I signed up for the Drink:Eat:Play sake tasting at Gonpachi because I don’t really like sake. Yeah, I must hate myself, right?
I just know zero about sake and have no clue why sometimes it makes me want to gag and other times I happily sip it with my food. I was hoping this event would enlighten me about what to order and the differences between some basic types of sakes.
Nope.
At the end of the night, I felt I would have been better off gleaning info from Wikipedia or some other online resource. And no, it’s not like I got so rip-roaring drunk that I couldn’t process any information. I just think that this type of event ended up being more social and less in-depth instructional. It was a tasting after all, not a seminar.
Visual aids for a bleary-eyed bunch to reference later at BevMo.
The evening wasn’t entirely a bust, however. I did learn some things that night:
1. Sake tasting attire takes its cue from club attire
An excuse for women to dress cute/stylish/vamp-y and straight guys to dress as casually as their girlfriends will let them.
2. Sake purveyors don’t have a regulated, consistent lingo I can understand
One sake dude told me that the type I didn’t like was very “traditional.” Another guy said all sake was traditional. One lady made me do a taste test and told me to buy Whole Foods’ Drunken Whale sake because it was very dry and crisp. I still have no clue what I like.
3. New styles of sake are very un-sake-like
I may not have a super-traditional sake palate, but that crap that tastes like syrupy sweet DeKuyper Pucker is horrifying. That being said, I took note of where to buy it (BevMo) for my friends who like that stuff.
4. The nose knows
If I smell something, and it makes me want to gag (bananas, tequila), the taste will certainly make me gag. I tested out this theory over and over again at the sake tasting and found that my nose is sensitive enough to know what works for my body and what doesn’t. A nasal canary.
5. My sense of self-preservation is currently activated
Despite a twinge of guilt, I did dump numerous sake samples if the first sip revolted me. Hanh of the past would have powered through it and then would have to sober up by eating everything in sight and running up and down stairs before being able to drive home.
Gonpachi
134 N. La Cienega
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
(310) 659-8887
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Wtfbbq? I love me some sake. Sa-kay! Last nite, we were talking about when/if/how Gonpachi will shutter…
Oh wow, I know! I stayed afterwards for a meal at Gonpachi (the event provided 20 % off), and I was so severely disappointed, I didn’t bother to blog it. It was perhaps one of the most depressing meals I’ve had, and that includes my scrambled eggs and salsa I whipped up the other night when I was drunk.
But yeah, I don’t know much about sake, but there were some I quite liked there. I wouldn’t know how to order it though. I’ll keep on trying more though. One of the sake dudes there gave me his card, so I might hit him up for some recommendations.