What brings you sake enjoyment? Is it simply drinking it? Is it about where, how, and with whom you drink sake? Most people probably prefer imbibing at a Japanese restaurant. The common conviction that it’s an integral part of the Japanese dining experience is strong (and not misguided).
We at Sake Today certainly enjoy it more with friends at local sake joints–there are several charming haunts in the quaint, crisscrossing backstreets around our office in Yokohama. Sampling at a brewery? Absolutely. Some of the tasting rooms we’ve been to are impressive examples of classic wooden architecture and refinement. Sometimes, sipping quietly at home is a particular pleasure, especially with well-worn ceramics created by artist acquaintances.
Does knowledge enhance enjoyment? Or is learning a distraction, an impediment to pure enjoyment, thus underscoring the notion that ignorance is bliss? This is a question we might ask of any product, pastime, or art. And it’s one we explore here…
There’s been a proliferation of resources about sake these past few years, especially online, so it’s easy enough to pursue knowledge and contemplate the question. The internet has become a virtual sake encyclopedia at your fingertips, albeit with some gaps (as well as misinformation). We now have podcasts and videos and newsletters. There are also a handful of new books about sake in English. This wasn’t the case when cofounder John Gauntner and I began Sake Today almost nine years ago–our first issue was a January 2013 release.
Back then, there were fewer qualified educators, a paucity of websites with in-depth and accurate information, and very little literature about sake. We launched Sake Today intending to fill a need for both sake education and entertainment. As the years have passed and we’ve covered a lot of the essential education topics–and as educational material has proliferated, too–we’ve shifted by degrees toward a kind of cultural journalism more aligned with National Geographic, for example, than a consumer beverage magazine. In our features, we by no means shy away from geeky details or illuminative passages that might fall squarely in the realm of education. We simply don’t feel the same urgency to educate and now look for other ways to approach the topic of sake and its place in Japanese history and culture.
There’s another reason. I sense some risk now in using education to lead the way in efforts to expand sake consumption, appreciation, and enjoyment. True, some consumers we speak to who have not yet joined the sake bandwagon tell us that they are interested in, or curious about, sake, but don’t know how to approach it. We even hear this from retailers. “I’d carry sake; I just don’t know much about it or how to get my head around it.” That would indicate that education still has an important role to play.
And yet, it feels like sake educators, gurus, experts, masters, ambassadors, wizards, high priestesses, and influencers have outpaced the category itself in their growth. So much marketing is education based, too: How to enjoy sake. How to serve sake. Or even… What is sake? Japan is particularly egregious about this (a reflection, in part, on the general belief that Japanese culture always needs explaining to others). Is it possible our approach is flawed?
My worry is that we’re all framing sake as something that requires us. If you’re a newbie, well only the gatekeepers can let you in. How dare you attempt to enjoy sake without us, plebeian! I’m being hyperbolic, of course. Some derive thrills from absorbing knowledge from those more educated than them. Many of us discovered sake and found it so magical that we willingly immersed ourselves in its study. But many of us are not your average consumer…
Sake educators absolutely have a role to play–a delicate one, I think. I believe that average consumers are far more important in spreading the good word. Anyone can become a sake advocate with their enthusiasm. Anyone can become a sake enthusiast with their palate. Maybe the most important thing we can do as professionals is know when to stay quiet and simply let people enjoy their moment with sake, stepping in only when necessary, or rising to the call when called on for knowledge.
If you’re arriving at sake and/or this magazine with an incomplete picture of the beverage, don’t worry; all of us have an incomplete picture (when Gauntner and I are reading submissions and doing fact-checking, we often find ourselves exclaiming, “Wow, I didn’t know that!”). If you’re arriving with a completely blank canvas, congratulations! Welcome! Explore, enjoy, repeat. That’s Sake 101 and really the only lesson you’ll ever need. When sipping casually with friends, we forget everything we ever knew anyway.
