Sake Confidential ─ A beyond-the-basics guide to Understanding, Tasting, Selection, & Enjoyment

With today's sake drinkers increasingly informed and adventurous, now is the time for a truly expert guide to take you deeper into appreciation of this complex beverage, brewed from rice and enjoyed both warm or chilled. And what better mentor than John Gauntner, the "Sake Guy" and the world's only non-Japanese certified Master of Sake Tasting? Here in over two dozen no-holds-barred essays, John reveals "the truth about sake" from a connected insider's perspective. No other book or website presents such a knowledgeable, practical, and concise yet complete guide to sake idiosyncrasies, misperceptions, and controversies. Sake Confidential is the perfect FAQ for beginners, experts, and sommeliers. Indexed for easy reference with suggested brands and label photos. Includes:

• Truths About Sake (junmai vs. non-junmai, nama-zake, aging, ginjo, warming, nigori, water, rice, regionality, dry vs. sweet)
• How the Sake Industry Really Works (pricing, competitions, glassware, milling, food pairing)
• The Brewmaster's Art Revealed (koji-making, brewmasters, aromatics, grading, mash variations)
• Applying What You Know (tasting, selection)
• Expanding Your Knowledge

John Gauntner is recognized as the world's leading non-Japanese sake expert and educator. A resident of Japan since 1988, he has worked in the sake industry promoting and educating since 1994. Each year he conducts sake professional courses for sake professionals and aficionados, and several of his students have gone on to open thriving sake shops, breweries, and izakaya in the United States.

John Gauntner is recognized as the world's leading non-Japanese sake expert and educator. He has lived in Japan since 1988, and has worked in the sake industry promoting and educating since 1994. He has written seven books, including two ebooks, across two languages and hundreds of articles on the topic, and is known for his for his uniquely concise and passionate way of conveying all aspects of sake, sake enjoyment, sake culture, sake history, and brewing technology. John also conducts several Sake Professional Courses each year for sake professionals and aficionados.

Known as "The Sake Guy," John is the only non-Japanese certified Master of Sake Tasting in the world, and has also achieved the very difficult Sake Expert Assessor certification from Japan's National Research Institute of Brewing. No other non-Japanese in the world has both of these certifications. He also received the Sake Samurai award in 2006, the first year it was awarded

John has been quoted and/or mentioned in sake related articles in countless publications including The New York Times, Newsweek, Forbes, Business Week, and Rolling Stone. He has spoken at Harvard, Yale, and Columbia Universities, Wharton School of Business, and countless other venues across the US and Japan.

Much of each winter he is traveling around Japan, visiting breweries regularly and constantly learning. Other efforts at educating and edifying about sake include a free monthly sake newsletter (www.sake-world.com) and various digital products and e-books.

John is also author of Sake's Hidden Stories and The Sake Notebook, both self-published ebooks, and coauthor of Sake Pure and Simple (Stone Bridge Press, 978-1880656372, now OP).