The Ultimate Guide To Drinking Sake in Japan
The art of drinking sake involves following etiquette, pairing sake with food, and using traditional vessels.
Those visiting Japan will no doubt want to try sake, its national alcoholic beverage. But with an ancient history and overwhelming number of varieties, it can be difficult for beginners to enjoy sake in Japan. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about how to drink sake, including the types of sake, how to read sake bottles, how to best prepare and store sake, and more. So, before jumping in and risking a bottle that doesn’t suit your taste, read this Japanese sake guide to ensure you’re experiencing sake culture the right way!
On the shelves of the liquor store, in bars or your local izakaya, from cheap bottles to expensive ones, many variations of sake exist.
TYPES OF JAPANESE SAKE
Seishu
If you’ve ever tried sake before, it was likely seishu. Clear, crisp, and fresh, it can be both sweet and dry. Meaning “refined sake,” seishu is a base from which more complex sake is launched. It is fermented, filtered, pasteurized, and diluted, balancing the alcohol content and mellowing the flavor. It’s the go-to sake at any liquor shop across Japan. Its price depends upon several factors, particularly the milling of rice, and can range significantly. The cheapest is known as futsushu and is commonly sold in a paper carton.
Honjozo
Honjozo is a seishu delicately brewed with an emphasis on flavor. It boasts a polishing ratio, or seimai buai, of 70% or lower, making it of a higher quality than futsushu. While a “polishing ratio” may sound like a head-scratcher, it simply refers to the level of rice milling. Rice’s starchy core is the key to good sake, making it necessary for all brewing rice to be milled to some degree. A 70% polishing ratio means that at least 30% of the grain’s surface is removed, leaving the remaining 70% to be brewed. Tokubetsu honjozo 本醸, with a polishing ratio of 60% or less, is also available.
Ginjo
A premium sake with a polishing ratio of 60% or less, ginjo is known for its rich, fruity fragrance called ginjo-ka . Try drinking it in a wine glass to amplify these mouthwatering aromas!
Daiginjo
The crème de la crème of nihonshu, daiginjo flaunts a polishing ratio of at least 50%. The daiginjo brew is the pride of most breweries, often being the most expensive and limited offering. Light, fragrant, and with a fuller body than ginjo, it is a treat to be savored!
Junmai
Pure rice junmai sake is created without brewer’s alcohol, which is added to most seishu for extra flavor. Junmai is sake at its purest – nothing but water, rice, and the koji fermentation bacteria. Junmai is dry, flavorsome, and packs an acidic kick. Junmai ginjo and daiginjo sakes are also available.
Namazake
Namazake is completely unpasteurized, giving it a fresh, tingly punch with a fruity undertone. Being unpasteurized, it has not been heated to kill off the fermentation bacteria. This means it can go off easily, so always keep it cool and don’t store it for too long! Being relatively easy to drink, namazake is great for beginners! It usually appears around spring and summer.
Genshu
Undiluted with water, genshu’s full-bodied punch and higher alcohol content is perfect for those who can hold their drink! While normal sake typically has an alcohol content of around 15%, genshu typically contains closer to 20% and can even be enjoyed on the rocks.
Cloudy
An aesthetically-pleasing sake with a milky texture and sweet thickness, cloudy sake is unfiltered, allowing tiny pieces of fermented rice to remain within the bottle. There are two main types: the completely unfiltered doburoku and the partially filtered nigorizake . Another good choice for beginners!
And Much More!
While the above may seem like a lot, it’s still just sake 101! Once you feel comfortable enough, aged koshu sakes, hand-mashed kimoto sakes, and seasonal sakes like autumn’s hiyaoroshi are waiting to be discovered.
The sake barrels used for kagami-biraki have a covering, usually made of straw nowadays, bearing the maker’s brand name and bound with straw rope.
Even if you know the jargon, actually finding the sake you’re after is a whole other thing. Sake bottles, notorious for calligraphy of difficult kanji, are intimidating to say the least! But fear not, everything you need to know about sake can be easily discovered from the bottle with just a few pointers.
READING THE LABEL ON THE SAKE BOTTLE
Let’s look at a standard bottle. Keep in mind that not all sake bottles look the same, and your experience may vary! Unless you know how to read Japanese Kanji, it can be challenging to understand the sea of information on the labels. However, today's technology has improved in leaps, making it easier than ever to translate the labels. Thanks to Google translate!
The largest item on the front label is usually the ➀ brand name ; The ➁ brewery name ; This is the important part, the ➂ category.
What’s on the Sake’s front label ?
The name of the sake. This is almost always the most prominent information, displayed on the front label. While not always practiced, some sake may be named after their brewery.
The name and address of the brewery. Not so important unless you’re a fan of a certain brewery or region, however, you might want to keep this in mind as you learn more about sake.
Rice Polishing Ratio- Since sake is made from water and rice, the quality of these base ingredients is what decides the flavor and quality of the drink. Hence famous rice-producing prefectures or areas famous for their natural water often produce the best sake.
Sake Grade -This information reveals the most about what kind of sake you’re about to drink.
Sake Rice are polished to remove impurities, and the rice polishing ratio tells you the percentage of rice that is left after polishing. A lower ratio means more impurities are removed, leading to a refined, clean, lighter-bodied sake. Daiginjyo Sake has been polished the most, followed by Ginjyo, Junmai, and Honjyozo.
Sake are classified into different categories depending on the Rice Polishing Ratio, and if alcohol was added.
Has alcohol been added to the sake ?
Sake can be split into 2 broad categories - junmai (純米), and non-junmai. Junmai (純米) sake are brewed without adding any distilled alcohol. These sake tend to have a rich, full-bodied profile. It is usually enjoyed with highly umami foods.
