Sansankudo 三三九度

Three red flat sake vessels, sakazuki, of descending size, sit inside each other. They are red lacquerware with gold around the rim. They are made in Japan and used for the sansankudo ritual in a Shinto wedding ceremony.

Three three nine times is the literal translation of sansankudo. An integral part of a Shinto wedding ceremony involving drinking sake. As you can imagine, Super Sake Boy and I were quite enamoured with the concept of building this ancient ritual into our own wedding ceremony. Trying very hard not to culturally appropriate, I have … Continue reading Sansankudo 三三九度

The Mothers of Invention

Three sake bottles, a Fujita Shuzo, a Moriki Shuzo and a Mukai Shuzo, set up with Sake Mistress tasting glasses and two sets of Japanese ceramic guinomi sake cups. One set is metallic black and the other is matte black.

"Our need will be the real creator" Plato Monday night is sake night at our house. (Well, some other nights may be sake nights, too...) However, Monday night is Taste with the Toji night. Some of you may remember me writing about Taste with the Toji sessions last year, when our gorgeous friend the Sake … Continue reading The Mothers of Invention

Tanuki Pop-Up with Melbourne Sake

Two glasses of sake sitting alongside a sake menu at Tanuki Pop Up in Melbourne.

Spending time with a bunch of like-minded people is always lots of fun. Especially when your shared passion is Japan in general and sake in particular. Sitting with a lovely group of people talking sake, in a room full of people who love sake, being plied with sake by a couple of guys who really, … Continue reading Tanuki Pop-Up with Melbourne Sake

The Enduring Exploits of Super Sake Boy and Nihonshu Girl

A pergola and side garden with Japanese ferns, maple trees and hanging baskets. There are hops trailing to the pergola and hanging baskets on the pergola. This is a Japanese inspired garden in Ferny Creek, Melbourne.

It has been nearly a year since COVID put a big, fat STOP sign on nearly all international travel. Being obsessed Japanophiles, Super Sake Boy and I have tried to take the travel ban graciously, while feeding our need for Japanese food, sake, culture and connection with the language. We were last in Japan in … Continue reading The Enduring Exploits of Super Sake Boy and Nihonshu Girl

When Sake Reflects Nature

Hanatome Sake is unique in flavour and has been a favourite of Super Sake Boy and I for quite some time. It has a delicious acidic complexity and when the Sake Mistress announced that the ninth session of Taste with the Toji would be with Miyoshino Jozo, makers of Hanatome, we were excited. Not only … Continue reading When Sake Reflects Nature

A Taste with a Twist from Takayama

Throughout the series of Taste with the Toji events that Super Sake Boy and I have been attending since April, it has never failed to amaze me that regardless of what kind of sake the Toji (head brewers) are brewing, or what kind of kura (breweries) they are brewing in, a hundreds of years old … Continue reading A Taste with a Twist from Takayama

Aliens, Hot Wheels and Blues loving Koji- Mioya Shuzo

The eighth session of Sake Mistress Simone's Taste with the Toji on-line sake events found us in Ishikawa at Mioya Shuzo, with Kuramoto (president) Miho Fujita, and Toji, Toshi Yokomichi. I am reasonably sure when Miho-san was explaining the story of how she became president I was the only participant in the session that completely … Continue reading Aliens, Hot Wheels and Blues loving Koji- Mioya Shuzo

Sake By The Sea

On the 1st June our Taste with the Toji Session 5, hosted by the lovely Sake Mistress, Simone, took us to the idyllic seaside town of Ine, in the north of Kyoto Prefecture, to a wonderful quirky brewery as unique and as lovely as the Toji who makes the sake there. Mukai Shuzo has been … Continue reading Sake By The Sea

Punks Not Dead… And Nor Is Sake

Last Sunday night we had the pleasure of virtually visiting an extraordinary sake brewery in Japan that is definitely the rebellious teenager of the sake world. Miyoshikiku Shuzo is situated in Tokushima, in Shikoku, and the sake is as charismatic as the Toji, Ryoichiro Mamiya. This event was the 6th in the Taste with the … Continue reading Punks Not Dead… And Nor Is Sake

Gozenshu…Taste with the Toji with an ancient twist

Last year, somewhere between sitting our WSET Level 3 exam and receiving our results, Super Sake Boy and I had the privilege to be asked to pour sake at the Melbourne Sake Matsuri. It was a great deal of fun. It was also an excellent learning experience and we had the opportunity to work alongside … Continue reading Gozenshu…Taste with the Toji with an ancient twist