On Jan. 28, The Community Tap held “Polished: A Guide to Premium Sake,” giving novice sake enthusiasts an opportunity to dip their figurative toes in the flood waters of Japan’s sake breweries.
The tasting was hosted by Advintage Distributing’s Christy Kendig. The class offered an abbreviated “Sake 101.” To be clear, the goal is never to make sake replace wine as food’s favorite accompaniment. As it was with the euphoria Greenville sake versus wine showdown that took place in September 2025, it was only to add sake to the conversation.
After all, the hosting tap house — with its dense wine portfolio — would have to change its whole business model for that — sake replacing wine — to happen.
Sake can be broken down into four main ingredients: rice, water, koji and yeast. Its varieties differ by whether it is “pure” rice or with added brewer’s alcohol. The result of such polishing yields more of a grading scale, rather than a varietal like its fruit-based counterpart.
Sake generally ranges from 60%-80% polished and can be as polished as 30%. The polishing refers to the percentage of the grain that remains afterward, so 100% would mean it is not polished at all.
Sake tasting
Kendig brought a total of six sakes from regions all over Japan, pairing each glass with a small bite.
The first was junmai — traditionally polished to 70% — paired with chili-crisp deviled egg. The second was a nontraditional junmai ginjo — at least polished to 60% — made from red rice yielding a bright, cherry red hue and paired with barbecue potato chips. The third was another junmai ginjo called The Master’s Touch that was paired with a bright apple salad. The fourth was Akitabare daiginjo — polished to at least 50% — paired with tuna on buttered stecca toast.
Fun fact: “Dai” means big or great in Japanese, with “daiginjo” meaning “great ginjo.”
The fifth was 3 Grain Hiyaoroshi Omachi, a junmai paired with manchego and a little bit of honey. Finally, there was a fruited sake, Tsuru-Ume Yuzu, that took on a similar flavor profile to a light limoncello fruited with yuzu, a tart citrus fruit paired with mascarpone cream and honey. It is fruited as a 1-1 ratio of sake to yuzu juice but utilized the skins and pits — the whole fruit — allowing the oils to permeate the flavor.
Our favorite was a toss-up between the Akitabare and Tsuru-Ume Yuzu.
The Akitabare felt like the most versatile of bunch but also the richest of them all. It coats the palette, adding texture to its profile and paired just as beautifully with the manchego and stecca toast.
In what feels like contrast to the Akitabare, Kendig advised that the yuzu sake was just as great as a spritz, and we believe it. The decadent but airy mascarpone it was paired with almost felt like a tart a la mode all together, making it a truly indulgent bite serving as a capstone to a unique tasting.
Kanpai!
