Today's Sip

“Never Let Me Go” was my first Kazuo Ishiguro book, and I see why he’s earned a cult following. The book feels nostalgic, gentle, yet chilling, like an ominous note is being played in the background. It’s technically dystopian sci-fi but you’d hardly guess it; the story follows the seemingly normal, yet ominously off-key, lives of the characters. Of course I had to pair a Japanese-born author (British by nationality) with a Japanese sake—and one that is a cult favorite by sake aficionados! Watari Bune is named after the heritage rice they use to make their sake, a variety that the Huchu Homare brewer saved from extinction from just 14 grams of seeds. They are still today the only brewer making sake from it. Their Junmai Ginjo “The 55” is refreshing and smooth with a fruitiness and nuttiness that makes it hard to put down.