I’ve had sake before and enjoyed it. As much as I would like to think I am being hard on this bottle in particular, I’m really not. I’m not half the booze snob as other folks I know. So, from one utter amateur hillbilly to another…. Be prepared to rinse thoroughly with something more palatable.
Where I may have gone wrong with this tasting disaster- I tasted this bottle warm as sake is intended. I even have a sake set that I received as a gift from some non-hillbilly friend who knows how much I enjoy sampling booze. When the traditional drinking rites for sake seemed to fail this beverage, I applied some good ole fashioned hillbilly rigging as an attempt to salvage my taste buds.
Alright, the booze wasn’t all that bad. Occasionally booze that has been ‘infused’ with fruit lacks all signs of the fruit entirely, that was not the case with the Moonstone raspberry sake. The sake had a rather lovely aroma from the raspberry when it was opened, when it was poured, and just before it was consumed. It didn’t lose its berry until it hit my tongue. At that moment, I felt as if I was drinking isopropyl alcohol. I am certain that days later my mouth is still disinfected from the experience despite chewing on wide grass and select tree barks. I tried to sip the sake. Even drinking the imitating a college frat boy tossing my arms in the air and yelling “Bonsai” after downing two shots in a row didn’t improve the taste.
I certainly wouldn’t make the mistake of purchasing that a second time. And if a bottle ends up gifted to my hillbilly bungalow, it’s not even going to get re-gifted. I might use it to help flush and sterilize the garbage disposal.
