A Kikusui junmai ginjo sake from Hanamaru in Syosset.

A Kikusui junmai ginjo sake from Hanamaru in Syosset. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin

With so many colorful options, how do you choose a great bottle of sake? Just ask Lawrence Wang at the new Hanamaru Sake in Syosset. The manager of this specialty sake shop is happy to guide you through the 200+ bottles they have on hand. 

Tucked away in the parking lot behind the Japanese grocery store, Hanamaru Sake may boast the largest selection of rice wines on Long Island. The large refrigerator that runs along the wall of the store holds bottles, cans and jars of varying sizes and shapes: A juicy junmai sake from Akabu Brewing Company in the northeastern Tohoku Region, a Yamahai-style sake produced in a village on the outskirts of Kyoto … The store also carries plum wines and Japanese whiskeys made from rice. 

The least expensive sake bottle runs about $25, and from there they go all the way up to $655, with a $2,000 bottle available for order as well. The store also does free tastings once a month on Saturday afternoons, posting the details on its social media accounts and through an email newsletter. 

"Ninety-nine percent of sake is organic. It doesn't have anything but rice and yeast," said Wang, who worked in the restaurant industry before managing this store.  "It's really natural."

He said his family owns a sake shop in Osaka, Japan, where he grew up. "The rice has a sweetness that's different than wine."

To help customers journey to sake connoisseurship, Wang often keeps a few bottles open and will give a quick tasting. He pointed to some grains of rice taped to the counter and explained the different grades of sake — gingo, daigingo and junmai — and what flavors to expect from each.

On a recent visit, this led to a fabulous blue bottle of Hizo Otokoyama Junmai Ginjyo ($24.99) with a clean but full-bodied flavor. On a second visit, he recommended a fruity Kamonishiki Nifudazake ($37) from 2022 that's recently become available in the United States, and only in New York. It has aromas of fresh pear, and the flavor is sweet and quite boozy. 

Wang also offers instructions on storing sake, even encasing it in bubble wrap to keep it cold during the car journey. And if you prefer a more traditional way of drinking it, you can also purchase small boxes of cedarwood, which act as cups and impart a piney forest flavor. 

Hanamaru Sake, 140 Jericho Tpke. Unit C, Syosset, 516-921-0200, ext. 3, hanamarumart.us. Open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-7 p.m. Sunday.

 
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