We have a new Japanese restaurant that recently opened near us.
They serve something they call "box sake." Instead of the usual
small decanter, they pour into a an open-topped wooden box, about
three inches square, from which you then drink. The sake is
supposedly enhanced by the taste of the wood.

Has anyone ever seen this before? Did this place make this up, or
is it common elsewhere and I just didn't know of it?

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
We have a new Japanese restaurant that recently opened near us.
They serve something they call "box sake." Instead of the usual
small decanter, they pour into a an open-topped wooden box, about
three inches square, from which you then drink. The sake is
supposedly enhanced by the taste of the wood.

Has anyone ever seen this before?

Often in Japan. Rarely in the U.S.

Did this place make this up, or
is it common elsewhere and I just didn't know of it?

It is common in certain settings in Japan such as receptions or ceremonies .
.. . the "cup" will often be printed with information about the event. One I
hung onto was from when AEA opened their Tokyo office in the mid-1980s. I
have never these cups in general use in a neighborhood izakaya, for example.
Get a bit of a buzz on and they are tough to use unless you don't mind
spilling sake all over.

In ,
D. Lutjen typed:

"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...

We have a new Japanese restaurant that recently opened near
us.
They serve something they call "box sake." Instead of the
usual
small decanter, they pour into a an open-topped wooden box,
about
three inches square, from which you then drink. The sake is
supposedly enhanced by the taste of the wood.

Has anyone ever seen this before?

Often in Japan. Rarely in the U.S.


Thanks very much. I've been in Japan only once, about 20 years
ago. I don't remember seeing it there, but it's certainly
possible that I did and didn't really what was in the boxes.


Did this place make this up, or
is it common elsewhere and I just didn't know of it?

It is common in certain settings in Japan such as receptions or
ceremonies . . . the "cup" will often be printed with
information
about the event. One I hung onto was from when AEA opened
their
Tokyo office in the mid-1980s. I have never these cups in
general
use in a neighborhood izakaya, for example. Get a bit of a buzz
on
and they are tough to use unless you don't mind spilling sake
all
over.


I tried it. Even without the buzz, it was difficult to use. And
the thick rim makes it uncomfortable to drink from. But it tasted
good.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

In article , D. Lutjen
wrote:

We have a new Japanese restaurant that recently opened near us.
They serve something they call "box sake." Instead of the usual
small decanter, they pour into a an open-topped wooden box, about
three inches square, from which you then drink. The sake is
supposedly enhanced by the taste of the wood.

Has anyone ever seen this before?

These are called "masu". Originally these boxes were the smallest box
used for the measuring of rice. They hold .18 liters of sake. This unit
is called a go (long o, with a line over it), which means "ten". This
is the number of measures one would find in a standard large sake
bottle (issho-bin), which holds 1.8 liters.

Often in Japan. Rarely in the U.S.

Though I live in SoCal, I've see them about maybe a quarter of the time
in both locales. A number of the local sushi joints that cater more to
non-Japanese let you mark your name and "decorate" your own masu with
colored pens, and then they store it behind the bar for you.

Did this place make this up, or is it common elsewhere and I just
didn't know of it?

It is common in certain settings in Japan such as receptions or
ceremonies . . . the "cup" will often be printed with information
about the event.

Also they are used in those more humble izakaya type pubs. Particularly
when they are going for the more rustic angle. Though I must admit
I've seen them more frequently in US restaurants than in Japan's.

One I hung onto was from when AEA opened their Tokyo office in the
mid-1980s. I have never [seen] these cups in general use in a
neighborhood izakaya, for example.

Hmm. Not my experience: I've seen them in a couple of sit-on-the-floor
type izakaya in Kyoto for instance.

Get a bit of a buzz on and they are tough to use unless you don't
mind spilling sake all over.

A very common approach with masu in the US that I've seen is a laquered
masu that sits on a saucer. They pour the sake till it overflows the
glass into the saucer. And another: They put a small sake-glass inside
a lacquer masu and overflow the glass into the masu. No matter how you
slice the glass/saucer or glass/masu approach it is "drippy". I drink
the glass until it's done a bit, then empty the whole thing in to the
masu and drink it from there.

