The Value Press site has an article on gifts for the one you love if they love sake – specifically three sets of cups and glasses.
The first is a set of white porcelain vessels from Mino, a famous pottery centre in Gifu Prefecture. If you know the Sake Service Institute’s two-axis diagram, then you’ll be familiar with them: a tulip-shaped one for aromatic sake, a straight-sided one for fresh and light sake, a flat one for rich sake and a short shot-glass style one for aged sake.
The next gift idea is a set of three glasses with similar shapes but different heights, with cut bases.
- “Top”, with a narrow lip, is for nigori and sparkling sake
- “Regular” is slightly straighter and is for sake with a short finish
- “Bottom” is short and meant for koshu or other heavy sake, whisky or brandy.
Top will set you back JPY 4,850, Regular JPY 5,400 and Bottom JPY 4,320 (including tax).
The last set features three stemmed glasses.
- Umakuchi for sake with a powerful or complex aroma or mature acidity (koshu, jukuseishu)
- Kaori featuring an open shape for a fresh aroma and pleasant acidity (daiginjō, ginjō)
- Karakuchi for dry, full-bodied sake (junmai)
Any one of three costs JPY 8,100 (including tax).
Links
- Original article (Japanese, Value Press, 31 August 2018) Click through to see the different sets of cups/glasses, or use the links below for more photos.
- Mino-yaki white porcelain cup set on Wabist (Japanese)
- Top/Regular/Bottom set on Wabist (Japanese)
- Umakuchi/Kaori/Karakuchi set on Wabist (Japanese)