Biggest sake event of the year

Here's a brief shout-out to Joy of Sake, the biggest sake-tasting event of the year in San Francisco.

It's scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 23 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Galleria Design Center, 101 Henry Adams Street. Tickets are $75. Official details are here.

I strongly advise arriving as early as possible. The food is generally very good, but tends to run out early. There will still be plenty of sake to taste at 8 p.m., but if you're going to spend $75, you might as well have some sushi, barbecue and other goodies.

The sake selection is simply unparalleled. You'll be able to taste a great variety of sakes that never make it to the U.S.

I like to start with the delicate (and expensive) daiginjos, then work my way through the ginjos and junmais. But you can also just bounce around the room; why not?

If you don't take detailed tasting notes, at least put check marks or stars on your program next to the sakes you like. That way, you can remember what to buy the next time you're at True Sake or your favorite sushi joint.

Pace yourselves; sake is slightly higher in alcohol than wine (about 16 to 18 percent). There are few spit buckets and it's easy to get really polluted. That may be part of the draw, but you can get wasted a lot cheaper with a bottle of good Bourbon. If you're going to drop $75 on the event, you might as well get the most out of it.

I often like to fill my glass a little higher with my very favorite sake of the night and drink that one "for the road." Of course, I usually take BART home ...