This lacqured-box approach I probably see *most* of the time in
higher-class restaurants.

Everytime I've ever drunk cask sake, ladled out with a masu-on-a-stick
contraption, it was doled out in bona fide cedar masu. On a few of
these occasions, without being asked, a pinch of coarse salt was put on
the corner of the box.

With really good sake I don't like the cedar masu approach, and
pariticularly the salt, because it does impart flavor. So do a couple
of *beautiful* bamboo sake cups I got in Ueno last year. Beautiful to
look at, or drink sake from quickly, but if you leave it in the
box/bamboo cup it doesn't change it. With the high-dollar sakes I'm
drinking now, I'm not interested in the taste be shaped in the
slightest.

My current too-expensive sakes: Hakkaidan and Hana No Mai. Jeez they
are delicious. At home I'm drinking Hatsumago which is really charming
and bit less expensive (thought at $42 bucks a issho-bin, it ain't
cheap). I like the meaning of Hatsumago which is "first grandchild".
The company's shtick is, "Everybody loves the first grandchild!"

And so forth. Jeez, I'm getting thirsty!

Easy, generally available intro to sake: "The Book of Sake" by Hiroshi
Kondo (Kodansha, '86). Though there are many newer books out, I've yet
to peruse them. Also a couple of good sake-related sights have popped
up:

http://www.sake.com/
http://www.esake.com/

and

http://www.sakeone.com/ Momokawa's site. I think this US sake is a
joke from a sake standpoint; one of them is *licorice* flavored!! Talk
about losing some of the delicate aspects of the bouquet! It is,
nevertheless, fun drinking, in a wine-cooler kind of way.

--
First they gerrymander us into one-party fiefs. Then they tell us they only
care about the swing districts. They they complain about voter apathy.
-- Gail Collins

On Sat, 6 Dec 2003 08:17:52 -0700,
Ken Blake wrote:
We have a new Japanese restaurant that recently opened near us.
They serve something they call "box sake." Instead of the usual
small decanter, they pour into a an open-topped wooden box, about
three inches square, from which you then drink. The sake is
supposedly enhanced by the taste of the wood.

Has anyone ever seen this before? Did this place make this up, or
is it common elsewhere and I just didn't know of it?


Our old favorite sushi bar used to do that before it closed. We
don't drink sake, but saw others do it that way...and near the sushi
bar was a small shelf of the wooden boxes with regular customers'
names on it. (At least, I assume they were names, it was in
Japanese.)

I don't recall seeing this custom elsewhere, but then again,
since I don't drink sake I probably wasn't paying close attention.

Ariane

Get a bit of a buzz on and they are tough to use unless you don't mind
spilling sake all over.


That's where the saucer comes in handy.

Thanks very much for the info.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup


In ,
Gerry typed:
In article , D. Lutjen
wrote:

We have a new Japanese restaurant that recently opened near
us.
They serve something they call "box sake." Instead of the
usual
small decanter, they pour into a an open-topped wooden box,
about
three inches square, from which you then drink. The sake is
supposedly enhanced by the taste of the wood.

Has anyone ever seen this before?

These are called "masu". Originally these boxes were the
smallest box
used for the measuring of rice. They hold .18 liters of sake.
This
unit is called a go (long o, with a line over it), which means
"ten".
This is the number of measures one would find in a standard
large sake
bottle (issho-bin), which holds 1.8 liters.

Often in Japan. Rarely in the U.S.

Though I live in SoCal, I've see them about maybe a quarter of
the
time in both locales. A number of the local sushi joints that
cater
more to non-Japanese let you mark your name and "decorate" your
own
masu with colored pens, and then they store it behind the bar
for you.

Did this place make this up, or is it common elsewhere and I
just
didn't know of it?

It is common in certain settings in Japan such as receptions
or
ceremonies . . . the "cup" will often be printed with
information
about the event.

