Portland: Sake City USA

I know these sakes! I helped a great man make them. (at トリコロールKOBE) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1fwW1bg_K5/?igshid=1h04n4baiwx6l

Floods and mudslides nearly knocked Toyo Bijiin in Yamaguchi out of business in 2013, but their friends rallied! Toyo Bijiin was eventually dug out of the mud, salvaged, and stood up again. The grateful Toyo Bijiin family branded their sake henceforth to honor the volunteers -- all of whom "came to the call" for assistance without ever being asked: "Dedicated to the people from across the region who have worked tirelessly; at the height of the hottest summer on record." For some, we bow more deeply.

24 years ago my first work experience > college brought me to D.C., where I was hustling speech material for the Governor of Arkansas and his speechwriter, and soon-to-be cabinet officer, Bruce Reed. On my first day of work, I was told to research the Gettysburg Address. Our greatest president spoke with such eloquence--on this day, nary 150 years ago. For some, we bow more deeply.

Unusually good fortune this evening. I'm glad to be alive. Fortunate to be in Chubu.

Sake and cheese are cousins, born from yeast, fermentation and mold. The best cheese for sake, hands down, is Mimolette. Though banned in the USA (government idiocy run amok) I chuckled to find it at 7-11 tonight. Umami abounds! UMAI!

I've got my mind on my sake and my sake on my mind 🎶🔬🍶

More Uehara Shuzo sake, via Shiga Prefecture. A top ten sakagura, if not top five. (at 純米酒専門 八咫 名古屋伏見店)

Tonight was touched by an avalanche of good luck! Don't know where to begin, but after extolling the virtues of what I imagine to be the smallest sake brewery in Japan, imagine my shock to have the bartender produce a bottle! From Shikoku, Asahi Wakamatsu. For those of you keeping score at home, 65 koku. PS: I had at least five other awesome things happen to me today. To put it in perspective, this epic sake synchronicity was likely the least awesome! Whoa.

Though Nishinomiya is nowhere near, Ise Shrine serves Hakutaka sake to the Gods before all others. お神酒上がらぬ神はない.

Sokujō, yamahai, kimoto are the main starter mash methods for sake. But have you tried bodaimoto? If you don't know why, you better ask someone. #nara #日本酒 #豪呑

My complete line-up of rare, delicious and unavailable-in-the-USA sakes that survived my journey home from Fukuoka! Got sake?

Clockwise: Fukuoka, Portland, Nagasaki, Gordon. #sakelife

Such a big week for me--the iOS app for which I consulted has been released in English! 😃🙏🍶✨ My great pleasure to be associated with Hidetoshi Nakata--considered to be Japan's greatest soccer player and the genius behind this app! Welcome to Sakenomy, an app designed for sake drinkers throughout the world to discover sake they like. #Sakenomy

Digging my stroll around Sasebo, a beautiful port town in Nagasaki. Oyster festival = perfect pairing with sake! (at Sasebo Station)

At the foot of the Minou Mountains by the Chikugo River on the southern island of Kyushu lies the sake brewery where I have worked seasonally for three years. Wakatakeya was founded in 1699! Though my short tenure doesn't qualify as a blip on the screen, working here has improved my life so much for the better. It's my last day of work. Tomorrow I go to Nagasaki. A week later I'll be in Portland. Goodbye, Wakatakeya! Thanks to everyone in Fukuoka who has made my time here so special. The sake we brew has my sweat in it! May I serve you a glass one fine day.

Currently sampling 15 sakes -- each a Gold Prize winner from WSET 2014. Daiginjo, ginjo polish from across Japan. Stay thirsty, my friends!

Every Day You Play by Pablo Neruda Every day you play with the light of the universe. Subtle visitor, you arrive in the flower and the water. You are more than this white head that I hold tightly as a cluster of fruit, every day, between my hands. You are like nobody since I love you. Let me spread you out among yellow garlands. Who writes your name in letters of smoke among the stars of the south? Oh let me remember you as you were before you existed. Suddenly the wind howls and bangs at my shut window. The sky is a net crammed with shadowy fish. Here all the winds let go sooner or later, all of them. The rain takes off her clothes. The birds go by, fleeing. The wind. The wind. I can contend only against the power of men. The storm whirls dark leaves and turns loose all the boats that were moored last night to the sky. You are here. Oh, you do not run away. You will answer me to the last cry. Cling to me as though you were frightened. Even so, at one time a strange shadow ran through your eyes. Now, now too, little one, you bring me honeysuckle, and even your breasts smell of it. While the sad wind goes slaughtering butterflies I love you, and my happiness bites the plum of your mouth. How you must have suffered getting accustomed to me, my savage, solitary soul, my name that sends them all running. So many times we have seen the morning star burn, kissing our eyes, and over our heads the gray light unwind in turning fans. My words rained over you, stroking you. A long time I have loved the sunned mother-of-pearl of your body. I go so far as to think that you own the universe. I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells, dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses. I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.