SAAAAKKKE TIME

BROADMINDED with CHIEFWINO
OYA Restaurant & Lounge/SEI Restaurant

www.oyadc.com
www.seirestaurant.com

April 15, 2011
SPRING TIME SAKE

What IS Sake?

Sake is a brewed beverage using special types of rice, yeast, koji mold and spring water. Somewhat like beer in that sake is produced grain (rice) but worlds apart from the flavors of beer. Often sake takes on more of a wine-like flavor profile.

Premium sake is divided into three levels related to how much of the outer rice husk is polished away before brewing. The higher the percentage of polishing, the higher the grade of sake.

Honjozo/Junmai—30% polished
Ginjo—40% polished

Daiginjo—over 50% polished

A HUGE misconception is that sake is always served HOT. While some sake can be enjoyed slightly warmed, many Japanese restaurants in the United States serve very low quality sake which is served hot to mask its flavors. Often these “carafes” of hot sake are poured from a large box not different than boxed wine.

In the restaurants, I usually divide sake into three main categories based on aromas and flavors to help guide guests into selecting the style of sake they will enjoy.

FRAGRANT SAKE
Aromatic and Floral; Perfect for Sashimi and lighter fare. These are the “white wines” of sake and are usually in the Daiginjo or Ginjo polishing level. Almost always better served chilled.

LIGHT & SMOOTH SAKE
Light and Aromatic; Versatile with Foods. These are great beginner and everyday sakes. Usually at the Ginjo or Junmai polishing level. Can be served gently warmed or chilled.

ROBUST & EARTHY SAKE
Rich; Earthy; Good Hot; Pair with Rich Food. Sake in this flavor category is usually at the Junmai or Honjozo polishing level and can be served hot or cold. Can be paired with meats and heavier foods.


UNFILTERED SAKE
Fruity and Creamy; Unfiltered. These often have the appearance of skim milk due to the tiny rice particles left in the liquid. These are generally on the fruitier side and can be enjoyed on their own. I don’t recommend heating this style of sake. Period.


Sake Tasting
Taisetsu ‘Ice Dome’ Junmai Ginjo,
Hokkaido, Japan
Fragrant, lychee, anise, white flower, clean, crisp, dry

Tozai ‘Living Jewel’ Junmai, Kyoto, Japan
Clean and smooth with a hint of tangy fruit, dry finish

Genbeisan No Onikoroshi ‘Demon Slayer’ Honjozo, Kyoto, Japan
Light, smooth, clean, dry, can be served hot

Ozeki Nigori, Hollister, California
Rich, creamy, slightly sweet, smooth finish, unfiltered, amazing with sushi

Ozeki Hana Awaka Junmai Sparkling Sake, Hyogo, Japan
Light, fresh, Asian pear, white peach, tropical fruit, slightly sweet and bubbly

Lemonade Stand Robbed (what is happening in our world)

Lets help this family...
How COULD they? Thieves steal $150 from lemonade stand set up by girls to raise money for gravely ill toddler

Three girls selling lemonade from a stand in order to raise money for a gravely ill toddler were robbed of the $150 they had made.
Authorities say a man and a woman approached the girls and asked them about the stand when they snatched the money jar, scratching one of the girls in the process and running away.
The money was for two-year-old Logan Varnadoe who was born with just a third of a brain, has cortical blindness, deafness and has had multiple surgeries for hernias and intestinal problems, according to 11Alive.com.


He will be airlifted from The Children's Hospital in Macon to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centre for treatment that isn't available anywhere in Georgia.
Amber Umbarger, 21, from Warner Robins, was arrested on the scene and has been charged with three counts of robbery by snatching.
Police are still looking for Gage Turner, 20,also from Warner Robins.

Logan's cousin Chelsea Edwards and her two friends are still recovering from the shock.
Logan and Chelsea's grandmother Judy Bailey told 11Alive.com: 'I still cant get over it. My granddaughter was lying on the ground crying, devastated.

'She's been really having a hard time at night, the last two nights. I said "It's going to be okay. We're going to get there. One way or another we're going to get to Cincinnati, all of us. Don't you worry".'
Houston County Sheriff's Lt John Holland called the robbery 'a first' for him in his years of crime-fighting, saying: 'I've never had a case where a child at a lemonade stand has been robbed.'
A number of donations have already been made to Logan's fund. Click on the below link if you would like to donate.

Unbelievable Broad Liz Securro

Crash Into Me, A Survivor's Search for Justice
Crash Into Me, a memoir, shares the horror of a young woman’s freshman year at the University of Virginia and how her life was forever altered. In 1984, Liz was raped after being drugged at a fraternity party that she attended with a friend. First, the local hospital didn't process rape kits and told her to drive to D.C. for help. Then, university officials insisted campus, rather than Charlottesville police handle the crime and dismissed her with condescension. Twenty-one years later, Seccuro received a letter from her rapist asking for forgiveness. Plagued with twenty years of “why” Liz started a dialogue with him and later pressed charges. The legal battle and media attention only give Seccuro more resolve that her actions, however belated, are right, for herself and the victims of countless rapes that are never prosecuted. The book includes a transcript of the preliminary hearing, with its shocking revelation of what Seccuro endured that night. This brave account reveals an alarming array of mishandling, poor judgment, and outright lies from university officials and students at the party. Her story shines light on a systemic lack of concern and care given to rape victims all over the world today. Crash Into Me sends a message of justice, hope and forgiveness that every American citizen is entitled to.