What Is Sake?
What Is Sake?
one of the most often asked questions is what sake is?
it's not wine and it's not beer, it's sake.
sake has a history that goes back thousands of years, with a surrounding culture and traditions almost as old. made from steamed rice and koji spores with added yeast, sake is similar in appearance, texture and alcohol to a strong wine but with an umami flavour instead of the sweetness, and now enjoyed the world over.
What Do Those Words Mean?
one of most confusing things about sake is the whole new terminology of unusual words that surrounds it.
it can be very daunting learning a new language just to enjoy a drink, so wherever we use the traditional terminology we'll also use more approachable terms.
to that end, here's a glossary of some of the most common terms you'll see, and what they actually mean - starting with the rice.
the rice used in sake is highly polished short grain rice.
the figure given, usually 60% or 50% is the amount of the grain that is left after the outer proteins and fats have been polished away, leaving a cleaner starch center.
sake made with rice that has been polished down to 50% or less, this is considered to be the super-premium sake made from the best ingredients possible.
sake made with rice polished between 60% and 50%, seen as the standard for premium sake.
standard grade sake with polishing rates above 60% and with distilled alcohol added.
did you notice the distilled alcohol addition? that's pretty common in sake and is added to polish the sake and round its flavours, and is usually added after its had its original alcohol content brought down through the addition of water.
undiluted sake, what would be called "cask strength" in the whiskey world.
no distilled alcohol has been added, but will have had water used to help round the flavours.
a small amount of distilled alcohol has been added to polish the sake, but no more than 10% of the weight of the rice.
the addition of water or distilled alcohol is classed separately from the polishing rate, so it's quite common to see a Junmai Ginjo. or a Honjozo Daiginjo.