Manhattan's trendiest bars and restaurants are delighting in the latest drink craze - chilled Japanese sake with ice, cucumber or both. Finicky New Yorkers take their beverage trends very seriously and this rice wine is no exception. A clear, light drink, sake is treated as the very latest in fine wine or designer spirit. Throughout the city, dozens of brands and types of sake vie for attention at tasting parties and on extensive drink menus.
Sake (pronounced sah-kay) is also making a small, but significant, appearance on this side of the Atlantic. Although Japanese restaurants have been serving it for years, both of Conrad Gallagher's latest Dublin ventures, Lloyd's Brasserie and Christopher's Restaurant, offer it as an appetiser on their new menus.
"Most people know what sake is, it's rice wine. You either like it or you don't, it's like Guinness," says Patricia Toland, assistant manager of Christopher's. In terms of taste, Toland says, "It's quite dry, it's sharp yet it has a warming sensation."
Foreigners tend to order it more often, but curiosity often wins new Irish converts. "Many customers ask for a taste of it. You can really taste its flavour as an appetiser and it cleans the palate," says Sharon Hollywood, general manager of Christopher's, Lloyd's Brasserie and Peacock Alley.
Traditional sake has just two ingredients: rice and water. Unlike a wine grape, rice must be milled rather than squeezed, to separate its outer from its inner layer. The starchy remains are then fermented to produce wine.
Sake is categorised by its starch purity. Daiginjoshu is the purest, with 50 per cent of the outer bran removed, followed by ginjoshu, 40 per cent and junmaishu, 30 per cent.
Traditionally the libation is served from a porcelain tokkuri, or small flask, into a tiny cup. Parting from tradition, Gallagher's restaurants present each 180200 ml serving of sake in little terracotta bowls. The majority of Lloyd's customers prefer it chilled, New York style, while Christopher's patrons opt for heated sake.
Sake offers spirit drinkers a lighter option, and beer and wine drinkers a little more kick. "People think of it like poitin (strength) but its alcohol level is equivalent in strength to sherry," says Yoichi Hoashi, owner of Ayumi-Ya Japanese restaurants in Blackrock and Baggot Street.
The wine may also be mixed and served as a cocktail. AyumiYa in Blackrock offers Sake Lime, Sake Tonic, and Sake Screwdrivers, as well as a range of sakes.
When the right premises becomes available, Hoashi plans to open a Kaiten-Sushi bar where food is selected from a conveyor belt. Although his extensive sake selection will be available there, he doesn't think the craze will catch on here. "It's more likely to succeed in America," he said, because California is home to two Japanese sake factories and the product is being aggressively promoted in the States.
"Sake is a seasonal thing here, people are accustomed to drinking it hot. Sales drop off during the summer," he said. But rice wine's limited image is changing as chilled sake is more readily available.
Where to buy it
Retail outlets:
Most upmarket off licences stock at least a bottle or two of sake for £10-£12. For a wider variety, the Asian markets are best.
Oriental Market, South Great George's Street and Asia Market, Drury Street sell sake ranging in price from £2.50-£4.50 for a 180 ml bottle; £3.50-£7.15, 300 ml; £7-£8.50, 720ml; £8.50-£16.95, 750 ml. Sake sets, which include four porcelain cups, a serving flask and bottle of sake, are also available from £7.15 to £16.
Restaurants:
Ayumi-Ya, Lower Baggot Street, 01 6620233, Blackrock, 01 2831767, from £3.50 to £35
Christopher's Restaurant, Fitzwilliam Hotel, 01 4787040, £2
Lloyd's Brasserie, Merrion Street Upper, 01 6627240, £2
O Sushi, Fownes Street, Temple Bar, 01 6776111, £4.50 to £7.50
Yamamori, South Great George's Street, Dublin 01 4755001, £4.50 to £7.50