3. What is
Sake?
• Sake is a fermented beverage
and not a spirit.
• It is made from four key
ingredients: WATER, RICE, YEAST
& KOJI - There are no additives.
• Like Wine it can be vintage
specific and change from year to
year.
• Production is by brewing but
takes the shape of both beer and
wine production with A TWIST.
5. FUN FACTS
Sake is great for your health having no additives, and also having qualities that are
great for your skin. Why not put a shot of sake into a hot bath and see for yourself!
6. The Year
in SAKE
• Winter, Spring; Soils are
cultivated.
• Spring, Summer; Rice is left
to grow.
• Summer, Autumn; The rice
is harvested.
• Autumn, Winter; The sake
production begins, roughly
running from October until
March the following year.
7. Sake has a lot of cultural similarities to wine; from gift giving through to
religious ceremonies, and even whereby it is added to rice to spice up a
meal.
FUN FACTS
8. WHAT REALLY MAKES A SAKE?
WATER
the water source gives Sake its
unique regionality and style. Water
can not be easily transported like
rice can
THE TOJI or HEAD BREWMASTER
the Toji will make a number of important decisions
over the course of the sake making, that will heavily
affect how a sake is produced and therefore how it
tastes. Sake making like beer brewing is never often
carefully managed; but this doesn’t mean that vintage
variation won’t be important.
9. How much
Sake
• Roughly 1200 producers making
about 20 different sake’s each.
• Some producers making up to 50
different sake.
• Only 1 prefecture in Japan doesn’t
make any sake out of 48 (Kagoshima)
• 400 different rice varieties that are
legally for sake making. Only 6 for table
rice. 4 overlap.
• Hyogo, Kyoto & Niigata alone
account for over half of all sake
production. Hyogo has 130 different
breweries.
• Sake is also made in Norway,
Scotland, USA and UK.
12. SEIMAIBUAI/POLISHING RATIO
• This is how much a grain of rice
has been polished for. We will
discuss this in more detail later on
when we talk about Toji decision
making, but essentially the more a
grain is polished towards the core
(Shinpaku: White Heart) the more
elegant, delicate, fragrant and
complex a sake will be.
• These are however exceptions
and there are a variety of things
that will affect this.
13. Polishing Ratio
& Added
Alcohol
• higher polishing makes the
sake fruiter, more floral,
elegant and complex.
• Adding alcohol makes the
sake more fresh, clean and
mineral.
• Junmai tend to be more
round, robust and fruity.
• The lower polishing ratio will
tend to have a more rice and
starch like flavour.
14.
15.
16. Koji and Yeasts
• Koji used in Sake is usually yellow, but
there are other colours, which can affect
the flavour. Some producers like to
experiment.
• Yeasts play a big role and there are a
variety of types… Ass. No. 7 and 9 are the
most used.
• If the number ends with 01 it is a foamless
yeast.
17. Post
Fermentation
Choices
• Nama are unpasteurised sake
• Nama Chozo are pasteurised
once after ageing
• Nama Zume are pasteurised
once before ageing
• Nigori is a cloudy or unfiltered
sake
• Taru is aged in cedar barrels
instead of tank or bottle
• Koshu is aged sake and must be
aged for at least three years
18. Post
Fermentation
Choices
• Genshu are undiluted sake
• Genmai is sake made from
brown rice
• Muroka is unclarified sake
• Orizake are gently filtered
• Happoshu is a sparkling
sake
• Kijoshu is a “fortified” sake
• Fruit Sake are those where
fruit is infused into the
sake.
19. Water and Terroir
• Water makes up 80% of sake contents.
• Water is difficult to transport so is
invariably local.
• Therefore it is with water that regionality
and terroir come about.
• Soft water will make a sake elegant and
pure, with a shorter finish.
• Hard water will make it more robust and
powerful.
20. SAKE SERVICE
• Sake is traditionally served in small cups
or wooden cups (more for fashion or
formal occasions) directly from bottle or
from small flasks called Tokkuri
• However, to get the best flavours from a
sake, as it is so similar to wine, wine
glasses are best
• How you serve it really depends on the
style of your establishment and how you
wish to portray yourself
21. TEMPERATURE;
HOT OR COLD?
• There is a lot of myth and
change over time with
regards to temperature.
• Any sake can be served at a
variety of temperatures.
• The flavours will change
based on the temperature
• Sake is versatile, and the
same sake warm will match
different foods to when it is
chilled or room temperature.
22. SAKE AND
FOOD
Sake has five main component
• 1) Sweetness (Amami) to
soften spice and enhance
creaminess
• 2) Dryness (Karami) to
combat saltiness in food
• 3) Bitterness (Nigami) to
negate fishy smells
• 4) Acidity (Sanmi) to cut
through oil and break down fats
in meat
• 5) Astringency (Shibumi) to
balance fattyness in meat and
generally act as a balancing
agent for all foods.
23. UMAMI
• UMAMI as a word is derived from
the word UMAI, meaning tasty.
• UMA- MI (mi being taste) literally
means Good Tasting.
This man is the founder of
Ajinomoto, Japanese food
and biotechnology
corporation which produces
seasoning. He discovered
MSG monosodium glutamate
in Kombu (seaweed) and
commercialised it.
24. UMAMI
• What we want to say is that UMAMI is a flavour
enhancer. It is not a flavour.
• It does make food or sake or wine taste more
savoury, but it is not a flavour.
• They can also be in wine, they come from the
Amino Acids. Hence the use of its indicator.
• Sake is richer in umami than wine and has a low
acidity. Hence sake pairing it’s a lot easier.
Especially with tricky pairings.
