What sake is not

What are we talking about when we talk about sake?

I often start by talking about what sake is not. It might seem counter-intuitive, but there are a few persistent myths and misunderstandings about sake that can make people reluctant to try it.⠀⠀

So let’s look at a few of the most common misconceptions, where they come from and get to mythbusting!

The first misunderstanding about sake is that it’s high in alcohol, basically a distilled spirit like vodka, gin or whisk(e)y.⠀⠀
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The word sake itself doesn’t make things easy here, as in Japanese it refers to all forms of alcohol. If you ask someone in Japanese if they drink sake, you’re asking if they drink alcohol. (The Japanese for what I’m calling sake is nihonshu, 日本酒.) The character used (酒) also just means “alcohol” in Japanese and Chinese.⠀⠀

For better or worse, the word sake is widely recognised as referring to Asian alcoholic drinks, and high-strength drinks like Chinese baijiu were (and possibly still are) served as sake, at least in continental Europe.⠀⠀

So you can see where this misunderstanding that sake may be distilled comes from.

As it’s fermented, the alcoholic strength of sake is limited to what can be produced by yeast alone. The process of sake brewing is a bit different from making wine or beer, and sake yeast tend to produce more alcohol, so in practice sake can be up to 22% alcohol (vol/vol). This is the legal limit under Japanese law, so anything labelled nihonshu can’t be 22% or higher.

(If you have something that looks like a sake but is 25% or more, it may be a shochu (焼酎) or awamori (泡盛), one of Japan’s traditional distilled drinks – the labels can look very similar!)

Another reason sake may be mistaken for a distilled spirit is the tiny cups it is traditionally served in.⠀⠀

If you think of standard western drinks:
🍺 – low abv drinks like beer come in large glasses
🍷 – medium abv drinks like wine come in medium-sized glasses
🥃- and strong ones like vodka come in shot glasses.

There’s an inverse relationship between serving size and alcoholic strength – big glasses of low abv beer, and tiny glasses of high abv spirits.⠀⠀

But there’s a different logic at play when it comes to sake. One very close to the Japanese heart – hospitality.⠀⠀

The smaller the cup, the faster it empties, which gives others more chances to fill it for you – promoting friendly rounds of you-pour-for-me-I-pour-for-you and a chance to break into conversations by bringing over the bottle and pouring for others.⠀⠀

So for sake, a small glass doesn’t mean big abv, just big hospitality!

Another myth–with understandable origins–is that sake is always drunk hot. ⠀⠀

This used to be true of most sake, back when it wasn’t possible to produce it without some level of bitterness or other not-so-easy-to-drink elements. (This comes down to being able to remove enough of the outer layers of the rice grain, a topic that I’ll come back to.)

Heating boosts the sweetness and umami naturally present in sake‘s basic flavour profile, effectively masking any unwanted elements. So back in the day, sake really was best drunk hot.⠀⠀

Now, thanks to developments in polishing technology, these more difficult flavour elements are almost never a problem. (And bitterness, astringency, etc. are not necessarily – they’re an essential part of a complex flavour profile.)
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Some sake are just great hot because their flavour profile responds beautifully to being heated, and some sake that may not be so well-balanced improve with heating.⠀⠀

But well-brewed and balanced sake, especially ones with a more delicate flavour profile, are often great served at room temperature, cool or even chilled.

And finally–if there is one myth I could definitively bust, this is top of my list. The belief that sake only goes with Japanese food.⠀⠀

Sake is 🌟amazing🌟 with non-Japanese food, and deserves to be in your glass at any moment and on your dinner table at any meal, not just confined to Japanese bars or restaurants.⠀⠀
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If you’re not sure what sake is, or how to choose it and where to buy it, you might only come across it at Japanese restaurants. ⠀⠀
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But delicate sake works so well with delicate dishes – think white fish, shellfish or delicate vegetables – and bolder ones are the perfect match for hearty roasts, BBQ and umami-laden vegetables like mushrooms and tomatoes. There are even some that are magical with blue cheese, curry or pizza. 😍🤤⠀⠀

Discover Sake is here to give you the tools to understand sake and start your own journey of discovery into this fantastic world of flavour. Kanpai!