Forum

About 7 years ago a Chinese restaurant called the China Rose in Rhinecliff closed down, and with it went the best sake drink I've ever had -- their frozen sake margarita. I'm a decent bartender but I never recaptured it exactly at home (now I know the secret ingredient that frozen drinks really need to come together, but back then I just tried to get the recipe off them -- no dice). You should try one of these: sake, lime juice, triple sec, xantham, into the blender, serve in coupes.

A two-ingredient cocktail that respects the delicate flavors of a quality sake is a Sake & Tonic. I just mixed a quite reasonably priced, traditionally handmade sake by Izumo Fuji in Shimane Prefecture (regarded as the birthplace of sake) with Fever-Tree Indian Tonic Water. This S&T easily holds its own with a G&T I also made with New Amsterdam No. 485 gin while allowing the clean and soft flavors of the local rice and the minerality of the water drawn from the Hii River to shine through.