Going with the grain

Nearly every sake story in U.S.-based publications opens with a historical vignette.

Not one about the Japanese imperial court secretaries who 2,500 years ago interspersed their written reports on soil conditions and strange weather events with references to a beverage made from rice and mold. Instead, these stories start with the writer remembering when he was foolish enough to believe sake was always served summer sidewalk-hot in a handleless cup. Americans!