Ozeki Nigori – Unfiltered Sake at Kansaku

Ozeki Nigori – Unfiltered Sake at Kansaku

Had some stellar sashimi at Kansaku tonight, but the taste that lingers is of the Ozeki Nigori unfiltered sake.



$8.00 for a 375ml bottle seems a very good price for this rich, dense, very flavorful and just slightly sweet sake that I got as an aperitif and ended up having throughout dinner. Granted, in a tall thin glass, this cloudy brew looked a little like a sperm sample in a test tube, but getting past that, it proved a fine, full-bodied beverage that makes more costly filtered varieties seem pale, rarified and decadent.

Don't know much about sake, but Kansaku promises over 30 varieties and henceforth, make mine unfiltered.

Kansaku
1514 Sherman Ave
Evanston
847.864.4386

nigori sake has a slightly floral sweet note. served cold in the summer is the way to go. i'd imagine most sushi bars stock it these days. i know bob san (my local) does. i prefer to think of it as milky though.

Went to recently opened Ai tonight, and had an "sparkling sake" called Hou Hou Shu.



This is a semi-sweet sake, with natural carbonation, and a little sediment at the bottom (suggesting it was perhaps unflitered). Kind of a novelty, and a reasonable champagne-alternative to kicking off a nice meal.