New book tackles the myths around sake, from Oakland's Umami Mart
Can I drink sake hot? Will it go bad if I leave the bottle opened? Does sake with cheese taste gross?
Yoko Kumano and Kayoko Akabori have heard these questions a lot. As Cupertino high-school friends who went on to open a Japanese specialty store in 2012 – Oakland’s Umami Mart – they deal with people asking about sake all the time. Now they’ve put out a definitive collection of answers, in the form of a book that published in May: "Everyday Sake: The Go-To Guide for Choosing, Pairing and Serving" (Clarkson Potter Publishers, $27).
It’s hard to find a more qualified pair. Kumano is a kikizakeshi, or sake sommelier, who’s spent years visiting sake breweries in Japan. Akabori is a former bartender who now writes about aged and aruten (fortified) sakes for Umami Mart’s monthly subscription club, Sake Gumi. Together, they have a simple message for the world: Drink more sake.
"It’s a very pure and transparent beverage. It’s only made with four or five ingredients – koji (mold used for fermenting), water, rice, yeast and sometimes distilled alcohol," Akabori says. "People who are really into natural wine should definitely consider sake. It’s also gluten-free, so it plays well with physiology."
Recently, the pair took a break from their Umami Mart duties – stocking kitchenware, barware and bottles of sake, plus managing the sake-tasting bar in the back – to talk about their new book, which is delightfully illustrated by Anders Arhoj. They also shared a recipe from the book for a "Samurai Lime" sake cocktail, reproduced below.
Q: What makes this book different from other sake books out there?
Kumano: Our role as sake stewards is being shopkeepers. So we are recommending bottles. I think previous books about sake, while very informative and beautiful, focus on history, production or some Japanese cultural aspect. This book is a direct reflection of what we are doing at Umami Mart, which is serving sake, curating sake and telling people how to choose sake.
Akabori: It was years in the making, and the inspiration was due to our customers. Everything is in the service of questions that we hear every day: How should I serve this? Can I use a wine glass? I’m having tacos tonight, what should I drink with it?
Q: The book has positive blurbs from some well-known chefs. Are you keyed into the local restaurant scene?
Akabori: We have all sorts of cooks and bartenders who come through the doors. Tanya Holland was a member of our sake club for many years. Kyle Connaughton at [the three-star Michelin restaurant] SingleThread orders a lot of our barware and glassware. So there is a lot of crossover with Umami Mart -we’ve been growing our community for almost 15 years.
Q: The book gives recommendations for food pairings: sweet nigori with spicy noodles, sparkling sake with fried chicken. In general, how does sake interact with food?
Kumano: It is an excellent food-pairing beverage. While wine is the one you think of, the acidity in wine can fight with food. We know that sake plays better with seafood because wine-making equipment leaves iron residue in the wine. When that happens, the iron reacts with seafood, making the seafood taste metallic. Sake is also very high in umami. The possibilities of pairing sake with all kinds of food is really exciting.
Q: The book introduces an interesting metric for evaluating the aroma of sake: "Is this a fruit basket, a bowl of rice or a yogurt parfait?" What’s that about?
Akabori: Those are the buckets of aromas that you most commonly get from sake. Are you smelling something fruity? Are you smelling something grainy and ricey, or are you getting a dairy smell? I think it surprises customers that sake can have these kinds of aromas.
Q: What’s the landscape like for nonalcoholic sake right now?
Kumano: There is a lot of work to be done on the nonalcoholic front. In the book, we do talk about amazake, which is a "sake" that does not use yeast. It’s quite sweet, almost like this thicker, porridgey texture. It’s really delicious - I love having it with a little bit of ginger - and is very good for you. A lot of athletes in Japan use it for hydration.
Q: Are you enjoying any sake right now that people might grab at your shop or at local markets?
Akabori:Den Sake is a good one. The brewer is out of Oakland, and he’s wildly popular. It’s mostly the unpasteurized or nama style. You can find it in all sorts of places in the East Bay.
Kumano: Kameizumi CEL-24. It’s made with a yeast called CEL-24, and it is just green apple up the nose - like melon, like fruity, fruity, fruity. It is also unpasteurized, and continues to be one of those sakes that wow people.
Details: Umami Mart is open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays at 4027 Broadway, Oakland; umamimart.com
Sake Cocktail
Yield: Serves 1
INGREDIENTS
3 ounces nama genshu (unpasteurized and undiluted) sake
0.5 ounces fresh lime juice
0.25 ounces simple syrup
Lime wedge
DIRECTIONS
In a cobbler shaker, combine the sake, lime juice and simple syrup. Add ice and shake for 15 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass and garnish with the lime wedge.
Reprinted with permission from "Everyday Sake: The Go-To Guide for Choosing, Pairing and Serving" by Yoko Kumano and Kayoko Akabori, copyright © 2026. Published by Clarkson Potter Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published June 4, 2026 at 2:03 PM.