AND WE’RE OFF…
TO PUERTO RICO!
Kato Sake Works is a neighborhood brewery in Bushwick, Brooklyn. While we’re slowly expanding our distribution to the other parts of NYC, still our roots are in this vibrant neighborhood with diverse cultures. Sometimes we’re asked if we plan to sell our sake outside New York, but we’re just focusing on establishing our brand at home…
… and in Puerto Rico!
Why Puerto Rico? Because that beautiful Caribbean island is also our closest neighbor, as Bushwick has one of the densest Puerto Rican populations in New York. You can find Puerto Rican flags on any side streets around the brewery - not only at the time of the famous Puerto Rican Parade on Knickerbocker Avenue, but year round. You’ll find people dancing on the street to the Puerto Rican music from the loud speakers. If you live in Bushwick, it can sometimes feel like you get to live in Puerto Rico too.
When Shinobu decided to move to Brooklyn eight years ago, he tried various neighborhoods by Airbnb-ing here and there, but eventually found Bushwick to be the most comfortable home. It was the smoke from the Pinchos stand under the elevated M train track that reminded him of the Yakitori stand in Koenji. It was the Puerto Rican hospitality from his first friend in New York, Willy, who lived next door in his apartment building. It was the taste of homemade Coquito, which a random customer shared with him at the craft beer bar he had started to frequent. It was the late night blast of the music on the street that annoyed Shinobu at first, but eventually converted him to feeling at home.
We’re so grateful for Bushwick’s Puerto Rican community for building this beautiful neighborhood and welcoming us with open arms. We’ve been discussing how we can give back (hint. delicious sake) for years and finally it’s happening.
THE GRADUATING CLASS OF Spring/SUMMER 2024 BREWER’S BOOTCAMP
From Left To Right: Maxine Bell, Delaney Benstead, James Ordway, Joanie Payne Professor: Shinobu Kato
Look at those nerds!
A few years ago, Shinobu started an in-house educational program to teach a crash course on brewing for Evan and me (Joanie)- as our small team needed a wide range of exposure to help each other out. We dove into lessons on topics anywhere from plumbing and thermodynamics to sake-specific ingredients and styles. This class formed a foundation for us to continue our journey of learning, giving us the baseline to ask more questions- and boy did it help with the expansion process as we built out the new brewery.
Now, as our team is growing, Shinobu decided to re-start the course and branch out the span of the class across multiple semesters, again with the goal of sparking the questions that will encourage our team to continue to learn and go deeper on the topics that inspire us.
While this specific class is an in-house educational program as of now, we do have a tasting & tour program open to the public, where you can dive in a little deeper on sake with us- you can find available dates here or posted on our social media!
OUR VERY FIRST JAZZ FEST!
And it was so much fun. Ayako made her jazz debut (and was absolutely amazing- check her out smiling on the drum set below), and then the night carried on with oh so many incredible musicians taking the stage.
Don’t worry if you missed the Jazz Fest, you can check out our instagram for weekly posts announcing all the talented musicians coming up- and you’ll definitely see some more jazz on the schedule.
PS- To celebrate Ayako’s first Jazz Drum performance, here’s a comic of her origin story… Data, Jäger & the Destruction of Pie Charts once and for all!
