A year or so ago, I was in a Japanese restaurant and spotted
sake among the drink selections on the menu. I’d never had sake before, but
since I was driving that night, I didn’t try any at that time. Instead, I went home
and put it on my bucket list.
This past Friday, my wife and I went to the Stix restaurant
in Spanish Fort with another couple, and the opportunity to sample sake arose
once again. Stix specializes in Asian food like sushi and hibachi dishes, but
they also have sake on the drink menu. I asked for a small order of “hot sake”
and proceeded to scratch this item off my bucket list.
For those of you unfamiliar with sake, it’s a rice wine that's brewed through fermentation, sort of like beer. Being mostly water, sake is
usually clear, and it has more alcohol in it than most wines and beers, typically
between 15 and 20 percent by volume. Sake isn’t as old as beer though. Whereas
beer has been brewed for thousands of years, sake only dates back to around
1,200 years ago.
Being a novice to sake, I was a little surprised on Friday
night when the waiter brought out what amounted to a small kit to drink the
sake. This kit included the container of sake itself, topped with a small ceramic glass. The sake container looked like a small, white milk
bottle. The actual drinking glass itself was a small container that was
larger than a thimble, but slightly smaller than a typical shot glass. I read
later that the sake bottle is called a “tokkuri,” and the small drinking cup is
called a “choko” or “o-choko.”
They had several varieties of sake on the menu, but, as
mentioned, I ordered “hot sake.” I learned later that hot sake is usually
consumed during the winter. You can drink it cold during other times of
the year.
Prior to Friday night, I’d never had sake before, and I was
somewhat surprised by the taste. The alcohol taste was stronger than I
expected, almost like vodka, and drinking a heated alcoholic beverage also took some getting used
to. I likened it to what wine heated in the microwave must taste like. While my
wife and our friends declined to try any, I finished the bottle like a trooper,
and I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it. It was an interesting, new experience.
If you’d like to visit the Stix restaurant in Spanish Fort
for yourself, it’s located at 10240 Eastern Shore Blvd and is open seven days a
week. Check out their business hours and menu online at spanishfort.stixonline.com.
Their selection of food is very good, and I highly recommend the Hurricane
sushi platter and steak and shrimp off the hibachi.
Before I close this thing out, I want to say that I in no
way want to encourage anyone to drink alcohol. However, if you do decide to
have a drink, don’t be an idiot. Drink responsibly and only in moderation and
never drink and drive.
In the end, how many of you have ever drank sake? What did
you think about it? Did you like it or not? Where did you drink it? Japan? Let
us know in the comments section below.
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