Chocolate and Sake Tasting!

Join us this Saturday for a very special sake tasting, where we’ll be sampling some premium sake along side some high end handmade chocolates from Padovani’s Chocolates. What’s that you say? Having chocolate and sake together is just crazy talk? “Au Contraire Mon Frere”, sake and chocolate happen to go very well together as you’ll you see first hand this Saturday if you attend this unique tasting! (Notice my clever use of a French phrase since the Padovani’s are originally from France.)

Along with two excellent junmai daiginjo sake and a solid tokubetsu junmai sake, we’ll also be sampling an ume infused junmai sake and a very dry sparkling sake, all of which should pair very well chocolate. To top it off, Chocolatier Extraordinaire Philippe Padovani himself will be at our shop that night to offer up some of his incredible handmade chocolates and answer your questions. Chef will also have a limited amount of his premium chocolates for sale that night. (Cash sales only for the chocolates.)

So join us this Saturday for a very unique sake and chocolate tasting. Meet Chef Philippe Padovani and try some of his fabulous chocolates. Oh, and don’t forget the awesome sake we have planned as well. The Yuki no Bosha alone makes this tasting worthwhile.  Hope to see you then!

CHOCOLATE AND SAKE
COMPLIMENTARY TASTING & SALE
Saturday, October 27, 2012
5:00pm to 8:00pm

Here is the lineup for Saturday.

YUKI NO BOSHA AKITA KOMACHI
“Beauty of Akita”
Junmai Daiginjo

At our preliminary sake and chocolate tasting, this sake was the hands down winner for best match with chocolate! This sake begins with upfront notes of white pepper that fade into dried apricot and melon. Elegant, lushious and velvety, you will also find flavors of pear and sage with a slight spice in finish.      

KAMOIZUMI
“Autumnal Elixir
Junmai Daiginjo

We normally recommend this sake to people who want something a little richer and “earthier” as this sake possesses a full range of flavors from persimmon to caramel to earthy notes of shitake mushrooms and autumn leaves. Tartness, sweetness and “shibumi” (astringency) all converge in harmonious balance.

CHIYOMUSUBI
Tokubetsu Junmai

Very food friendly sake. Elegant on the palate with a crisp hint of spice. This tokubetsu junmai from Tottori prefecture is well balanced with a medium dry finish. Pairs well with fish, seafood and hopefully chocolate!

ASABIRAKI
Ume Kanon
Umeshu

From our friends at Asabiraki Sake Brewery we bring you Ume Kanon, an ume (Japanese plum) infused junmai sake. Unlike most umeshu or plum wines that are liquor or shochu based, Ume Kanon is made using good junmai sake. The result is a softer more balanced ume flavor with a pleasant acidity that should pair well with chocolate.

DEWAZAKURA TOBIROKU
 “Festival of Stars”
Sparkling Sake

Tobiroku is a sparkling sake produced through secondary fermentation in the bottle much like a sparkling wine or champagne. It is crisp, extremely dry and effervescent and should go very well with chocolate.

So please join us this Saturday for this very special tasting. Sample some tasty sake, meet Chef Padovani and sample some of his delicious chocolates. Sake and chocolate, not a bad way to spend a Saturday evening!

Kanpai,
Malcolm & Nadine Leong
The Sake Shop

CHOCOLATE AND SAKE
COMPLIMENTARY TASTING & SALE
Saturday, October 27, 2012
5:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Philippe and Pierre Padovani are two truly cosmopolitan chefs. These two brothers are French citizens who received their culinary training in France, have an Italian last name and were raised in Australia.

Many of you are already familiar with some of the award-winning restaurants they have owned and operated including Padovani’s Bistro, Elua and most recently Padovani’s Grill. Now the brothers have brought their own unique style to a line of high quality chocolates that reflect their commitment to culinary excellence.

Philippe and Pierre Padovani

Called Padovani’s Chocolates, the company sells handmade chocolates on the wholesale and retail market. A rich taste, velvety formulations and exceptional quality and consistency distinguish their award winning chocolate confections based on time tested recipes. These fine European style chocolates are made fresh in Hawaii using only the freshest natural ingredients with no preservatives.

Cacao Tree

So where does chocolate come from and why does it taste so good? Oddly enough, chocolate grows on trees … or at least the fruit or pod that it comes from grows on tress.

The Cacao Tree is native to Central and South America, but is grown commercially through out the tropics with around 70% of the world’s cacao actually coming from Africa.

The seeds or “beans” of the Cacao fruit is what we use to make chocolate. Fresh beans are actually incredibly bitter and must be “fermented” first before being used to make chocolate.

The beans are eventually dried, roasted, ground and then combined with sugar and a few other ingredients to make chocolate.

Apple Banana and Matcha  Green Tea

Padovani’s uses all natural ingredients and high end Valrhona Cocoa to make their chocolates.  Everything is handmade using only the freshest and finest components.

We’ll be sampling three different chocolates from Padovani’s this Saturday, including  their Apple Banana Ganache, Kona Coffee and a new Matcha Green Tea Ganache.

Kamoizumi Brewery

Kamoizumi Brewery is located in the Saijo area of Hiroshima prefecture. Compared to other breweries, Kamoizumi is relatively young having been founded around 100 years ago in 1912.

The brewery is known for brewing only Junmai muroka sake.  Junmai means no additional alcohol was added and muroka means the sake was not charcoal filtered as most sake are.

The result is a sake with a richer bolder flavor.  Even the color of Kamoizumi sake tends to be richer and deeper due to their decision not to charcoal filter their sake.

Some feel this filtering is necessary to produce a smooth sake. Kamoizumi feels this filtering takes away some of the richer deeper flavors they are trying to achieve. Sounds like a great sake to pair with chocolate!

Parking
Metered parking available on King Street, Kaheka Street & Liona Street.  Pay lot located behind our building. $2 for 1/2 hour Monday – Friday until 6pm and Saturdays until 2pm.  All other hours $2 for 5 hours (paybox).  Enter from Liona Street.  Unfortunately we are unable to  validate parking.

Hours of Operation  
10am to 8pm Mon – Sat
10am to 5pm Sun