Who It's For: Sake curious drinkers, wine fans ready to broaden the map, sushi regulars ready to order beyond the house pour, and anyone who has been meaning to figure this category out for years.
Sake in the United States has been shaped by a very small slice of what the category actually offers. The default at most sushi counters bears almost no resemblance to what serious brewers in Japan are producing, and the gap between the two is where this class lives. Leading the room is Mona, a certified Kikisake-shi through the Sake Service Institute. The Kikisake-shi credential is the recognized sake sommelier certification in Japan, which means Mona brings both the technical knowledge and the service-side perspective that most Americans never get the chance to learn from directly.
Together we walk through the fundamentals. What sake actually is and how it is made. The main styles worth knowing, from crisp and dry through rich and rice-forward. How to read a label without speaking Japanese. What temperature does to a bottle, and why the good stuff is almost never poured warm. We taste across the range so the categories move from theoretical to obvious, and cover simple food pairings that work as well at home as they do in a restaurant.
No background required. Just come curious and leave with a shopping list.