According to Nation’s Restaurant News, bar owners and operators are using a product that up until recently, was only seen in Japanese eateries—premium sake. The fragrant rice-based beverage is being used in signature cocktails, used instead of wine and spirits in sangria, and pouring it as an accompaniment to cuisine. In some cases it is even touted as a gentler alternative to high-proof liquors. Operators are taking it beyond its Japanese roots into a variety of settings in which fresh, high-quality, handcrafted beverages are the rule.
Pure Food and Wine, an upscale raw food restaurant in New York City, is home to the Pure Mojito, made with organic ginjo sake, fresh organic mint and lime juice and a splash of cava, priced at $13.
“It has been a real crowd-pleaser since day one,” said beverage director Joey Repice. “Rum is a very distinctive spirit, but the sake in the mojito is a lot cleaner and lighter. It’s refreshing, not overbearing.”
According to Sake producer Dewey Weddington, vice president of SakeOne in Forest Grove, Oregon, the product’s unique flavors, mixability and overall novelty in the market make it a good choice to promote to customers who seek new experiences, such as young adults. “They are exploratory and looking for things that Mom and Dad are not necessarily drinking,” he said.
Repice tries to bring in sake newbies with libations like the White Light Tini, which gets a milky white color and depth of flavor from unfiltered sake. Lemon grass, ginger and green tea add further palate impressions.
“People are amazed when they experience a high-quality sake for the first time,” said Repice. “It is worlds apart from a lower-quality product.”
Some people seek out premium sake because it is relatively low in alcohol and free from preservatives, as a more benign tipple than distilled spirits.
“Sake is a lot better for you than actual vodka,” said Brittany Williams, a bartender at Matthew Kenney OKC, a raw foods restaurant in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, that features saketinis like the Violet Hour, made with unfiltered sake, lavender, blueberry and lemon. “We had some organic vodkas we were using, but we are actually going to phase them out.”
