Sake’s heyday

By Tanwen Dawn-Hiscox

WHAT IS SAKE?

Sake is a Japanese alcoholic beverage that is made from rice. It is typically 15–17% ABV, slightly sweet and lightly acidic. Di erent sakes can have light and delicate cereal, lactic or fruity avours.

All sakes are made using four main ingredients: steamed white rice, kōji – made by taking a small proportion of the steamed rice and growing mould on it – water and yeast. Optionally, high-strength distilled alcohol can be added.

How Sake Is Made

There are three stages to making sake: fermentation, ltration and bottling.

Initially the brewer makes a small starter fermentation to create a healthy and active yeast population. The starter is then slowly mixed with more of the ingredients to make a larger batch for the main fermentation.

A er the second fermentation, when the steamed rice, kōji and water are mixed with the yeast. Before it is bottled, all sake must, according to Japanese law, be ltered.

Grades of premium sake

The Many Categories And Grades Of Sake

Basic Sake

This simple style of sake is known as futsūshu. Most futsū-shu are clear and colourless in appearance but some are pale yellow or green in colour. They are 15-17% ABV, slightly sweet and lightly acidic with delicate lactic and fruity avours.

Premium Sake

There are six main grades of premium sake, which can be broken down into two styles:

• Sakes that typically have pure oral and fruity aromas. The word that indicates this style is ginjō.

• Sakes that typically have cereal and lactic aromas.

The word junmai, which means ‘pure rice’, indicates that high-strength distilled alcohol was not added before ltration.

Di erent aromas and avour pro les are achieved through the polishing of the rice kernel. The less it is polished, the more acidity and umami, with cereal and lactic aromas will come through. The more it is polished, the resulting sake will typically have less acid and umami and more fruity, oral aromas.

Other processes during production that a ect the resulting sake include adding highstrength distilled alcohol; pasteurisation (unpasteurised sake is known as Nama); ltration (roughly ltered sake is known as Nigori); making it sparkling or at; and ageing (aged sakes are called Koshu).