is so great to have that live interaction with our guests. And I have to be honest, they ask the best questions like better than you or I can think of. So the questions are always amazing. We're going to have a surprise guest to be announced. It's going to be amazing. Tickets will go on sale soon. They'll be on the Sake Revolution website. And if you want to see us do our podcast live and be a part of the action and taste what we're tasting, it's a lot of fun. And it'll be at the Brooklyn Courier Taproom and tickets will be at sakerevolution.com. Excellent.

24:59Now, let's imagine that I'm somebody who doesn't necessarily live in Brooklyn. And I want to come down for the Sake Revolution Live. Is there anything else happening in Brooklyn, perhaps, that weekend that I can stick my teeth into? Yeah, John. There is a very special event happening on the very next day in the very same space. So we have, yeah, October 1st is actual Sake Day, which we have for Sake Revolution live recording. But the very next day, Friday night, the day after Sake Day is going to be Sake Day Brooklyn, which is Brooklyn Kura's big once a year blowout sake tasting event. And that will be on October 2nd from 5 to 9 p.m.

25:51And this is super exciting. We've done this several years in a row, and it is in the Brooklyn Kura Taproom. We're going to have many different sake distributors, brands. We're going to have many friends in the taproom. There's food carts out in the courtyard, and it is a fantastic evening. We have the doors to the taproom open, indoor-outdoor event. There's raffles, DJ, swag giveaway, sake class. Yeah, sake class giveaway. Last time I did this event, there was no DJ. Well, we have upped our game. Apparently you have. I'm excited. So one thing I really love what you guys do with this is that you guys, I'm not formally part of the team here, is that in order to accommodate the volume of different brands and distributors that come, they swap it out.

26:50So it's like, you know, there's a group and then at a certain point they change and then those guys kind of become guests essentially. And then there's a new group that are pouring new sake. And so as you're there throughout the evening, like it changes. And so I think that's a really fun thing. I think it's a kind of unique thing and something I always get really excited about. So I will make it my business to be there. All right. Right. The tickets are priced at$50 right now for early bird tickets. And that price is good through September 2nd. And then after September 2nd, they go up to$65. That gets you access to the entire evening.

27:30And as you mentioned, there's two rounds of tasting. So there's five to seven, and then seven to nine. And there will be brewery tours available. And it is just a whole lot of fun. It's my favorite event of the year at Brooklyn Kura. And you can try such a variety of sakes. I think we have over 50 different brands and breweries represented. And it's just a whole lot of fun. So you can get tickets at sakedaybrooklyn.com. So are we ever going to get out of Brooklyn? What's next on the agenda? Well, actually, yes, we are going to get out at Brooklyn because the next event is the one I went to last year instead of going to Brooklyn because I did not go to Brooklyn.

28:13Instead, I went to Boston. I went up to Massachusetts. And this year, Sake Day East, which is the name of the event, which last year was in Boston, is actually going to be in Westboro, Massachusetts this year. It's a little bit outside of town, so just grab a train and head on over there. And the idea here, it's a little bit of a smaller event, but it feels so much more intimate. You're there with people who are super into sake, who are really just having a blast and just having a good time. Very conversational. People in Massachusetts, very chill, it turns out. You can also have some Father Star.

28:55Oh, yeah. Yeah, because they're locals up there. My understanding is that Brooklyn Curl will be up there again this year. yes and guess who will be behind the table is it you this time it's me ah see it wasn't you last year no it was not i'm getting around this year oh you're getting you are you're gonna put miles on that uh on that delta account i guess i will yeah they they always get a good a good amount of breweries and importers so we got brooklyn curl we got johto sake one uh desai blue Kome Collective. This is a really long list. Takara for the Star Mutual Trading, etc. The heavy hitters, the guys you expect to be at an event.

29:40It's a good time. Tickets are on sale over at Eventbrite. There'll be a link in our show notes, of course. And this one is from 4.30 to 6.30. So, a little bit more of that day drinking, but it's on a Saturday. So, maybe you find an A.G. Kai afterwards. You got the after party. You can find something to do. Yeah. Yeah, I'll be a good time. Like I said, it was a lovely event last year. So I'm hoping that they're able to raise the bar and make it even better this year with the new venue. Yeah, it sounds great. It's a little outside of Boston proper, but we're going to make it work. And I can't wait to meet everyone there.