Southside Sips: Sunset Harbor’s Frozen Sake Sangria

Sake isn’t just the unmemorable stuff of ceramic-held hot shots. Sake is so much more than that — and, as far as cocktails go, much more versatile than you’d expect.

And there’s much to learn about this Japanese brewed (nope, it’s not wine!), rice-based beverage. Its nuance from product to product is, in part, based on the milling of the rice: the finer and more of the outer grain that’s milled and polished (honjozo), the lighter, more floral and fruitier in aroma and body the sake; less milling (ginjo and daiginjo styles) veers from fruity to earthy, and sometimes can even be a bit richer style of sake. And more often than not, you might notice the word junmai preceding any of those words on a bottle. That means what’s in front of you is pure, brewed sake, plain and simple, with not other alcohol added to it.

Last April, a new sake hit the market in the form of Sake Ono, a junmai daiginjo, is made in Niigata, Japan, and made its way from that far eastern spot all the way to the East End, at spots like N’amo, Mavericks, Moby’s, Dune Deck and EHP’s Sunset Harbor, whose fun and frosty Frozen Sangria plays up Sake Ono’s fruity, tropical notes — and is an excellent sip to send off summer. If you can’t get to Sunset Harbor, grab your blender and whir one up to sip on the back deck with your besties (you can nab a bottle at Race Lane Wine & Liquor in East Hampton or Sag Harbor Liquor Store exactly where its name suggests). Cheers to a great summer, South Forkers!