The first pairing dinner was intoxicating...

So we had our first pairing dinner event on Tuesday March 23rd.

The sake presented were all made by one brewery, Masumi Brewery of Nagano Japan. They came at the dinner to present each sake and explain their characteristics, enhancing the pairing experience. The pour was generous, participants seemed very happy, and we got some wonderful feed back for the pairing with the food our two chefs prepared for each sake.
This is Mr. Miyasaka (president) and Mr. Norum from Masumi Brewery (Miyasaka Brewing Co.).

From left:
Masumi Okuden Kanzukuri - Junmai
Masumi Arabashiri - Junmai Ginjyo
Yumedono - Daiginjyo
Miyasaka - Junmai


This year's Arabashiri is amazing. It was always good, but particularly this year, it is just amazing. A hint of pineapple/tropical fruit note, smooth, clean , crisp, sweetness of rice, richness, all in this sake. It should be even better in couple of month with maturation.


Asparagus wrapped with home-made duck prosciutto: It was paired with a warm Masumi Kanzukuri Junmai.












Duck two ways - Miso confit leg & slowcooked breast
paired with a cold Masumi Kanzukuri Junmai.














Miso"cappuccino": A twist to the miso soup - A small cup of goodness was served towards the end of the meal, before the dessert.

There were also in between and after, ceviche paired with Arabashiri, a little bite of passion fruit and black pepper granite, sushi and sashimi paired with Yumedono, and dessert paired with Miyasaka.


This time around, the pairing was with sake from one particular brewery, so it was interesting to highlight each very different sake that are made at one and the same place, and also to compare the warm and cold version of the Masumi Kanzukuri - as this is another amazing thing about sake, a completely different experience depending on its temperature.

Many thanks to Masumi Brewery and World Sake Imports. And many thanks indeeed to all the participants of the dinner.

We plan on having pairing dinners with different themes pretty regularly. We will be posting a notice here when the next one is set.