Chicago Sake School Ready to Take Flight

If all you know about sake is dropping a bomb into a glass of beer, it's time you got schooled. Chicago Sake, the city's first sake school and consultancy, recently opened its doors to help educate Chicagoans who want to understand the nuances behind Japanese rice wine.

Many people's sake experience often begins with said bombs or with sipping lower-grade hot sake from white porcelain bottles at sushi bars. As sake popularity continues to rise, more people explore and have questions, and that's where Chicago Sake comes in.

The school will hold classes Tuesdays through Thursdays at Murasaki Sake Lounge (211 E. Ontario) based on demand. Each class runs 90 minutes and costs $60, but guests will explore and taste premium sake, learn the history of sake, understand how to pair sake with food and more. And the sake featured in classes will constantly rotate, offering a balanced variety.

"Our goal is to focus less on sake brands and more on sakes that illustrate general styles and characteristics of each major sake category," said Chicago Sake co-founder Mason Horowitz. "Basically, [we want to ] build silos for people to store their knowledge." And it all comes back to bombs.
· Chicago Sake [website]

Various sake bottles [Photo: At The Pass]