Sake
Sake is first of all, a misnomer. In Japan the word refers to any alcoholic beverage, not just the drink called sake outside of Japan. The Japanese word for that specific drink is nihonshu. The sake that we know is a kind of rice wine, although the process of fermenting the rice is more akin to our brewing process. Sake is traditionally matured for 9 to 12 months and has a typical strength of 14 to 16% abv. There are many different types of sake, which are described and categorized in part by the amount of the rice grain which is polished away before fermentation and whether distilled alcohol is added to the finished product. Sake is generally meant to be consumed young, drank soon after its short aging period. However, one kind of sake, goshu (aged sake), is made in a way which makes it suitable for aging. Another style, taruzake, is aged in barrels made from Japanese cedar. Kuroshu is sake made from brown rice rather than the normal white rice.
Top Sake Posts:
Sake Roundup – Fukucho, Bushido, Tozai, Konteki, and Kanbara
Tasting SakeOne Imports: Hakutsuru Draft, Tanrei Junmai, Superior Junmai Ginjo, and Sho-Une Junmai Dai Ginjo
Sake Tasting and Mac Pairing with Sake Social
Hiro is a Japanese sake brand that comes in two varieties — “Red” (Junmai) and “Blue” (Junmai Ginjo). We tasted the Blue variety Very fresh on the nose, Hiro Blue offers big cantaloupe character. Some lemon peel notes on the finish, and a mild green character follows. Overall a modest body. Some vegetal character on…
We’ve got a sake primer, courtesy of SakeOne and Momokawa, for you right here — and this week the Oregon-based sake empire sent us four samples for our consideration, particularly as cocktail ingredients. There’s a whole bunch of recipes involving these sakes available here. We won’t reprint them all but encourage you to pick up…
When he stopped by with six bottles of domestic rice wine, I asked Dewey Weddington, VP of Marketing for Momokawa, why anyone would want to drink an American sake. The answer was not exactly surprising: Because it tastes good… just like American red wine is as good as French, just as American beer is as…
Joto Sake is a relatively new but already massive sake importer here in the U.S. (it was founded by the man behind Ciao Bella Gelato), and recently the company sent a couple of its bottlings for us check out. Chikurin Fukamari Junmai comes from the only 100% estate bottled sake made in Japan. The brewery…
Hailing not from Japan but from sunny Forest Grove, Oregon, Rock Sake is a contender that could bring a blush to any yakuza. Available in two varieties, we tried them both. (Both are 15% abv.) Rock Sake Junmai Ginjo is the company’s traditional, filtered sake that drinkers will be most familiar with. The sake is…
Is sake making a comeback? For whatever reason, Drinkhacker HQ has been flooded with the stuff of late. The intricacies of sake styles are too involved and complex to go into here, so if you’re interested in the differences between, say, junmai and ginjo, I’ll refer you to this Wikipedia article. Here’s our look at…
Sake continues its slow but inexorable push into American cocktails and bottles, this time with Gekkeikan’s Zipang Sparkling Sake beverage. Like saké2me, Zipang is a single-serve bottle (though larger, at 250ml). Unlike saké2me though, Zipang isn’t flavored, it’s literally just sake given a light carbonation. If you like sake, you’ll really enjoy Zipang. Served nice…
My first challenge in this review is not how to describe what saké2me tastes like. It’s how to categorize it in this blog. saké2me is a blend of sake, natural flavors, and sparkling water. It comes in ready-to-drink bottles 187ml in size and weighs in at a beer-like 7% alcohol, comparable to malt liquor-based beverages…