Also they are used in those more humble izakaya type pubs.
Particularly when they are going for the more rustic angle.
Though I
must admit I've seen them more frequently in US restaurants
than in
Japan's.

One I hung onto was from when AEA opened their Tokyo office in
the
mid-1980s. I have never [seen] these cups in general use in a
neighborhood izakaya, for example.

Hmm. Not my experience: I've seen them in a couple of
sit-on-the-floor
type izakaya in Kyoto for instance.

Get a bit of a buzz on and they are tough to use unless you
don't
mind spilling sake all over.

A very common approach with masu in the US that I've seen is a
laquered masu that sits on a saucer. They pour the sake till
it
overflows the glass into the saucer. And another: They put a
small
sake-glass inside a lacquer masu and overflow the glass into
the
masu. No matter how you slice the glass/saucer or glass/masu
approach
it is "drippy". I drink the glass until it's done a bit, then
empty
the whole thing in to the masu and drink it from there.

This lacqured-box approach I probably see *most* of the time in
higher-class restaurants.

Everytime I've ever drunk cask sake, ladled out with a
masu-on-a-stick
contraption, it was doled out in bona fide cedar masu. On a
few of
these occasions, without being asked, a pinch of coarse salt
was put
on the corner of the box.

With really good sake I don't like the cedar masu approach, and
pariticularly the salt, because it does impart flavor. So do a
couple
of *beautiful* bamboo sake cups I got in Ueno last year.
Beautiful to
look at, or drink sake from quickly, but if you leave it in the
box/bamboo cup it doesn't change it. With the high-dollar
sakes I'm
drinking now, I'm not interested in the taste be shaped in the
slightest.

My current too-expensive sakes: Hakkaidan and Hana No Mai.
Jeez they
are delicious. At home I'm drinking Hatsumago which is really
charming and bit less expensive (thought at $42 bucks a
issho-bin, it
ain't cheap). I like the meaning of Hatsumago which is "first
grandchild". The company's shtick is, "Everybody loves the
first
grandchild!"

And so forth. Jeez, I'm getting thirsty!

Easy, generally available intro to sake: "The Book of Sake" by
Hiroshi
Kondo (Kodansha, '86). Though there are many newer books out,
I've
yet to peruse them. Also a couple of good sake-related sights
have
popped up:

http://www.sake.com/
http://www.esake.com/

and

http://www.sakeone.com/ Momokawa's site. I think this US
sake is a
joke from a sake standpoint; one of them is *licorice*
flavored!! Talk
about losing some of the delicate aspects of the bouquet! It
is,
nevertheless, fun drinking, in a wine-cooler kind of way.

D. Lutjen wrote:

"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
We have a new Japanese restaurant that recently opened near us.
They serve something they call "box sake." Instead of the usual
small decanter, they pour into a an open-topped wooden box, about
three inches square, from which you then drink. The sake is
supposedly enhanced by the taste of the wood.

Has anyone ever seen this before?

Often in Japan. Rarely in the U.S.

I saw it at a place called Sushisake in Richardson, TX.
Seemed to be a big thing for people to buy a box, mark it
up however they wanted with a Sharpie, and have it placed
behind the sushi bar for their next visit.

One of my four favorite sushi places on Earth (it's where
I tried Shira-Uo). But I never did feel the need to drink
sake from a box.

--Blair
"Somewhere in the world there's a restaurant
that serves Diet Coke in a tricorn hat,
and we'd be embarassed to eat there."

"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
We have a new Japanese restaurant that recently opened near us.
They serve something they call "box sake." Instead of the usual
small decanter, they pour into a an open-topped wooden box, about
three inches square, from which you then drink. The sake is
supposedly enhanced by the taste of the wood.

Has anyone ever seen this before? Did this place make this up, or
is it common elsewhere and I just didn't know of it?

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

Yes. I've found out that sake no longer needsto be warmed- that was to hide
taste impurities. The quality has become do much better over the last few
decades that the taste is actually better when cold- which is how it is
served in Japan. It was served cold there during the summer anyway. The
'box' you mention is actually the way cold sake is usually served.

