Sake Hits Its Stride as Americans Get A Thirst for Japanese Potent Potable

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The latest vogue in the beverage industry has been several hundred years in the making.


Sake has been drunk for centuries in Japan but finally seems to be hitting its stride in the United States as brewers and importers have benefited from a surge in sake consumption in recent years.


“There’s clearly a boom going on here,” said Brian Swords, advisor on economic affairs for the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles. “Sake is coming into its own in the United States.”


Since 2000, the volume of sake imports to the United States has nearly doubled, according to the Japan External Trade Organization. Over that same period, the import value has nearly tripled to $25.5 million as budding sake connoisseurs have developed a taste for high-end sakes. The main reason: The number of Japanese restaurants has surged.


“There was very little interest among U.S. consumers for the first 20 years of importation. But around 2000 you saw a pretty rapid ramp up,” said sake expert Michael Simkin, who arranges sake tastings for corporate clients and private parties.


“In the past six or seven years it’s been a fabulous industry to be in,” he said.


Simkin has developed expertise in the drink through is work at a Japanese sake brewery. He helps translates labels on the bottles of several sake brands.


The beverage, which is brewed from fermented rice, is usually about 15 percent to 20 percent alcohol. The drink is often served warm in the United States, but some sake lovers will say that the best sakes should be served chilled.


With a large number of sake imports flowing through Los Angeles, local distributors have benefited.


Los Angeles-based Mutual Trading Co. Inc., a top importer of Japanese goods, added 11 sakes to its product list in the last half of 2006. The company offers about 100 different sakes.


Still, the sake industry is readying a marketing push.


This week, the consul general in Los Angeles will host a private sake tasting for the media, among others. And next month, the Japanese government and a group of Japanese trade companies will sponsor the Japanese Sake Festival in Beverly Hills in an effort to promote the beverage to U.S. restaurateurs.


The festival will be one of the country’s largest sake-tasting events, with more than 350 varieties available.


“Los Angeles is a very healthy environment for sake,” said sake expert John Gauntner, who runs a Web site devoted to the beverage.

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