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If you’re a sake aficionado, here’s another reason to love New York: A new chic tasting room in Industry City that has the sole purpose of getting people to explore sake through tours, tastings and educational events.
Last month, I went to a special sake pairing event at the Brooklyn Kura that featured special dishes prepared by Executive Chef at Brooklyn Larder Fred Mauer and Director of Education at the Sake Studies Center Timothy Sullivan. Here’s how it went.
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The Brooklyn Kura is located in Building 6 of the Inner Courtyard at Industry City, and it's kind of hard to find if you’ve never explored the complex before. Don’t be afraid to ask for directions—that's what I did, at least three times. Once you're in the courtyard, keep walking toward the river, and you'll eventually see the sign outside advertising the space. Once you're inside, the vibe is what I can only describe as if a techno club married a Zen garden and had a baby, with brutalist gray cement walls mixed with wooden paneling and long communal tables that are set up throughout the space.
At around 1pm, I sat myself down at a table with five strangers, and through conversation, I learned that most of them were professionals who were already in the sake, or at least the liquor, industry. For the most part, they were there to learn more about individual sakes because they wanted to source more of it for the restaurants and bars where they worked. They all seemed to agree that sake is about to have a big boom in New York and are attempting to get ahead of the curve by making sure they have a good selection to stock up their bars.
A few minutes in, Timothy Sullivan, the Director of Education at the Sake Studies Center, gave a brief presentation explaining the history of sake and spoke about how sake is categorized and how to determine what is considered top-quality sake. What I learned was that sake is made up of four ingredients: rice, water, yeast and koji, which is a type of domesticated mold common in other Japanese ingredients like miso.
Essentially, the categorization of sake is based on how much of the rice’s outer layer was polished away. For example, if 60 percent of the rice’s outer layer was polished away, then it has an RPR of 40 percent. The better quality sake usually has an RPR of 50 to 70 percent, which you can find out through their label.
The tasting experience included five different types of sakes that were paired with oysters, tartare, and other small plates. Through each dish, we were asked to think about how the taste profiles of the different dishes complemented the sake, and then voted anonymously on what we thought were the best pairings through a polling website.
Overall, it was fun experience, and I genuinely used the knowledge to impress my friend the next time I found myself at a Japanese restaurant. It's also the kind of thing I want to go back to do with friends or a parent. It feels very special to be able to get so in depth about sake without having to travel to Japan, and there's probably not many places outside of that country where you can have an experience like this. I also think it's perfect for a memorable and unexpected date night or as a present for a loved one who you want to spend more quality time with.
There are several classes on offer each week, including an Introduction to Sake course that is $75 per person that includes an interactive tasting and a guided tour of the production facility. If you’re a cheese aficionado, there’s also a Sake and Cheese Pairing Experience that is $99 per person, which includes a tasting of four different sakes paired with different cheese. You can see what else they have on offer here.