It was a packed house at the Academy of Arts for the Joy of Sake Thursday night. More than 300 sakes with various degrees of rice refinement (as noted by labels Daiginjo, Junmai and Ginjo) were available for tasting. It's hard to get your head around the scope of that, but simply put, you're not going to try all of them. In fact, having now attended our first of these, my friend Matt and I came up with a strategy for next year's event: 1) Select only the double-starred sakes (the bold star meant it was an award winner, an asterisk meant you couldn't get it in America), and 2) Go for the ones in cool bottles. (I'm a design nerd, so a fun bottle is a good draw every time.)


The sake judges ceremonially signal the start of the event.


They offered the sakes in large cups with miniature basters (above) that allowed you to suck-up about a quarter-ounce or so to dispense into your tasting cup. Which was really all you needed, given the sheer quantity on hand.

Matt and I are not experienced sake judges. Sake experts, according to event organizers, pay attention to balance, taste, aroma and overall impression, and balance is considered the most important of these: Overall harmony, no discernible faults, aroma integrated with flavor. Experts will rate on the following scale: perfect, good, acceptable, uneven or poor.

Matt's qualification is "I'd put that on my shelf."

So here's what made our shelves: Kotsuzumi "Rojo Hanaari" (cool bottle, too, with a rounded cork), Koshi no Kanbai "Muku," Gasanryu "Gokugetsu," Tentaka Kuni (which means "Hawk in the Heavens," poetic) and Kirinzan. There were many good ones, but these stood out. (Though it should be noted the dedication in the program to was to sake brewer Takao Nihei, known for saying "there's no such thing as a bad sake." Made us smile.)

The food served was magnificent but there wasn't nearly enough of it. Not that I need a buffet, but the small bites among multiple sake tastings wasn't enough to satisfy. The standouts were: for heartiness, ZenShu's ahi meatloaf with sauteed Hamakua mushrooms and kabayaki drizzle and Lewers Lounge's pork belly with tamarind jus and wasabi mashed potatoes, and for palate cleansing (those that really set off the sakes), the ahi & tomatillo tartare in pickled cucumber cup from Marians Izakaya, and Doraku's seared tuna with Asian salsa). Really liked Cakeworks' dessert-style sushi of coconut and ume sauce — there was some crunchy granulated sugar in there which made for a fun texture experience.



As with the other Academy soirees like its monthly Art After Dark event, we enjoyed spectacular people watching — hipsters mingled with the pau hana crowd among others dressed in traditional kimono. Though this event was in many ways a celebration of Japanese culture, it's Hawaii, so you get more of a mix plate. From another courtyard, Matt and I could hear the small jazz band out front playing The Beatles' "Come Together" — and realized it wasn't being sung in English. So we rushed over to listen to this classic being sung in Japanese but they were in the middle of a musical interlude. When the pink-clad vocalist began singing again I realized, she was singing it in Hawaiian.

Only in Honolulu.

Side note: Very nice to meet Ed Morita in person: active social media man in Hawaii and one of the creative forces behind the new Nonstop Honolulu debuting next week, featuring all that is local entertainment and nightlife. Looking forward to seeing more of it and him.