Sakegura Night at Sake Bar was fantastic. While I tend to enjoy almost every event that provides a free flow of alcohol, this was especially good, 1) for the quality of the alcohol being served (in this case, premium grade sake) and 2) for the people I met.

There were 15 breweries there that night, with brewers flying in specially to present their sake and tell us - the connoisseurs and uninitiated public alike - all about the regions the sake were brewed in and their history. The first sake we tried was from Hokkaido. It tasted very nice - rather sweet - and the brewer was justifiably proud of his sake, proclaiming it the best in the country. Apparently, it gets very cold in Hokkaido (-20 degrees C) which provides an ideal climate for brewing sake in an igloo.

Other memorable ones included Kiss of Fire from Ishikawa and one from Okunomatsu Shuzo. The former turned out to be sweeter than its name suggested and was memorable mostly because the non-English-speaking Japanese serving it held the beautiful blue bottle like one would hold a wine bottle and told me, "Keeesss of Fire" in his strongly accented English. Very cute. The one from Ohsomatsu was a little sweet. To my disappointment, the sparkling sake, also from Ohsomatsu, had run out by the time we reached that table. The sparkling sake is made in limited quantities of 3000 bottles a year, with this year's supply being completely sold out. Also, the sake we tried costs around 1000 yen a bottle in Japan, the sparkling sake, on the other hand, costs 5000 Yen.

Interestingly enough, the brewery which turned out - somehow - to be associated with the National Tax Agency in Japan, had ten times the number of bottles any other brewery had on show. I'm not sure why, or whether it says anything about the perks for working for the government, but I found it amusing and bewildering at the same time.

Towards the end of the night, the crowd had thinned out considerably. As a result, it was easier to spot people and I ended up introducing myself to Edmund, the owner of Sake Bar, and talking with some of his loyal customers, K. and G.. It had begun to rain outside and the remaining customers in the bar all went out to help the staff in bringing the furniture back inside. I attempted to help, but Edmund and another staff member refused to let me help because I was "a lady." Heh.

After the furniture had been brought back in, we were thinking of heading off to get something to eat as we had been drinking a considerable amount (around 15 cups) on an empty stomach when K. and G. insisted we stay and eat at the bar as the char su was fantastic. Fortunately for us, the kitchen was indeed open, and Edmund brought out char su, kariage and zaru soba for us to eat. The food took a while to come out but it was worth the wait. The char su was wonderfully soft, the sauce nicely salty the way I like it (but not too salty) and the zaru soba was delicious.

Edmund's sister, L., had joined us for dinner as well, and we all ended up having an enjoyable conversation which involved teasing L. about her boyfriend, G. being fascinated with my name and me because he discovered I had indeed been named after a character in one of his favourite books, and all of us talking in faux London accents (i.e. not ever pronoucing the t's in words). Along the way, because I was the only other female - and quite possibly the only female customer in the bar - G. had badgered me into giving Edmund a total of two hugs and a kiss on the cheek, which I didn't mind giving because - face it - we all knew it was in the name of fun. Perhaps this later accounted for us having dinner on the house, which I didn't know was going to be free.

Edmund had graciously brought out another bottle of sake and of course, we continued to drink, but by the end of the night, I was feeling a little ill. K. and G. graciously offered to send me home although I protested that it wasn't on the way. They ended up sending me home anyway after we noted my friend's reluctance to do so even though it was on his way. Hmph. 25 minutes later, I had reached home, showered, brushed my teeth and crashed, unconscious, on my bed.

To learn more about sake, you can take a sake appreciation class conducted by Edmund at various community centres. You can also visit Sake World and the Japan Sake Brewers Association for more information.