I have been drinking sake (Japan's national drink) casually, socially for a long time. Enjoyed it but was never quite au fait with the vast subject and its many intricacies.
So I tried my best to learn the basics about sake during my recent Japan trip (Dec 24 - Jan 25). I believe it will help me to enjoy my future sake sessions more, if I know the basics about what I am drinking, why it tastes the way it does, etc.
Chilling out at a sake bar is long part and parcel of life in Japan, and being Japanese.
Here's the basics of sake appreciation and culture that I gathered during my trip.
Most people refer to sake as rice wine but that is, strictly speaking, incorrect. Sake is made with rice and the production process is more like a beer, than wine.
Beer is made by fermenting grains while wine is made by fermenting fruits.
When people say sake, it is more accurately nihonshu or Japanese alcohol 日本酒.
Another term, seishu 清酒 is also sake but may be produced outside of Japan (whereas nihonshu 日本酒 is by definition Made in Japan).
Sake alcohol content ranges from around 12% to 20%. I like the taste and smell of sake. Another reason I enjoy sake is, I don't get hangovers like I sometimes get with whiskey and vodka. (Another drink that doesn't give me hangovers is moutai but that will be the subject of another post.)
Making sake is as old as rice cultivation in Japan which would put it at over 2300 years old (300 BC).
Sake is made by brewing steamed rice with water, koji mold (aspergillus oryzae) and yeast.
The basic process is quite straightforward - mold turns starch in the rice into sugar, yeast feed on the sugar turning it into alcohol. From this "simple" process, it's up to the alchemy of master brewers to conjure up the magic potion that is sake.
Fun fact
Before they discovered koji mold, the Japanese had maidens chew rice and spit it into tubs to start the fermentation from rice starch to sugar. The sake made with maiden spit was known as bijinshu 美人酒 "beautiful lady sake" or kuchikamizake 口噛み酒 “mouth-chewed sake”. Bijinshu was still produced in Okinawa till the 1930s.
Unpolished rice grains.
Rice grains are not naturally pearly white. It is white because we polished away the bran layer outside.
Sake is made with polished rice.
How much the rice grains are polished have a big impact on how the sake tastes. In Japanese, it is called seimai buai 精米歩合 or degree of milling.
Less polished rice grains produce sake with a cereal taste while more polished rice yields sake with a fruity, floral taste.
If the rice grains are polished till 70% of each grain remains, the resulting sake is known as honjozo 本醸造. Honjozo has a cereal, bready, umami taste.
Polish the rice grains till 60% remains and it becomes ginjo 吟醸 sake which tastes fruity and floral.
Polish the rice grains further down to 50% remaining and we get daiginjo 大吟醸 sake which is delicate yet has very fruity, floral taste and fragrance.
The more polished the rice grains, the more premium the sake. It's a linear, straightforward thing.
Junmai means 純米 pure rice sake with nothing added.
Non-junmai sakes have distilled alcohol added. For ginjo and daiginjo, it is non-junmai unless stated as junmai.
Sake is usually clear as it is filtered to remove rice brewing residue.
Cloudy sake known as nigori 濁り is unfiltered. Nigori has milky, full, creamy body.
Taste profile of sake ranges from sweet to dry (which tastes refreshing but not sweet).
On the bottle label, they often state the nihonshu-do 日本酒度 or Sake Meter Value. It ranges from -15 to +15. The lower value indicates sweetness and higher value dryness.
Personally, I like balanced sweet-dry taste profile.
Another metric sometimes shown on sake labels is the level of acidity 酸度 which ranges from 1 to 2. Low acidity level of 1 indicates a light sake while higher acidity approaching 2, denotes a richer sake.
Some sake bars have a taste profile chart like this where they place their sake in stock. It like this idea a lot - it's like a menu where I can see what sake are in stock at a glance and also know their taste profiles.
Based on my own palate, I would choose the sake in the middle 十石, at the crosshairs 🤭
There are literally thousands of sake brands producing countless blends, so everyone has a different preference. To each his own. Any sake you enjoy, is a good sake to you and that is enough.
Raise your cups and kanpai! 干杯
Enjoy and it's the best way to learn about this fascinating Japanese drink with rich history and meaning in Japan.
I am just at the first few steps of a thousand mile journey. One of my teachers is Tomomi Duquette, Mrs Sake Japan 2024. She is the mentor of Miss Sake 2024 and Japan's current sake ambassador 🥂
Another of my sake teachers, camera shy YS, who is passionate about sake. YS is extremely generous with sharing his amazing sake knowledge and also rare, exotic bottles from his personal collection.
Written by Tony Boey on 29 Jan 2025
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