Hakko Gakko Sake Shop

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Hakko Gakko Sake Shop

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School of Fermentation

08/24/2026

We’re not finished summer yet!! This Friday we’ve got Miki Ellis from Vancouver at Hakko Gakko, pouring fun sakes with us alongside onigiri by Night Saloon/夜沙龙!

Miki is co-owner of some of our favourite restaurants in Vancouver and sake pro, we’ve traveled to far flung regions in Japan together over the years. Come by for rice drinks, rice balls and highballs!

Eddie凌 Night Saloon/夜沙龙 makes delicious food, Chinese and beyond. We love all the flavours Eddie manages to incorporate, super excited for his onigiri 🍙.

4-9 on Friday, start your weekend a little early 💝
Walk-ins only

08/20/2026

Konbini 5-1-4 at Hakko Gakko! This Sunday JD 🐱🐱 from Sushi Nishinokaze is in town with konbini sandwiches Quebec style.

Featuring wild seafood from Québec (Maguro from Baie des Chaleurs and Matane Ama Ebi) and the legendary Montréal melon.

We’re working on a new Lemon sour highball and of course sake pairings 🍋🍋🍋. Walk ins only, see you soon!

Sunday, August 23rd
12-6 pm

08/14/2026

The 2 Grain Aiyama and Yamadanishiki, the 3 Grain ‘Arrival of Summer’. Pretty, delicious, pretty delicious!

06/03/2026

Last week I got to visit and ask *a lot* of questions to 4 Kochi farmers who have been working their ancestral lands for generations. Some of the younger ones have come back recently, which is nice considering how much we hear about the aging population of farmers in Japan.

It’s an understatement to say how much hard work goes into each harvest, especially in the last decade with the effects of global warming. Typhoons during crucial periods, extreme heat causing the rice glucose production to halt, making the rice easy to crack, the list goes on.

A few things I learned that I thought were really interesting:

- There’s a sake rice farmers association. Sake rice farming has its own unique set of challenges from table rice farming and the association is a support network to address them.

- The amount of number of times a farmer is able to use fertilizer, pesticides is regulated by the government.

- You can buy fertilizer and pesticides from the home centre (like a Home Depot) for cheaper but the local agricultural co-op gives you credit terms (but the price is higher).

- The slightest differences in timing and when to do certain tasks like planting seedlings and spraying can have big effects.

- Two plots 100 m apart and the soil is so different that you can see it. The colour of the earth was bright and almost white in one plot and dark brown when we drove just a few minutes away.

I can’t wait to go back and bug them more with questions!

05/30/2026

Can you believe it’s June?! This is a rough schedule as we’re working on a few events/tastings. Will announce as they are finalized - see you soon!

05/13/2026

Sign up for our WSET Level 2 in sake in VANCOUVER next month at probably the funnest classroom in the city! Level 2 is the goldilocks of sake education, with the right amount of detail and depth. Information and tasting experience you can use right away, no matter if you’re a buyer, somm or a fan who wants to drink better.
tajiri will be teaching you for 3 days, with the exam on the last day. A perfect Father’s Day gift or experience, spend 3 days immersed in the world of sake.

Link in bio or dm for more info & inspiration!

05/03/2026

A slightly unusual schedule this month, with Sean manning the shop by himself for a couple of weeks while I go judge sake in Japan.

Be nice to him please and ask him all sorts of sake questions 😁!

15th and 22nd we’ll be closed, the 16th and 23rd will be open ONLY for pickups. You can shop online and pick up during those days (or the other days we’re open).

See you soon everyone ☀️☀️☀️

04/25/2026

The lineup for tonight’s sold out tasting, aging sake. It’s one of my favourite topics, one that’s not talked about very much.

What’s good to age, what’s not? And how should you do it? Not in a random cupboard that’s for sure!

I’ve been resting these sakes for the right occasion and it’s definitely now!! Stay tuned for tasting notes and updates on how these held up and how far they’ll go.

04/23/2026

All 4 of these Senkin sakes have the same koji, made with Yamadanishiki from Sakura city. The significance of this is that they share the same energy and fermentation soul. It also shows the effect the kake rice has on the finished sake, since the other elements were kept the same.

Senkin is a brewery that keeps on evolving and the newest iteration is more connected to its past in my opinion while looking to the next stage. The Modern Senkin is a representation of them now, made with 100% Yamadanishiki from Sakura city. Clean and pretty, they’re also now kimoto with no added yeasts.

It’s always great to be able to compare lineups like these.

Available by the bottle at the shop, online and as a flight during open hours.

04/21/2026

Yeol-mu bori bibimbap was one my favourite discoveries in Korea and I’m so excited to have .ed.wardbang from back to make it for us. It’s delicious but it feels good for your body, the kind of food we all need right now (maybe I’m projecting😄).

Young summer radish greens and barley in a bibimbap, along with some white asparagus dongchimi, and an optional side dish of beef patties.

Sake by the glass, sips that are nourishing, see you on Monday, April 27th from 4-10 pm.

Address

Toronto, ON
M6H 3S6

Website

http://hakkogakko.com/

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