"Gerry" wrote:
And another: They put a small sake-glass inside
a lacquer masu and overflow the glass into the masu. No matter how you
slice the glass/saucer or glass/masu approach it is "drippy".

This is the most common approach in Tokyo. The overflow
into the masu is considered "service."

I drink
the glass until it's done a bit, then empty the whole thing in to the
masu and drink it from there.

I actually do the opposite. After sipping from the glass a bit,
I pour the overflow from the masu back into the glass. The
masu has four corners, so pouring from the masu is not a
problem. Plus, I find it much easier to drink from the glass
than the masu.

glenn

"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
We have a new Japanese restaurant that recently opened near us.
They serve something they call "box sake." Instead of the usual
small decanter, they pour into a an open-topped wooden box, about
three inches square, from which you then drink. The sake is
supposedly enhanced by the taste of the wood.



The group has already answered the question but I just wanted to add a
comment. Japanese companies will often have special masus made up for a
plant opening or joint venture opening. I have four or five downstairs that
I got that way. Toray Engineering America, Aska America and Oil-less
America are the ones I remember. Two of the three have closed their doors
due the bad business here and in Japan.

In article , guren
wrote:

I drink the glass until it's done a bit, then empty the whole thing
in to the masu and drink it from there.

I actually do the opposite. After sipping from the glass a bit, I
pour the overflow from the masu back into the glass. The masu has
four corners, so pouring from the masu is not a problem. Plus, I
find it much easier to drink from the glass than the masu.

Actually I do the same way, but mis-stated it above.

--
First they gerrymander us into one-party fiefs. Then they tell us they only
care about the swing districts. They they complain about voter apathy.
-- Gail Collins

"D. Lutjen" writes:
"Ken Blake" wrote in message

They serve something they call "box sake." Instead of the usual
small decanter, they pour into a an open-topped wooden box, about

Often in Japan. Rarely in the U.S.

Several times here in the US. Last couple of times, the box
was presented on a small saucer and the sake was poured in and
up to the very rim, maybe spilling over just a touch.

Very nice, cold sake.

Get a bit of a buzz on and they are tough to use unless you don't mind
spilling sake all over.

Now, that's half the fun.

Seriously, not difficult to drink out of the corner, but
sure, easily could get messy after 2 or 8...



--
Plain Bread alone for e-mail, thanks. The rest gets trashed.
No HTML in E-Mail! -- http://www.expita.com/nomime.html
Are you posting responses that are easy for others to follow?
http://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/2000/06/14/quoting

"Tea" wrote in message
.. .

"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
We have a new Japanese restaurant that recently opened near us.
They serve something they call "box sake." Instead of the usual
small decanter, they pour into a an open-topped wooden box, about
three inches square, from which you then drink. The sake is
supposedly enhanced by the taste of the wood.


I was sufficiently intrigued by this thread to try drinking sake from a box.
All I can say is that the method must have been invented by a Japanese
"Temperance" organization if they had them long ago! It's very quaint but
cups are much more practical!

Jim.

"James Silverton" writes:

I was sufficiently intrigued by this thread to try drinking sake from a box.
All I can say is that the method must have been invented by a Japanese
"Temperance" organization if they had them long ago! It's very quaint but
cups are much more practical!

Jim, the trick is to make sure to use heavy-duty corrugated.

If you use one of those flimsy single-layer boxes, the sake
just soaks through and makes it mushy.

For a one-time use solution, try one of those little boxes
that Amazon ships with. Both corrugated _and_ it's got that
friendly smile logo on the side. Not to mention that subtle
Seattle flavor that just the thought of Amazon would impart
to your sake.



[maybe the trick is like that of drinking champagne from
the shoe of a beautiful woman. Drink your sake from one
of her shoeboxes? Probably a better bet for a whole
variety of reasons]

--
Plain Bread alone for e-mail, thanks. The rest gets trashed.
No HTML in E-Mail! -- http://www.expita.com/nomime.html
Are you posting responses that are easy for others to follow?
http://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/2000/06/14/quoting