The traditional kagami biraki ceremony or ritual breaking open of the sake cask signaled the start of the 2007 Joy of Sake event in Honolulu Hawaii. (Distinguished members of the Kokusai Sake Kai can be seen hammering away above.) Yes my friends, the months of waiting were finally over and the blessed day had arrived. I was just moments away from indulging in my first sip of sake, and I could not wait!
Although the event was officially scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm, my wife and I arrived a little early and were rewarded for our efforts. We were treated to a "pre-show" of sorts, complete with drum beating dancers decked out in bright red and black. The dancing was followed by the ritual opening of the sake cask and then a quick banzai toast. Moments later the doors were thrown open and a rush of people quickly filled the ballroom. mmmmmmmmmmmmm
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And now for the moment of truth . . . I walked twenty feet into the ballroom and stopped to gaze upon perfection. Angelic sounds of a church choir played softly in the background of my mind as three hundred bottles of sake seemed to light up and shine like the light from a thousand stars. OK maybe it wasn't that dramatic, but it was still quite a site to behold! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
My initial feeling of euphoria quickly turned into confusion as I could not come up with a game plan to successfully conquer this event. Sake were grouped by Junmai, Ginjo and Daiginjo, but this really didn't help at all since we were still dealing with over three hundred bottles of sake. I headed first to the Daiginjo section and proceeded to choose a sake at random from the hundred or so that stood before me. (More on this in my next posting.) In hindsight, this event would have been better done over the course of two or three days. There was simply not enough time during this one evening to fully sample and appreciate everything this event had to offer. Next posting - "Let the Tasting Begin!"
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