If you’re in a hurry, you could just drench your lunchtime fruit salad in sake. Mmmm. Lunch boozefruit.

Here we are almost to spring, when a young man’s thoughts turn to … drinking outdoors.

Ready to take advantage of the outdoor patio at Town Square’s Kabuki is their Sake Sangria, an Asian twist on the Iberian Penninsula’s second-most kick-ass export. (After bullfighting.)

The Sangria uses a California-made junmai sake with shochu as its base, plus cranberry and grapefruit juices. It’s allowed to steep for three or four days, and several carafes are prepared at once. When it comes time to serve, it’s topped with fresh fruit including blueberries, kiwi, pineapple and strawberries. It’s served on the rocks in a red wine glass, bright and pink and peppy.

“Most of the drinks like the mojitos and cocktails I tried to put some Asian taste in. Traditional Sangria is made from wine and brandy, but I used the sake and instead of brandy, I put shochu. It’s infused with fresh fruits and grapefruit juice and cranberry juice,” Kabuki’s Master Sake Sommelier Yuji Matsumoto said. “I try to make any cocktails lighter than what they’re used to because the food we serve is sushi and light food. I don’t want to confuse their palate by giving them something too strong.”

It certainly doesn’t hit like a traditional Sangria. It has none of the heaviness or sweetness of its forbear. It’s light on acidity and not sweet at all. Instead, you catch a lot of barley up front with that hint of acid coming in to finish the drink off, where it closes dry and clean.

In all, it’s a light-breeze-and-little-bit-of-sun kind of drink. One you’ll want to order by the pitcher and sit outside while you graze on light fare. It’s the kind of thing you can put on your to-do list with March around the corner.

By Jason Scavone

Comments RSS