Junmai (純米)
Non-junmai sake have alcohol added to the sake brew. These sake usually have lighter bodies with fruity aromatics. Many people enjoy pairing them with light tasting foods.
What's on my sake's back label?
Type of Rice used 原料米
The type of rice used matters. While there are over 100 types of sake rice, a.k.a Sakamai (Yes, sake rice are different from the rice you eat during your meals!), the commonly used Sakamai are Yamada Nishiki, Omachi, Gohyakuman-goku, and Miyama Nishiki.
Yamada Nishiki (山田錦) has a mellow, soft flavour that produces the most well-balanced sake rice. This may be why the rice is also known as the king of sake rice! It is widely used among the commonly used rice. Sake made with Yamada Nishiki tend to be savoury.
Omachi (雄町) produces sake rich in flavour. It is often used for variety because it gives complexity to the sake's taste.
Gohyakuman-goku (五百万石) produces smooth, clean flavoured sake. It is usually used to make dry sake.
Miyama Nishiki (美山錦) has a mellow, rounded flavour used to produce sake that are clean and fresh.
The bottling date. Be wary if it’s more than a year old.
The type of alcohol. It should say 日本酒 (nihonshu). Shochu (焼酎) bottles appear very similar to nihonshu, so don’t buy the wrong drink!
The net content. Sake is generally sold in three different sizes: 1800ml bottles, called “issho bin” (一升瓶); 720ml bottles, called “shi-go bin” (四合瓶); or 300ml bottles.
The base ingredients – in this case, rice (米), kome koji (米麹, malted rice), and brewer’s alcohol (製造アルコール).
The rice polishing ratio.
The alcohol content. Will usually be between 14% and 20%.
The address of the brewer
Production Date 製造年月
This is an important information! It is not a requirement to put an expiry date on the label, because there is no expiry date. However, the flavour of a bottle of unopened sake stored for long periods of time may not taste the same as it was when it was freshly brewed and bottled. Hence, it is generally followed that sake should be consumed within one year from the date of production. Look out for tips on how to properly store sake in a future article!
Sake Meter Value (SMV) 日本酒度
Just like wines, sake can be dry or sweet. This is represented by a Sake Meter Value, which can be thought of as a scale. A negative value indicates a sweet sake, and a positive value indicate a dry sake. You should read the SMV in conjunction with its acidity percentage (酸度, or san-do), if provided. Higher acidity sake tend to be drier and develop richer flavours. Lower acidity sake have light, gentle flavours.
Recommended Serving Temperature おすすめ温度
Your bottle of sake will taste different when drank at different temperatures. In certain bottles, the sake breweries have provided guidelines on the labels on how we can best enjoy that bottle of sake. However, try experimenting at different temperatures to find your sweet spot!
Sake can be drunk just about everywhere: in bars, restaurants or during tasting experiences, you just have to choose.
WHAT SHOULD YOU BUY ?
There are a number of breweries open to visitors and they offer sake tasting and then you can purchase directly from their shops.
Beginners should start with sweet amakuchi (甘口) sake, a sake with a similar acidity to white wine. Just as you wouldn’t give a first-time wine drinker a swig of unpleasant box wine, higher-quality ginjo and daiginjo sakes are a better introduction than most cheap futsushu.
Nigori and namazakes are also well-loved by even those who can’t stand sake, so they can be a good jumping-off point, too! Avoid dry karakuchi (辛口) for your first bottle. As you get used to sake, you’ll likely find yourself growing partial to drier flavors down the line, but it can be a bit harsh for a first-time sake drinker.
HOW TO DRINK SAKE
Coming in all shapes, sizes, colors, and materials, you can express yourself through the creative craftsmanship of ochoko (sake cups) and tokkuri (sake pitchers). If you’re partial to cold sake, opt for a smaller ochoko made from porcelain, metal, or glass.
For hot sake, avoid glass and metal and stick with porcelain or ceramic. If an ochoko isn’t your thing, wine glasses are becoming increasingly accepted in the nihonshu world, so don’t be ashamed if you don’t buy an ochoko at all!
If you want your sake chilled, place the bottle in the fridge for an hour or so prior to drinking. You can also pour your desired amount into a tokkuri and chill that instead.
HOW TO MAKE HOT SAKE
For hot sake, submerge your tokkuri in boiled water for several minutes. This should yield a nice warm sake ready to drink straight away! Do not continue boiling the water while your tokkuri is submerged, but feel free to experiment with different temperatures by leaving it in for longer!
Room Temperature Sake
Of course, room temperature sake is completely acceptable, and in some cases better, so indulging as soon as you arrive home is perfectly fine! Different sakes have varying optimal temperatures, with honjozo often being warmed while daiginjo served chilled. Ask the store staff for their recommended drinking style during your purchase.
Enjoy!
Sake is all about enjoyment, so if you have a unique way to drink sake, by all means, be free! However, for your first drink, we recommend sipping slowly while making mental notes of taste and fragrance. Don’t dilute with water or mix with anything else – sake is to be relished on its own! It’s important to eat and drink water with sake, so prepare some otsumami and keep hydrated. Sake is notorious for brutal next-day hangovers, so don’t go overboard!
When toasting, raise your cup and say "Kanpai" (cheers)
SAKE TERMINOLOGY
Ochoko : Sake cup
Tokkuri : Sake pitcher
Kan : Warm sake
Hiya : Chilled sake
Jou-on : Room temperature
Shi-go bin : 720ml bottle
Issho bin : 1800ml bottle
Shi-in : Tasting (any drink)
Kikizake : Sake tasting
Amakuchi (甘口): Sweet
Karakuchi : Dry
Umami : Savory flavors often found in sake
Jizake : Local sake
Sakagura : Sake brewery
Jouzo : Brewing
Shuzou : Sake (alcohol) brewing