The New Success of Sake Is It Embracing Trends, or Are Trends Embracing It? By Taylor Rau They are the scene-setting citizens of their communities, and they can be found gracing the chic environments of bars, lounges and nightclubs across the country, validating trends and — in some cases — creating new ones. At this very moment these preeminent patrons can be found mingling — cool cocktails in hand. What they’re holding, however, might surprise you.
San Francisco to SoHo, sake is on the rise, and with it are coming fresh opportunities to introduce something new to your guests or to take existing ones to new levels of beverage education. Although it traditionally is best served cold, this latest activity in the sake scene is absolutely red hot.
As a distributor, owner, manager, bartender or server, how could one pass up on the opportunity to learn more about sake, its recent success and the current trends it embraces — and that are embracing it — to create some phenomenal sales?
The Rice Renaissance Similar to the importance of grape quality in a well-made wine, sake’s success truly begins with a grain of rice. What qualifies a rice grain as great for production lies in its core, and subsequently in that core’s starch content. Simply put, the better refined the grain, the better the product, according to sake.com and industry insiders. While standard sake rice is fermented after 30 percent of each rice grain is polished away, as much (or in some cases slightly more) as 50 percent of a grain is polished away for premiums and ultra-premiums, essentially leaving a very refined core for ultra-smooth and ultra-enjoyable consumption once the production process is complete.
‘Sake’s movement is there. It’s getting a lot more popular. It’s catching on and picking up.’— Shinske Gomez, manager, Daiji’s Izakaya Japanese Tapas Bar, Houston
“Shinpaku-mai,” the Japanese terminology for that high level of rice quality, is what sets the ball of sake production in motion. While most high-quality rice comes from the southern territories of Japan, excellent climates for rice growth which can produce consistent rice harvests year after year, sake has been embraced by people across Japan for many centuries — and today Americans nationwide are more and more beginning to embrace it as well. “Sake has sustained a 2-6 percent growth rate every year for the past 10 years,” says Yoshi Yumoto, vice president and national sales manager of Sidney Frank Importing Co. / Gekkeikan Sake. “Ourselves, we have seen a 10-15 percent increase.” Premium sakes, which Yumoto says stand above standard sakes by rice grain quality and production, also have been growing in the 10-20 percent range. Ultra-premium sakes have been growing 30-40 percent. What has prompted this consistent growth and increased enjoyment of sake? Consumers today are living in a smaller world and have new opportunities to learn about — and experiment with — a larger variety of products than ever. In doing so, many taste-conscious guests coast to coast are learning the intricacies of sake and as their palates are pleased, so, too, are on-premise operators where profit is concerned. Sake education, indeed, is at an all-time high. “We’re trying to educate our consumers and distributors that sake can be sold wherever white wine is served, “ Yumoto says. “And I believe the growing trend is still the same, that sake is becoming mainstream and the cold sake and premium sake will continue to be more popular.”
Cold Sake, Hot Sales “In the past, sake was sold and consumed primarily in agent restaurants,” Yumoto says, explaining that Japanese and Chinese establishments in the United States were the safe harbors, so to speak, for sake. “But now, though,” he says, “sake is being served in non-agent restaurants, bars and nightclubs.” Indeed, the popularity of the beverage has been fostered in hot-spot markets such as San Francisco and New York City, but that has been changing. Bar guests in the know have perpetuated the sake scene and prompted venue owners to establish it in new markets. No longer relegated to more traditional markets, sake bars, clubs and lounges have popped up in the Midwest, Southeast — virtually all over the map. Yumoto cites Atlanta as being a hot sake market now, for example. From steak houses to upscale Italian restaurant/bars, owners are beginning to serve it up and savor the sales. “Sake is becoming a fashionable item. Consumers, especially younger ones, are looking for something different,” Yumoto says. Shinske Gomez, manager at Daiji’s Izakaya, a Japanese tapas bar in Houston, agrees whole-heartedly. His venue offers a wealth of sake choices for patrons, such as Ozeki Sake, served hot at six ounces, for $3; Takara Masamune Hawaii, a dry Hawaiian sake served chilled for $8; Itami Onigoroshi, served chilled for $12; Hakutsuru Junmai Daiginjo, with sweet hints of fruit, for $15; or Suigei Junmai, a mild, light sake served chilled, for $24. The list goes on, too: Taru, ShoChikuBai Nama Organic, Maihime Karakuchi Ki-ippon, Kikusui Junmai Ginjo, Shirakawago Junmai Ginjo Nigori and others. Beyond guest acceptance of variety, another happening becomes evident — chilled sake is hot right now. “Sake’s movement is there,” Gomez says. “It’s getting a lot more popular. It’s catching on and picking up.” At the Continental Martini Bar & Sushi Lounge in Beverly Hills, Calif., the venue’s operators capitalize on this with their Sushi Tuesdays, where guests have all they can eat for $9.95. The food may be the initial draw, but combining that with a free Sake-Tini shot has patrons buzzing, says the bar’s GM, Rick. That little addition has piqued patron interest in sake and in sake cocktails, he adds. John Vidaver, general manager at The Fly Bar in San Francisco, says sake cocktails are solid for satisfying the club’s crowds, too. “We definitely have a clientele who know what they’re doing,” he says. “But, I would still say that we turn a lot of people onto it.” Through specialty cocktails such as the Sake Five-O, made with pineapple juice, sake and soy, or the Japanese Chiuahua, made with orange juice, pineapple juice and red sangria, guests have successfully been tempted to foray into the sake world, Vidaver says. Such is the power of sake, it seems, and the timing right to welcome this traditional beverage into the modern bar program. NCB
They are the scene-setting citizens of their communities, and they can be found gracing the chic environments of bars, lounges and nightclubs across the country, validating trends and — in some cases — creating new ones. At this very moment these preeminent patrons can be found mingling — cool cocktails in hand. What they’re holding, however, might surprise you.
