Takara Sake USA: 5-Course Sake Tasting
Takara Sake USA, Inc. in Berkeley does more than produce plum wine and sake. If you haven’t been there yet, you’ve got a unique cultural experience waiting. A visit to the Takara brewery facilities makes a refreshing change from wine tasting.
At Takara’s Sake Museum, you’ll learn the history of sake production and see tools of the trade, and right next door in the Tasting Room, you’ll continue learning about sake as you sip different varieties of the rice wine in a beautiful, environmentally friendly space that evokes traditional Japan and the natural world.
Takara has more than a century-long history of making sake in Japan, and the company’s USA headquarters were established in Berkeley in 1982. Sho Chiku Bai is produced here, and according to the company, this brand is the best-selling sake in the U.S.
Sake types available for tasting and purchase include full-bodied, undiluted Genshu, sweet unfiltered Nigori sake that you’ll recognize from its cloudy, white appearance, pure and dry Junmai sake, and other sake types that range in taste from fruity to rich to complex.
As you go through your 5-course tasting menu, your sake guide will help you learn which foods to pair with which types of sake, and afterwards, all the bottles will be available for purchase. Bottles of sake, depending on the brand and size, can cost as little as $2.25 here, far less than a bottle of wine, so part of the fun is you can afford to bring home more than just one favorite.
In addition to selling all the varieties of sake produced at the facility, Takara sells the alcohol in gift sets. If you pick something up here on the way to your next dinner party, you’ll probably be the only guest with such an offering for your host. Clothing and sake servingware are also available for sale.
Takara is located on Addison Street, visible from University Avenue and a short trek from the restaurants on 4th Street.
Posted by Renee Rutledge
