What actually happens at one of these
The literal mechanics, because this is the thing people ask first.
- Where
- An apartment in Glover Park, Washington, D.C.
- How many people
- About twenty fit
- How many bottles
- Six, poured one at a time
- What it costs
- Joining is free
- Members
- About a hundred
- Running since
- April 2026
You show up, you taste, and you score what is in front of you. Your score counts the same as everyone else's on your first night. Bottles go into numbered bags before anybody arrives, so nobody in the room knows a brewery, a price or a country until every card is in. Jacob Katz runs it.
There is a wait. About twenty people fit in the room and there are about a hundred members, so a first tasting usually takes a while to come around.
You do not need to know anything about sake
Nobody is being tested and there is no vocabulary you need before you walk in. The whole point of pouring blind is that what you know about a label cannot help you, which puts a first-timer and someone who has been drinking sake for a decade on the same footing. If you want to read something first, the shape of the night is written up, and so is how to read a label. Neither is homework.
How to ask
- Email JacobWrite to jacob@kasumiclub.com and say you want to come to a tasting. Tell him what you have been drinking lately, which is the only question on the form worth answering at length.
- You go on the listJacob answers it himself. Drinkers, breweries, importers and shops all use the same route.
- You get a dateWhen there is room at the next one, you hear about it.
Breweries and importers wanting to put a bottle in front of the room should read how it works for breweries instead, which covers what you get back and where to send a sample.
The ones we hear most
How do I join Kasumi Club?
Email jacob@kasumiclub.com and say you want to come to a tasting. Jacob Katz answers it himself and puts you on the list for the next one.
Does Kasumi Club cost anything?
No. Joining is free. Members pay for bottles only when the club places a group order, and that money is collected in advance.
Do I need to know about sake to come?
No. Nobody is being tested and there is no vocabulary you need before you walk in. A first-night member's score counts the same as everyone else's.
How long is the wait for a first tasting?
There is usually one. About twenty people fit in the room and there are about a hundred members, so a first tasting takes a while to come around.
Where are Kasumi Club tastings held?
In an apartment in Glover Park, Washington, D.C.
Send us a bottle and about twenty people will tell you the truth.
Kasumi Club pours everything blind. Breweries and importers use us to test the D.C. market, and every bottle we pour gets a page with its score, whether it wins or not.
How it works for breweries