The Joy of Sake

After a three-year pandemic hiatus, The Joy of Sake, the world’s largest sake tasting outside Japan, returns to NYC on August 4th. To mark the occasion, this year’s Joy of Sake will be the biggest sake celebration in the city’s history, featuring a record 576 competition-level sakes available to taste. Fifteen top restaurants will be serving sake-inspired appetizers; confirmed restaurants include newcomers like Kissaki, Sarashina Horii, Katsuya, Towa, Juban and Kimika, along with returning favorites like Sakagura, En Japanese Brasserie, Insa, Sen Sakana, Zuma, Bond St, Momoya, Rule of Thirds, Yopparai and more. Now in its 21st year, The Joy of Sake celebrates the ancient art of sake-brewing with a walkaround tasting where attendees will be able to taste the full spectrum of sake styles in the premium daiginjo, ginjo and junmai categories from every sake-brewing region in Japan, including over 300 sakes not otherwise available in the US. Sakes are grouped by category so attendees can explore each in depth, including recipients of silver and gold awards from the U.S. National Sake Appraisal, a rigorous blind tasting conducted by 10 judges from the U.S. and Japan every year prior to the Joy of Sake events. This an opportunity to sample fresh bottles of the actual competition entries in excellent condition – sake should be consumed as fresh as possible and stored refrigerated as freshness is key to great sake.