With today’s sake drinkers increasingly informed and adventurous, now is the time for a truly expert guide to take you deeper into appreciation of this complex but delightful Japanese beverage, brewed from rice and enjoyed both warm or chilled. And what better mentor than John Gauntner, the “Sake Guy” and the world’s leading non-Japanese sake educator and evangelist? Here in over two dozen no-holds-barred essays, John reveals “the truth about sake” from a connected insider’s perspective. No other book or website presents such a knowledgeable, practical, and concise yet complete guide to sake idiosyncrasies, misperceptions, and controversies. Sake Confidential is the perfect FAQ for beginners, experts, and sommeliers. Indexed for easy reference with suggested brands and label photos. Includes: Sake Secrets: junmai vs. non-junmai, namazake, aging, dry vs. sweet, ginjo, warm vs. chilled, nigori, water, yeast, rice, regionality How the Industry Really Works: pricing, contests, distribution, glassware, milling, food pairing The Brewer’s Art Revealed: koji-making, brewers’ guilds, grading John Gauntner John Gauntner is the only non-Japanese certified Master of Sake Tasting. A resident of Japan since 1988, he has worked in the sake industry promoting and educating since 1994. Each year he conducts Sake Professional Courses for sake professionals and aficionados, and several of his students have gone on to open thriving sake shops, breweries, and izakaya in the United States.

**2021 Gourmand Cookbook Award Winner for Japan in Spirits and Other Drinks** The Japanese Sake Bible is the ultimate book about Japan's national drink--from its history, culture and production methods to how to choose the best sake and recommended food pairings. Author Brian Ashcraft--the author of the popular guide Japanese Whisky--has put together lively commentaries based on dozens of interviews with master brewers and sake experts across Japan. His fascinating stories are accompanied by over 300 full-color photographs, maps and drawings. A unique feature of this book is that it includes reviews, tasting notes, scores and a buying guide for over 100 of the leading sake brands, written by respected Japanese sake expert Takashi Eguchi. These include all the sakes most commonly found outside Japan. Each sake has a photo of the label, tasting notes, a score and recommended food pairings. Information on the leading brewers is provided, and the sakes are grouped by flavor profile. Japanese sake is brewed worldwide today and is winning over many converts. A foreword by sake connoisseur and world-renowned DJ Richie Hawtin addresses the spread in global popularity and the shared mission of making this specialty beverage as accessible as possible. With the help of this book you'll soon become an expert in selecting, serving and enjoying Japan's favorite drink.

- Sake is a growing industry and there is much interest in this subject among wine students and enthusiasts but little information available at this level - Shortlisted for the Fortnum and Mason Food & Drink Awards 2019 - Includes chapter on other Japanese wines - Author is a respected wine writer, regularly contributing to Decanter and World of Fine Wine Once brewed throughout Asia, sake has come to be inextricably linked with Japanese culture, tradition and society. In Sake and the Wines of Japan, Anthony Rose argues that, after decades in the doldrums, sake is well on its way to becoming the next big thing. Neither a wine nor a spirit, sake's purity, centuries-old brewing methods and umami taste have gained it fans among the sort of younger drinkers who sparked the revolution in craft beers and artisan spirits. A return to quality, plus the modern outlook of today's generation of sake makers is opening up sake, particularly premium sake, to the world. Exports have increased and sake breweries, some artisan, some offshoots of big Japanese names, have sprung up in destinations as far flung as Oregon and Australia, not forgetting England. To demonstrate how deeply woven into Japanese society this drink is, Rose first takes us through the history of sake production, from offerings to the gods made from rice chewed by priestesses, to the heyday of sake, when master craftsmen - tojis - were instrumental in a brewery's success or failure, to sake's new wave, epitomized by Berlin techno DJ Richie Hawtin, founder of ENTER.Sake. Rose then details sake types, demystifies polishing ratios, explores the issues around ageing sake and discusses how best to enjoy sake. The four basic ingredients - rice, koji (rice mould), yeast and water - are introduced ahead of a thorough explanation of the brewing process. Rose profiles a personal selection of sake producers and ends the sake section with a chapter on sake producers outside Japan. Japan's wine industry is small and young but improving rapidly; here some of the best exponents are profiled alongside a history of wine production in Japan and details of grape varieties used. Sake and the wines of Japan ends with a guide to Japan, making it an essential tool for all those seeking a way into this enigmatic and enticing culture.

