Heavensake SAKE BABY!

An ancient art gets a modern makeover.

Sake has been made in Japan, in one form or another, for more than 2,000 years. It’s one of Japan’s great gifts to the world, an almost unparalleled achievement in the spectrum of alcoholic spirits. The different styles of sake, the different methods of making it, how to drink it, what kind of food to pair it with, can lead to a lifetime of study — at the end of which there will still, inevitably, be more to know. But not right now. 

Heavensake’s Sake Baby!, which you’ll find in the Vices Japanese Kitchen Edition, is a sake to be enjoyed, not studied or ruminated over. Although you couldn’t be blamed for wanting to dig a bit deeper into what’s in the bottle once you taste it, so we did the homework for you. Made from short grain hitomebore rice from Hyogo, it’s a junmai ginjo. That means the rice has been milled, or polished, to 60% of its original size, which gives Sake Baby! a fruity and floral flavor.

But honestly, you don’t have to know any of that to appreciate Sake Baby! The only thing you really need to know is how to unscrew the cap. Oh, and knowing how to open your refrigerator door helps as well, because Sake Baby! tastes best when served chilled. But you don’t need an advanced degree to notice the iris and jasmine flower scents on the nose. You don’t need to know how sake is brewed (or that sake is brewed and not distilled, for that matter) to taste the fresh white plum and pear notes on the palate. You can play around with food pairings yourself. Sushi, sashimi, and delicate seafood dishes are clear complements to the sake without overwhelming it. Why stop there? We're confident in sipping it alongside pizza and pasta too! 

Bottled at 15.5% alcohol by volume, this is a sake to fall in love with, whether you’re a connoisseur or a newbie. The name is an instruction to not take it too seriously, but there’s no denying that Sake Baby! is seriously delicious. Heavensake, the company that makes Sake Baby!, is unique in the world of sake — a collaboration between French cellar master Regis Camus and some of Japan’s most esteemed sake breweries. Their trio of sakes are beloved by restauranteurs, experts, and laymen alike, and it’s won Best Sake two years running at the prestigious San Francisco International Wine Challenge. To dive a little deeper into the world of sake, visit their website: heavensake.com.