Located just 30 minutes west of Portland, SakéOne has been changing the public’s perception of saké for nearly 20 years. What began as a venture for importing saké from Japan in the 1990s, grew into a saké-making business and kura (saké brewery) with a tasting room.
SakéOne produces three labels at their kura: G Saké, Moonstone and Momokawa. They sell about 80,000 cases of these craft brewed sakés. G Saké is their premium product, Moonstone is infused with various flavors, such as raspberry, plum, coconut-lemongrass, and Asian pear, and Momokawa is their most traditional saké. While the flavor-infused Moonstone sakés work great in cocktails, the dryness of the Momokawa make it great for balancing sweet flavors in many drinks.
All of SakéOne’s sakés are made in the traditional method. They begin with calrose variety rice from California, which is then milled and polished to leave 60 percent of the remaining grain. The grains are cooled for several weeks, then rinsed before going into a water bath. It’s then onto the steamer, before Koji mold spores are applied and the grain is moved to a cedar-lined Koji room. Fresh yeasts are then blended with water in the first fermentation tank and the Koji rice is added. Once fermentation begins, the mixture heads to a larger fermenter for several weeks. Once the ideal flavor and alcohol level are reached, the sediment is pressed out, the mixture is pasteurized, and then aged for several months before bottling.
For people new to saké, Valerie Fayette, director of marketing at SakéOne, says to think of it this way, “It brews like beer, sips like wine, mixes like liquor, but tastes like saké.” It is not unlike a dry white wine, or even vermouth in flavor, and like wines and low-alcohol fortified wines, should be stored in the refrigerator once open. Try drinking it on it’s own alongside salty and spicy dishes, not just Japanese food, or add it to your cocktail recipe as a dry flavor component.
50 Sensei, by Camper English
3 ½ ounces chilled G Fifty Junmai Ginjo Genshu Saké
1 ounce Bénédictine
1 ½ ounces fresh orange juice
½ teaspoon absinthe
Orange twist
Combine saké, Bénédictine, orange juice and absinthe in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with an orange twist.