**2020 James Beard Award Nominee** **2020 Gourmand Cookbook Award Winner for Japan in Spirits Books** Drink your way through Japan (even from home) with the help of this book! Japan is home to some of the world's most interesting alcoholic beverages--from traditional Sake and Shochu to Japanese whisky, beer, wine and cocktails that are winning global acclaim and awards. In this comprehensive survey of Japanese drinks, experts Stephen Lyman and Chris Bunting cover all the main types of beverages found in Japanese bars and restaurants, as well as supermarkets and liquor stores around the world. The book has chapters on Sake, Shochu, whisky, wine, beer, Awamori (a moonshine-like liquor from Okinawa), Umeshu plum wine and other fruit wines. There is also a fascinating chapter on modern Japanese-style cocktails--complete with recipes so you can get the authentic experience, including: Sour Plum Cordial Sakura Martini Improved Shochu Cocktail Far East Side Cocktail Thorough descriptions of the varieties of each beverage are given along with the history, production methods, current trends and how to drink them. Detailed bar and buyer's guides at the back of the book list specialist establishments where readers can go to enjoy and purchase the drinks, both in Japan and cities around the world, including London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Shanghai and more! This is an indispensable book for anyone interested in brewing, distilling, new cocktails or Japanese culture, travel and cuisine. Kampai! Cheers!

SAKE: The History, Stories and Craft of Japan's Artisanal Breweries is a compendium of the most important generational sake breweries in Japan, featuring profiles of and interviews with the passionate families who run these operations, along with luxurious photography of the small batch processes, landscape and people involved. The 75 profiles include 60 sake breweries, 10 shochu distilleries and 5 awamori distilleries from Okinawa all the way to Hokkaido for geographic and stylistic diversity. For over 2000 years, sake has been a uniquely Japanese product in some shape or form. Today, Japan even hosts a National Sake Day. However, despite 21st century globalization, it remains an industry that is little understood by outsiders, regardless of the fact that there is growing interest. In addition to the colorful, deeply personal stories behind the owners and brewers, the book will serve as a guide to Japan's most unique generational sake, helping to enlighten a new drinking audience on artisanal alternatives to the popular mainstream offerings. To ensure a well-rounded approach, the book will also provide an introduction to unique shochu and awamori distilleries, two close relatives of sake. Beautifully illustrated with full color photography by one of the world's top travel photographers (Jason Lang), the book will appeal to a broad audience but is intended for readers outside of Japan. For novices, it will open a window to the world of sake and the stories of the passionate people who make it. Well initiated enthusiasts will benefit from a curated list of sake, shochu and awamori breweries and distilleries they can further research, buy and taste. Because many of these breweries and distilleries do not actively export their products outside Japan, beverage professionals will discover many brands that they wish to contact and consider importing for their menus.

I wish I knew then what I know now! Don't get to the end of your law school career muttering these words to yourself! Take the first step toward building a productive, successful, and perhaps even pleasant law school experience...read this book! Written for students about to embark on this three year odyssey, by students who have successfully survived law school. Law School Confidential demystifies the life-altering thrill ride that defines an American legal education by providing a comprehensive, blow-by-blow, chronological account of what to expect. Law School Confidential arms students with a thorough overview of the contemporary law school experience. This isn't the advice of graying professors or battle-scarred practitioners decades removed from the law school. Fresh out of University of Pennsylvania Law School, Robert Miller has assembled a panel of recent law school graduates all of whom are perfectly positioned to shed light on what law school is like today. Law School Confidential invites you to walk in their steps to success and to learn from their mistakes. From taking the LSAT, to securing financial aid, to navigating the notorious first semester, to exam-taking strategies, to applying for summer internships, to getting on the law review, to tackling the bar and beyond...Law School Confidential explains it all.

Acclaimed storyteller and manga artist Ryuto Kanzaki makes her English-language debut with Samurai Confidential, a sweeping pictorial that showcases the private, often complex lives of Japan's most famous samurai warriors. More that just a lavish picture book, though, Samurai Confidential is rich with nuggets of information not normally found in mainstream history books. The book delves into the backgrounds of Japan's most renowned warriors, many of whom served as scholars, musicians, painters and poets when they were not busy on the battlefield. From the Tokugawa shogunate to the final days of Edo, from Kenshin to Ieyasu to Musashi, Samurai Confidential has all of its bushi bases covered.