Sake is a very misunderstood beverage and most people think of the warm stuff served in little ceramic cups in Chinese restaurants if I suggest it to them. Sake is served warm in two situations. In Japan, it is served warm in the wintertime. In Chinese restaurants it is often served warm because the heat covers up the roughness and impurities of inferior offerings. Premium sake is wonderful, with often intense, pleasant aromatics and delicate flavors of apple, pear, melon and banana. It is an excellent accompaniment to light foods, especially seafood.
Although considered to be rice wine by many, sake is actually brewed (as in beer) rather than fermented. In winemaking, the naturally occurring sugar in the grapes is converted to alcohol by fermentation. In sake production, a starch (rice, in sake instead of hops, as in beer) is converted to sugars and then the sugars are converted into alcohol. While these steps are done separately in beer production they are done simultaneously in sake production.
To make sake, Aspergillus oryzae spores (an enzyme secreting fungus) are scattered over steamed rice to produce Koji (rice plus aspergillus spores). Under warm and moist conditions, the spores release an enzyme called amylase, which converts the rice starches to sugars. The sugars are then immediately converted to alcohol by the yeast that had been added at the same time as the spores. The specific yeasts used impart different flavor profiles to the sake, making the yeast perhaps the most important part of the process, although water and rice are also instrumental in determining the characteristics of a particular sake. There are over 400 different yeasts that have been developed in the sake industry and there are over 100 specific versions of the rice.
Water is important in determining the characteristics of a particular sake. Iron will cause off flavors, and both iron and manganese will cause discoloration. Conversely, potassium, and magnesium serve as nutrients and are both considered desirable as they allow more conversion of sugar to alcohol. Soft water will typically yield sweeter sake while hard water with a higher mineral content is known for producing a drier sake.
A special type of rice, called Sakamai, is used in making premium sake. It is larger and stronger than table rice with less lipid and protein. This rice can be polished, removing the outer layers containing the protein and lipid, exposing a pure starch interior. The greater the degree of polishing the higher the grade (and price) of the sake. The label on a bottle of premium sake usually has a number that is a percentage, which means the percent of rice that is left after polishing. So a percentage of 70% means that 30% of the outer layers have been removed. Sake rice is used in only about 25% of sake (so called premium sake) while table rice is used in lower level sake (called ordinary sake). Table rice is either unpolished or minimally polished as it is brittle and breaks with intense polishing.
There are differences in sweetness in sakes. There is a scale, known as Nihonsgu-do (SMV) that measures the sweetness of sake, from plus ten to minus ten, with zero being neutral and positive being dry and negative being sweet. Acid levels affect the sensation of sweetness much like in wine with acidity making sweet sake taste drier.
Most sake is filtered so it is clear. However Nigori sake is unfiltered so it is extremely cloudy with sediment. Nigori sakes are rich and flavorful and tend to be sweet.
When considering filtered sakes, one must look at the various grades. Futsu is the so-called ordinary Sake, made from table rice, and is somewhat equivalent to table wine. Premium sakes are known as Tokutei.
The grades of Tokutei:
- Junmai: brewed with only rice, rice koji, water and yeast.
- Junmai Gingo: Polished to 60% or less remaining
- Junmai Daigingo; Polished to 50% or less remaining.
- Aruten: a small amount of pure distilled spirit is added to enhance aroma and flavor.
- Honjozo: polishing to 70% or less and distilled spirit added
- Ginjo: polishing to 60% or less remaining with distilled spirit added
- Daiginjo: polishing to 50% or less remaining with distilled spirit added.
Here are some great representative sakes:
- Gekkeikan: top selling ordinary sake. Smooth and balanced, excellent price point
- Tozai “Snow Maiden” Junmai Nigori Great body, long finish ,fruity, bright acidity. Fairly sweet, around -6 SMV
- Suigei Tokubetsu Drunken Whale; reserved aroma, lovely rice notes, smooth, pleasant acidity, mild umami, dry
- Dassai 45 Junmai Daigingo Nigori: outstanding Nigori, medium bodied, with notes of strawberry milk with a salty chalky finish, polished down to 45%
- Kiku-Masamune Junmai Taru Polished to 70%: very clean, bright, good depth of flavor. Beautifully balanced sake.
- Heiwa Shuzo Tsuru Ume summer orange: sake with seyvelle orange marmalade. A bold flavor of tart orange in a medium body sake with a slightly bitter finish. This is an outstanding sake.
These are just a few of many sakes that are wonderful with light fresh foods such as fish, seafood and chicken – and of course sushi- that aren’t too spicy or rich. So give sake a try. You may find yourself turning to this beverage a lot more than you ever thought you would be.