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Off the back of being shortlisted for Innovator of the Year, Harpers Wine & Spirit (the must read publication for the UK wine and spirits trade) wanted an interview.
I am absolutely thrilled that Tengu Sake has been nominated for this prestigious award. I started this company about a year ago because I wanted to bring fantastic sake into the UK and make it available and accessible to a non-Japanese-speaking audience. I had lost count of the number of times I had been frustrated with the lack of clear descriptions, tasting notes, etc. available for sake – you literally had to be a expert to understand what the sake you were holding in your hand might taste like – to me that just seemed crazy! I started Tengu Sake to address this (and other!) issues and it is reassuringly awesome that by being shortlisted for this award, other’s recognise our efforts. This the first time a sake company has ever been shortlisted (these things, naturally, are dominated by the wine trade) so I’m delighted we’re in there, reppin’ the sake industry!
For those of you that don’t know, The International Wine Challenge is the world’s most rigorously judged wine competition and has long been a champion of giving sake the recognition it deserves. They introduced sake judging in 2007 and, since then, it has grown to become the biggest sake competition outside Japan, attracting over 700 entries in 2014 (I actually judged for the first time this year but more on that in another blog!).
They also run awards for merchants, there are 16 award categories open to retailers and wholesalers alike. You can find the full shortlist, us included, for all the awards here.
As you can see we’re up against serious competition – some ‘big boys’ in wine – as I said, this is the first time a sake company has been up for an award (possibly the first time any non-wine company has been) but fingers crossed: who knows.
The results are all announced at an awards dinner on 16th July. Wish me luck!
I’ve been working with the team over at Kurobuta for some time now; most noticeably the mighty Head Chef, Scott Hallsworth. Kurobuta started off as a small pop-up on the Kings Road in Chelsea and now, 6 months later and after spectacular reviews, that site’s gone permanent and they’ve opened a new, bigger joint near Marble Arch.
Their food is the business and – according to the Telegraph – so’s their sake (“cracking” actually!) This is just as well since I’m proud to say that both Kurobuta restaurants are supplied, exclusively, by Tengu Sake!
Apparently, we’re cool enough for our sake to be selected to appear in uber-cool design magazine, Wallpaper*
Check it out:
Very chuffed with the write-up Tengu Sake received in the FT’s ‘How to spend it‘ section on 20th February!
They liked the search functionality on the website:
“A nifty tool also allows shoppers to select bottles by criteria such as light, rich, fragrant, dry, with food or for enjoyment “by itself”.”
They liked our pre-selected cases:
“Knowledgeable sake connoisseurs and lay-Itsu-eaters alike will enjoy the top-flight Ichiban Selection…”
And they liked me:
“Tengu Sake is clearly a labour of love and Hilton-Johnson has carefully curated from the light and fruity to extremely bold offerings.”
As they said…
“I’ll drink to that.”
Read the full article here.
Tengu Sake is currently running a competition on the At Home Magazine website, offering a lucky reader the chance to win one of our Brewery Selections!!!
Head on over to the At Home Magazine competition page to enter
or
if you can’t wait that long and simply HAVE to get a case NOW then we’re currently offering the Brewery Selection at a special discounted price and with free delivery at tengusake.com
Happy sake drinking.
Exciting times! We just rolled out an updated version of our website www.tengusake.com.
How’s it different, you say?! Check it out:
You can now create a profile, place an order, and pay for it all via the website. No more paying over the phone or by bank transfer.
Phe–ew!
Simply create an account when you checkout and, next time you login, all your delivery preferences will be there!
Most awesomely, finding the perfect sake for you just got easier! How? You can now filter your sake choices using our unique pictogram system, simply by clicking on the pictograms at the top of the page.
You can do this on both our Discover Our Sake page and our All Products page. Go on, try it now! NB – these two pages have now been combined into one, our Sake Shop.
More information is now detailed about each sake on the sake‘s product page. The right-hand column now details:
We’ve done all this to make it easier for you to find and order the sake you want. As ever, if you’re struggling do not hesitate to give us a call or drop us an email, we’re always happy to give advice!
Head on over to the events page to see the events we have lined up, so far, for 2014!
We’re currently running a competition in ‘at home’ magazine for a lucky reader to win a bottle of our superb, 12-year aged sake – Golden Amber.
Golden Amber was voted “best sake for a gift” in 2012 and received a Silver Medal at the prestigious International Wine Challenge in 2013. The sake comes in a presentation gift box.
If you’d like to be in with a chance of winning head on over to ‘at home’ mag’s website and enter the competition!
There’s a new exhibition in London’s east end that sounds very interesting. From the blurb:
‘Visitors to Hokusai Exposed will be immersed in the works of the great Japanese Master, Katsushika Hokusai, “re-created” using state-of the-art digital technology, as well as the vibrant 3D streets and pleasure districts of Edo, 18th century Tokyo. The world of ukiyo-e style woodblock prints will be brought to life in a unique event which engages all the senses and is the first showcase of the “re-create” concept outside of Japan.’
There’s also a Hokusai Exposed sake bar (3-6pm Sun-Th/3-9pm F-Sat) featuring three of Tengu Sake’s selections. A glass starts at £2 and it’s a great way to enjoy what looks to be a very cool re-imagining of Hokusai’s works (he’s the guy who did the Great Wave, amongst other famous prints).
Check out www.hokusaiexposed.com
NB – I’ve now been to this exhibition and it’s well worth a visit. They have some stunning recreations of Hokusai’s “36 Views of Mt Fuji” – a series of classic prints. Some people have suggested that digitally printing these works of art de-values them. The Guardian, in particular, seem to have got a bee in their bonnet about this one saying, “Decay is part of the life of art. Of course we can’t see Jackson Pollock’s Lavender Mist, or Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, or Hokusai’s Great Wave, as they looked the day they were made – but why would we want to?”
Unfortunately they seemed to have missed the point; if there’s any medium that this technique is suited to it’s woodblock printing. An artist’s carving might be printed any number of times by different printers using different inks. There is no ‘definitive’ version of a print (some are more famous than others, though) so it seems to me a perfectly valid expression of the work. New printing techniques, different result. Different but not invalid.
Anyway, go check it out for yourself!
Misty Stream
£30.00
Tatenokawa SHIELD Soube Wase
MUGA Platinum
£42.00
MUGA Green
Sakura
