Noah Sain's Sake Block festival arrives at 420 22nd St. S. on Thursday, Oct. 1, running 6 to 11 p.m. at the Morean Center for Clay in St. Pete's Warehouse Arts District. The event lands on World Sake Day and pairs sake tastings from national importers, breweries, and distributors with ceramics programming inside the building, which the operator's Instagram identifies as a converted freight depot.
Sain serves as beverage director at In Between Days — where, per the event's Instagram post, the state's largest sake collection is kept — and holds the role of lead sake educator for Florida through the Sake Sommelier Association. The same post identifies him as the state's only certified sake sommelier.
The Morean Center for Clay, which the post describes as the largest pottery studio in the Southeast, provides the venue. The ceramic artist booths inside are expected to hold more than 50 artists on the night.
The programming extends beyond the pour list. Hands-on workshops in raku pottery firing and gyotaku fish printing run alongside the tastings. Visiting Japanese brewers and industry professionals are expected on site. Vinyl record vendors and local food pop-ups round out the floor. A jazz trio opens the evening; a DJ closes it.
Whether Sake Block's pairing of a serious sake program with ceramics production space finds a recurring home in the Warehouse Arts District, and what it signals for In Between Days' broader role in St. Pete's beverage calendar, will be worth watching past Oct. 1.
