This Isn’t Just the Emperor’s Japanese Sake

By Koichi Nakashima, Waymark Osaka, Japan

Published June 17, 2010

Sake is an alcoholic beverage brewed from rice and may well deserve to be referred to as the national drink of Japan, although green tea and their numerous, familiar beer brands could also easily qualify as serious challengers for the title. But sake is revered in its complexity and tradition. There are many terms to be understood for this discipline, so let’s examine a few of them in a basic primer. The rice milling percentage (seimaibuai) is usually 70%, however can range from 50% or 60%, also.

Strictly speaking, the word sake is the generic Japanese term for any alcoholic beverage, as compared to the terms osake (honored liquor) or nihonshu (Japanese liquor) that are used to specify what in English is considered as rice wine. In fact, sake can resemble white wine, in clarity and often almost colorless, but is more akin to dry vermouth in terms of its taste and aroma. As it relates to production, sake has more of a relationship to ale. Like beer, sake is fermented with grain, not fruit as in wine, thus rather complex processing becomes necessary to create sugars upon which the yeast can thrive. Special rice is milled down to its starch-rich core, then steamed and actually inoculated with a mold (called kojikin) that breaks down starch into its sugar. Water, yeast, and koji are added, and the processes of sugar production and subsequent fermentation proceed simultaneously.

There are three primary types of yeast starters (called moto): (1) Kimoto is the original one dating back centuries; a month-long laborious process to propagate yeast yielding a subtle gaminess and earthiness, (2) Yamahai is somewhat similar to kimoto, but requires less labor, yielding a stronger more robust flavor due to a higher fermentation temperature, and finally (3) Sokujo, the modern yeast starter which takes two weeks compared to four, and is now vastly more prominent than the other two discussed here. All grades of yeast starters utilize one type of moto and can be any combination of these styles or none at all. There are emerging sakes (Koshu) or even quite tasty sparkling sake beverages now being served in restaurants and purchased in retail establishments.

The alcohol content can reach up to 22% (normal table red wine is 11-14%, beer 3-4%) however restaurant sake is typically further processed into the 15-16% alcohol range. Short ageing and cold temperature brewing in a fashion similar to lager beer is typical of most sake recipes. The majority of premium sake is made with a sokujo yeast starter, it is charcoal filtered, pasteurized, finely pressed and blended to about 15% alcohol.

A dry hearty sake (junmai nama genshu) that is cask strength with a hint of sweetness (referred to as amakuchi) runs in the alcohol range of 18.4%. A sharp, smooth-ending, anise-floral, 15% alcohol sake is known as junmai nama ginjo. At the other end of the taste spectrum, junmai nama nigori sake is roughly pressed and has an unsettling cloudy appearance, slightly dry, with a multi-layered texture, and an alcohol content of 15.6% -- but is my favorite to be sure. Sake drinkers see themselves as connoisseurs not unlike devout wine enthusiasts, recognizing prized regional sakes (jizake), where factors such as the water used, the rice’s agricultural heritage, weather, and of course the brewmaster’s methods enable the drink to be considered extra special.

To summarize, post-fermentation styles of sake can be:

• Muroka (unfiltered) – not a charcoal filtering resulting in a fuller body and earthier, more complex flavor
• Nama (unpasteurized) – sake in its natural state, has a fresh and lively flavor
• Genshu (undiluted) – 95% of all sake is blended with water, however this sake is not. Essentially cask strength, about 19% alcohol.

Sake can be served as either hot (atsukan), at room temperature (least common, hiyazake), or chilled (reishu). A wonderful rendition of cedar barrel-stored sake has an aroma of the wood cask – taruzake is frequently drunk from a cedar box (masu), the traditional measure for rice and salt.

Similar to our own familiarity of wine and beer’s pairing configurations within Western cuisine, sake is more than just a drink – it’s also used in Japanese cooking, grilling, and ceremony. Japan’s reverence for sake transcends its central placement in formal Shinto sacraments, as significant as wine in Christianity.