Tokyo: Shinjuku Sake Tasting & Japanese Food Pairing

Discover Japanese sake through food, not just by tasting glass after glass.

This two-hour Shinjuku experience begins with a guided tasting of four contrasting sakes served alongside a Japanese course meal.

Learn how aroma, sweetness, acidity, umami, body, temperature, and food can change the way a sake tastes.

After the guided pairings, continue exploring at your own pace with the venue’s time-limited free-flow drink menu, featuring a wide selection of Japanese sake alongside other beverages.

The goal is simple: leave knowing not only more about sake, but also what kinds of sake you personally enjoy.

Begin with the basics of sake

Meet your bilingual guide in central Shinjuku and walk together to the nearby sake restaurant.

Once seated, start with a short introduction to nihonshu, the Japanese term commonly used for what English speakers call sake.

Learn about the fundamental ingredients and processes behind sake, including:

• Rice

• Water

• Koji

• Yeast

• Fermentation

• Rice polishing

This is designed as an approachable introduction rather than a technical brewing lecture.

Learn how to taste sake

Before pairing the drinks with food, learn a simple tasting method.

Your guide will help you notice characteristics such as:

• Aroma

• Sweetness and dryness

• Acidity

• Umami

• Body

• Texture

• Finish

There is no single “best” sake.

The goal is to understand the differences and begin identifying your own preferences.

Compare four guided sakes

Receive four selected sake tastings as the structured part of the experience.

The four pours are chosen to demonstrate differences in style and pairing potential.

The exact bottles, breweries, regions, classifications, and serving temperatures may change according to the restaurant’s current lineup and seasonal availability.

This avoids promising specific categories that may not be available every day.

Discover the logic of food pairing

Taste each selected sake with dishes from the Japanese course.

Rather than simply saying that a pairing is “good,” your guide will explain what changes when the two are tasted together.

Japanese sake can work with a wide range of foods. The Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association recommends thinking about factors such as matching flavor intensity, matching aromas, serving temperature, and sometimes deliberately contrasting flavors.

Try the sake before the food, taste the dish, then return to the sake and compare.

Enjoy a Japanese course meal

A Japanese course meal is included.

The current Alva experience may feature dishes such as fried items, miso- or butter-based dishes, creamy croquettes, vegetables, and dessert.

However, restaurant menus change seasonally.

Japanese Sake Genka Shuzo regularly updates its food menu, including seasonal dishes, while items such as uni cream croquettes and fried taiyaki also appear across its published menus.

For this reason, the public listing should guarantee the number or structure of included dishes, while listing individual dish names only when the Alva course menu has been confirmed.

Notice how temperature changes sake

Sake can be served chilled, at room temperature, or warmed.

Temperature changes the perception of sweetness, umami, aroma, and texture. Official sake guidance notes that chilled sake can feel lighter and fresher, while warming can make sweetness and umami more noticeable.

Your guide will explain these differences during the meal.

An actual side-by-side warm-versus-cold tasting should only be promised when it is included in the confirmed session.

Learn useful label terms

Japanese sake bottles can seem complicated at first.

Your guide will introduce only the information that is useful for choosing another bottle later in your trip.

Depending on the four selected sakes, you may discuss terms such as:

• Junmai

• Ginjo

• Daiginjo

• Namazake

• Genshu

• Nigori

The exact terms covered depend on the sake served that day.

Explore the free-flow menu

After the structured four-sake tasting, continue exploring the venue’s included free-flow drink menu during the designated service period.

The standard drink plans currently offered by Japanese Sake Genka Shuzo include around 20 sake selections as well as beer, highballs, sours, and other drinks, while premium plans can include 35 or more sake selections.

Your specific Alva package includes only the drinks stated in the confirmed tour plan.

Use the knowledge immediately

Instead of ending the lesson after the fourth sake, use what you just learned to choose another drink from the menu.

Tell your guide what you liked:

“dry and clean,” “fruity,” “rich and savory,” “soft and sweet,” or simply “I liked number three.”

Your guide can then help you select another sake to explore.

This turns the free-flow portion into an extension of the tasting rather than simply unlimited drinking.

Learn Japanese drinking culture

Along the way, learn practical customs that are useful at izakayas and restaurants.

Your guide can introduce topics such as:

• Kanpai

• Pouring drinks

• Sharing dishes

• Ordering

• Calling staff

• Basic sake etiquette

These customs are introduced naturally during the meal rather than as strict rules every visitor must follow.

Finish with dessert

Complete the course with the confirmed dessert.

If fried taiyaki with vanilla ice cream remains part of the Alva course, it can be used as the final pairing.

The restaurant currently lists fried taiyaki served with vanilla ice cream among its dessert items.

Leave knowing what you like

At the end of the experience, summarize your favorite sake and the characteristics you enjoyed.

The aim is for you to leave able to walk into another izakaya or sake shop and explain your preferences with more confidence.