By Johnnie Stroud, owner of Saké Nomi

It’s always a great thrill for us when folks come in to Saké Nomi looking for gift ideas and saké for special occasions. Japanese saké makes a great gift for many reasons, and one of the biggest is it’s still usually unexpected here in the US.  Wine and champagne are often given as gifts and featured at holiday parties, but the presence of saké can make a bold statement and lend an exotic flavor to the festivities.
The packaging and presentation of saké is also a huge part of its attraction. Many bottles feature beautiful calligraphy, poetic names, and, during holiday season, often come in decorative boxes that would require little more than a ribbon or bow to make them suitable for gifting.
Mixing up bottle sizes (300ml, 500ml, 720ml, 1.8-liter are the most common) and grades (the higher the grade, the higher the price) gives you many budget options, and adding some saké glassware makes for a nice “starter kit.”
Saké can also be a surprisingly nice addition to traditional holiday meals. When it comes to dining, people still associate saké most closely with sushi and sashimi, but limiting the beverage in that manner really does it a disservice.
A few years ago, our family was invited to our friends’ home for Thanksgiving dinner. They expected us to bring saké, and I felt up to the challenge of picking an appropriate brew to compliment a traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey and all the fixings.
I selected Setchukanbai (Plum Blossom in the Snow), a junmai ginjo that possesses notes of sourdough yeast in the nose and displays a fine balance between the sweet and dry elements of the flavor.  I was pretty confident it would be a perfect compliment to turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.
It’s always fun to walk into a party with the “Big Boy” 1.8-liter bottle, too, and as the turkey roasted in the oven, we cracked the bottle open and enjoyed some football and appetizers.
Unfortunately, we never found out how the saké complimented the meal; the saké was so delicious we finished the bottle before the turkey came out of the oven!