Japanese Sake, brewed from rice, water, yeast and koji, is found in more and more places, but general awareness and understanding is low. During Sake Days (between 16-22 September) bars, shops and restaurants throughout The Netherlands will organise events and promotions to let a wider audience taste sake while also learning more the drink, its history and its variety.

Events range from ie. an educational tasting at Cafe Wu, a special 3-, 4-, and 5-course sake pairing option at Choux, an aperitif sake dinner at Remouillage and special Sake Cocktails at Taru to Sake Friday at Fuku Friedhats, an extended by-the-glass lists at Marius, Kaapse Maria and Hakata Senpachi, Sake tasting flights at Wagyu Kanata, Paindemie and Yamazato. Meanwhile Utage Sake Bar, Paindemie and Fuku Ramen, all featuring extensive sake selections, are perfect places to taste a few sakes alongside bites.

On 21 September, Sake Sip - a new Amsterdam Sake Festival is taking place, bringing nearly 100 different sake (from four importers) together in one location. Making it a great opportunity to taste a large variety of sake, learn and meet to other sake enthusiasts.

- many Sake-related events between September 16-22
- 40+ participating venues (majority in Amsterdam)
- educational tastings
- pairing dinners
- sake tasting flights and extended by-the-glass menus
- shop discounts
- sake festival
- Sake Days 'Map', a overview of Sake-related places in The Netherlands*
*continously updated, not limited to SD participants. Sake Map Netherlands

"In the deep north of Japan, in the rural countryside of Iwate famous for folktales and an endless night sky, our dinner began with a sparkling smoked sake that tasted like hickory, campfire, and molasses. It was paired with a potato and herring snack that looked like a rock, but tasted marvellous. After that, we were served different styles of a fizzy-tart boozy porridge named doburoku— each one distinct in flavour due to its fermentation starter method: kimoto, bodaimoto, sokujo. As the meal turned to wild game, a series of four aged brews (each utilising the full 100% of the grain, including the 10% that had been polished away, as rice flour) were offered. All of these beverages were made in house, and they were all delicious: a revelation, a meal I will never forget.

That night, I dropped all of my preconceived notions about what sake is, or is meant to be.

Today's generation of sake brewers, drinkers, and sommeliers are creative, open-minded, and eco-conscious. As a community, sake professionals are rediscovering heritage through traditional methods and tools, and at the same time writing their own story by rejecting the popular flavour profiles of the last century. On the surface sake is traditional, even stagnant, but if you peel back the curtain the rules are being thrown out the window— being rewritten entirely. And for those of us living outside of Japan, the creative possibilities are even greater.

I was once told that sake suffers from "an embarrassment of riches:" a thousand years of tradition, a reputation for expert craftsmanship, gorgeous branding, and fundamentally natural ingredients— features the average marketing team could only dream of. And yet, sake flies under the radar every day: taken for granted, it is the simple accompaniment to sushi, locked into a single context. But I truly believe that we're living in sake's golden age, its heart beating with passionate and forward-thinking young brewers. Sake has never been better, more delicious, more diverse, in its thousand-year history, and the world is just starting to notice."