I go for the yoga, and for the food. I go to enjoy the fabulous local restaurants nestled in the buildings surrounding the festival, including Fireside Pizza and Mamasake (http://mamasake.com), a fabulous sushi restaurant focused on serving quality, sustainable fish. This year, there was a new offering at the festival though — a sake tasting from TY KU. Thursday and Friday night, the TY KU Premium Sake & Spirits tastings sold out.
The idea behind offering a sake tasting at a wellness festival is to “unwind without undoing.” Adrian Molina, brand communications manager for TY KU, says sake can appeal to yogis because of its Asian influences and light, natural formula.
With only four ingredients — rice, water, yeast, and koji (the mold used in sake to round out the flavor) — sake is one of the more simple alcoholic beverages on the market. Sake only ages for about three weeks, and has no added preservatives. It also provides more amino acids than the typical red wine. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and help break down food, and neutralize flavors in food. Because of this, Molina says that sake may be better for food pairing than other alcoholic beverages.
All in all, the festival allowed me to explore and discover a sense of well being through food and drink. Whether grabbing a hand roll at Mamasake or a handful of chai seeds on my way to my next class, food at Wanderlust nourished me through the asanas. And spirited drinks at the festival helped take the edge off. And by Wanderlust providing lighter alternatives, such as sake, it helped remind me that we’re all human, and that clean eating still can involve an alcoholic beverage from time to time.
The next Wanderlust Festival in Squaw Valley will be July 14 – 17, 2016. Find out more and stay updated with next year’s food offerings at http://wanderlust.com/festivals/squaw-valley/ And check out the story we wrote about the festival here: https://ediblerenotahoe.com/editorial/88-summer-2015/933-su-2015-ednotables-yoga-wanderlust
