**2021 Gourmand Cookbook Award Winner for Japan in Spirits and Other Drinks** The Japanese Sake Bible is the ultimate book about Japan's national drink--from its history, culture and production methods to how to choose the best sake and recommended food pairings. Author Brian Ashcraft--the author of the popular guide Japanese Whisky--has put together lively commentaries based on dozens of interviews with master brewers and sake experts across Japan. His fascinating stories are accompanied by over 300 full-color photographs, maps and drawings. A unique feature of this book is that it includes reviews, tasting notes, scores and a buying guide for over 100 of the leading sake brands, written by respected Japanese sake expert Takashi Eguchi. These include all the sakes most commonly found outside Japan. Each sake has a photo of the label, tasting notes, a score and recommended food pairings. Information on the leading brewers is provided, and the sakes are grouped by flavor profile. Japanese sake is brewed worldwide today and is winning over many converts. A foreword by sake connoisseur and world-renowned DJ Richie Hawtin addresses the spread in global popularity and the shared mission of making this specialty beverage as accessible as possible. With the help of this book you'll soon become an expert in selecting, serving and enjoying Japan's favorite drink.

Japanese cuisine.

SAKE: The History, Stories and Craft of Japan's Artisanal Breweries is a compendium of the most important generational sake breweries in Japan, featuring profiles of and interviews with the passionate families who run these operations, along with luxurious photography of the small batch processes, landscape and people involved. The 75 profiles include 60 sake breweries, 10 shochu distilleries and 5 awamori distilleries from Okinawa all the way to Hokkaido for geographic and stylistic diversity. For over 2000 years, sake has been a uniquely Japanese product in some shape or form. Today, Japan even hosts a National Sake Day. However, despite 21st century globalization, it remains an industry that is little understood by outsiders, regardless of the fact that there is growing interest. In addition to the colorful, deeply personal stories behind the owners and brewers, the book will serve as a guide to Japan's most unique generational sake, helping to enlighten a new drinking audience on artisanal alternatives to the popular mainstream offerings. To ensure a well-rounded approach, the book will also provide an introduction to unique shochu and awamori distilleries, two close relatives of sake. Beautifully illustrated with full color photography by one of the world's top travel photographers (Jason Lang), the book will appeal to a broad audience but is intended for readers outside of Japan. For novices, it will open a window to the world of sake and the stories of the passionate people who make it. Well initiated enthusiasts will benefit from a curated list of sake, shochu and awamori breweries and distilleries they can further research, buy and taste. Because many of these breweries and distilleries do not actively export their products outside Japan, beverage professionals will discover many brands that they wish to contact and consider importing for their menus.

"With this book, you feel you can stop time and savor the rituals of life." --Maira Kalman An immersive journey through the culture and cuisine of one Japanese town, its forest, and its watershed--where ducks are hunted by net, saké is brewed from the purest mountain water, and charcoal is fired in stone kilns--by an American writer and food stylist who spent years working alongside artisans One night, Brooklyn-based artist and food writer Hannah Kirshner received a life-changing invitation to apprentice with a "saké evangelist" in a misty Japanese mountain village called Yamanaka. In a rapidly modernizing Japan, the region--a stronghold of the country's old-fashioned ways--was quickly becoming a destination for chefs and artisans looking to learn about the traditions that have long shaped Japanese culture. Kirshner put on a vest and tie and took her place behind the saké bar. Before long, she met a community of craftspeople, farmers, and foragers--master woodturners, hunters, a paper artist, and a man making charcoal in his nearly abandoned village on the outskirts of town. Kirshner found each craftsperson not only exhibited an extraordinary dedication to their work but their distinct expertise contributed to the fabric of the local culture. Inspired by these masters, she devoted herself to learning how they work and live. Taking readers deep into evergreen forests, terraced rice fields, and smoke-filled workshops, Kirshner captures the centuries-old traditions still alive in Yamanaka. Water, Wood, and Wild Things invites readers to see what goes into making a fine bowl, a cup of tea, or a harvest of rice and introduces the masters who dedicate their lives to this work. Part travelogue, part meditation on the meaning of work, and full of her own beautiful drawings and recipes, Kirshner's refreshing book is an ode to a place and its people, as well as a profound examination of what it means to sustain traditions and find purpose in cultivation and craft.

For the Japanese, "sake" is a generic term covering all alcoholic beverages, the first of them being "Japanese sake," which the Japanese call "nihonshu" or, administratively, "seishu" (respectively, Japanese alcohol or clear alcohol). Sake, as we conceive of it here, is therefore "nihonshu," a traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage, usually translucent, colorless and containing 15-17% alcohol, resulting from the fermentation of rice. It should not be confused with baijiu or meikueilu, distilled 40% alcohols presented in shooter glasses with suggestive drawings in many Asian restaurants, or with shochu, a (great) Japanese distilled spirit. Easy-to-read yet scrupulously precise, this book is the fruit of more than 6 years of research, a season of sake-making in Japan and countless exchanges with industry professionals. It meticulously unveils all the mysteries of sake. This book is intended for anyone who wishes to understand sake, its ingredients and its production method, whether they be neophytes, amateurs or professionals. Four themes are covered: raw materials, fermentation, fining and tasting. "An extremely detailed but approachable bible [of sake]" SommelierS International "The reference book on Japanese sake" Mikael Rodriguez, Head Sommelier, La Mamounia Palace, Morocco "A dense, rich and complete book that allow you to better understand and become familiar with Japanese sake." Philippe Faure-Brac, best sommelier of the world, RIO 1992 "One of the best explanatory book for Sake in the world." Toru Akita, Toji "5 stars, A bible to always keep by your side, one of the best books on the subject. Treated with scientific knowledge and in a structured way, I warmly recommend!" Adrien Nonameuh Facebook rating "This book is above and beyond what I hoped to find.The informations provided and the level of detail is fantastic." Paolo Tucci, Reader

These beautiful pages invite you to pick up your brush and grow. Kristy Rice's joy-focused approach to watercolor art has won the hearts of fans worldwide, and with this journal Rice offers ways for all levels of painters to make "art for joy's sake" and simultaneously paint a personal keepsake or add beauty to your inspiration wall. Includes 10 illustrations ready to be watercolored on thick, textured paper, alongside full-color tear out reproductions of the same works painted by Kristy herself, demonstrating palette choices and brushwork. Enrich your art with "prompt" ideas to inspire your painting's growth; pages with no-stress exercises for techniques; inspirational artwork and quotations; and even a few recipes for nourishing your body along with your spirit! Each item in the Artisan series is designed to offer a specially crafted watercolor discovery glowing with Kristy Rice's creative touch. Also in the series: Watercolor Cards: Kristy Rice Designs.