Commonly sake drink is also referred to as Japanese rice wine. Sake which as we have seen is an alcoholic beverage basically of Japanese origin. Sake in most cases is polished. This procedure is fundamentally observed so as to take off the bran. But you can’t typically classify sake drink fully as wine though. This is because the production of sake drink is quite in contrast to the production process of wine. In wine, the alcohol is realized from the fermentation of the sugar which is present inherently in fruits, most times grape. But in the case of sake drink, the production this time is from a brewing process which shares closer similarity with the production process of beer. We will be looking deeper into this later on.
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How do you prepare your sake drink?
So talking about the preparation of your sake drink, there are many varieties of sake. These varieties can be served warmed or even chilled depending on your preference. A number of these popular sake drink varieties include namazake, daiginjo, ginjo and junmai. In most circumstances, you see that most people like serving their sake drink within a temperature interval of 4 °C and 10 °C. It all depends on you as previously said. You can as well serve your sake drink straight from the fridge.
Step1
Now get your water boiling after which you can transfer the water into a bowl. There is no strict specification for the bowl in this regards. It could be a ceramic bowl, it could be a metal bowl or even a glass bowl. But it could be worth pointing out here that you shouldn’t use a plastic bowl.
This, as you will readily understand, is to prevent the bowl from melting. Now best practices suggest that you don’t fill your bowl to the brim. Filling halfway would be more optimal since we don’t want any unnecessary spills by the time we bring in our ceramic container.
Step 2
So you will now fill a tokkuri. For those who don’t really know what the tokkuri here is. The tokkuri is basically a ceramic vessel specially designated for the serving of your sake drink. So get the bottle (your sake bottle) opened, transferring its content into your tokkuri. You will be required to fill the tokkuri yet in such a way to leave out some space at its brim. The reason again is to avoid spilling.
Step 3
Forthwith, you would proceed with the warming of your sake in the boiling water bowl. You can then leave your tokkuri in the boiling water until the sake’s temperature steadily raises up to about 40 °C. This naturally shouldn’t take more than four minutes at most. Because of how delicate it is to get the temperature right, you can get in a thermometer primarily to closely monitor the temperature of your sake as it is immersed in the boiling water.
How To Drink Sake
As we have earlier established, sake drink is a Japanese alcoholic beverage that is made from fermented rice. It could be somewhat identified as wine if not for the distinct brewing which separates it from your wine. Also if you look at the alcohol composition of sake drink, you see that it beats that of wine. In the same manner, the ABV (Alcohol by Volume) of Sake drink also trumps that of beer.
Yet, sake rice is milled owning to its relatively elevated composition of starch. In other cases, fungus is introduced into the rice mash. This process is targeted at facilitating the conversion of starch into sugar. After this procedure, this sugar is passed through the fermentation process further aided by yeast.
The weird and lovely brew
Now the aroma of your sake drink is well reliant on how it was fermented. Such reliance on the fermentation procedure also extends to the taste of the sake drink. At the end of the day, the variety of the sake you come out with after all the fermentation still depends on the amount of rice which was milled. Having said this, we see that with an increasing quantity of milled rice, the flavor of your sake drink gets increasingly delicate. Doesn’t this sound interesting?
We still have to watch out for the brewer’s alcohol
It is also important to watch out for how the brewer’s alcohol is brought in. Note that the addition of brewer’s alcohol will not necessarily cut down the distinct flavor of the sake. In contrast, the brewer’s alcohol will even add to the wealth of the flavor. Another good thing about it also is that the brewer’s alcohol also improves the durability of your sake drink in terms of elongating its shelf life.
How can you take sake drink to get the best thrill?
To start with, when your sake drink is unadulterated, the Alcohol by Volume sits somewhere between 15% and 19%. Many manufacturers of sake drink would prefer to dilute it a bit before bottling it up. But then there is the remarkable distinction in the flavor and aroma of sake drink that makes it stands out from the commonality of drinks you readily see around.
Varieties all in for your choice
Based on the broad variety of sake drinks, it is now left to someone who is new to sake drinking to have a taste of some of these varieties before settling for one that strikes him most in terms of preference. But then while trying out the various sake drinks always keep a keen eye for details espoused in the label. Most times fresh sake goes best. But then when sake gets matured the alcoholic content raises as well with a lessening flavor.
What can you mix your sake with?
So now talking about what you can mix your sake with, you can go for mixing your sake drink with cocktails. There are other cases where you could also infuse other flavors into your sake drink to bring out this fruitier flavor. Also keep in mind that when serving your sake with these cocktails, it shouldn’t be too hot. This is because a significantly high temperature would kill the alcoholic content by causing the burning off of the alcohol. You don’t really want this scenario as it would largely damage the supposedly delicate flavor of your sake drink.
How should you serve your sake drink?
In relation to what we have learned previously, sake is traditionally served from specially designed porcelain flasks called tokkuri.
What can you serve your sake drink with?
You can go further to pour your sake from your tokkuri into smaller ceramic cups called choko in Japanese. In a case where you are not going with your chilled sake, you can have it chilled. Such is best served in a wine glass. However in the case of special ceremonies as seen commonly in Japanese rituals, sake could be poured into cups carved in shapes of a saucer. Also quite amusingly, there is also the Japanese style of serving your sake drink in masu. What is the masu here?
The masu is a little box used in the measurement of rice. You can serve your saki from the masu using these saucer-like cups.
Weather and serving your sake drink
As we have seen, you can serve your matcha warm or even at room temperature. You can even serve your sake drink chilled. It all depends on what flavor you want from your sake. It also depends on the prevailing weather conditions as well. For example in most cold evenings especially in the winter, you can readily go for your warm sake drink. Alternatively, when the weather heats up as seen in the humid days of summer, you can serve your sake drink chilled. While we have already preached against excessively heating your sake, how about storing your sake drink? Of course, storing your sake drink is no rocket science. You can readily store your sake in bottles. Pertaining to the storage temperature, you should go for somewhere cool and dry. If possible somewhere relatively dark as well.
How should you drink your sake optimally?
However being a traditional Japanese drink, there are really no strict customs to observe when serving and drinking your sake drink. You can simply hold out your cup slight ahead when being served sake drink. Also, should you want another shot, simply repeat the holding out procedure.
Here is one nice toast to go with your sake drink: the traditional kampai. The aroma is really lovely with the flavor more tantalizing especially when you keep it in your mouth before swallowing. Also to enhance the flavor of your sake, you can equally mix it with some lovely fruit juices. In the absence of such fruit juices to enhance the sake drink, you can go for liqueurs.
Lovely sake drink combinations
Also for those wanting a marvelous sake drink combo, you can combine your sake drink with sushi. The taste is simply outstanding. In other cases, if you want to be further lost in the marvel of sake, you can also combine it some seafood. In other cases, you can still try your sake drink with salted meat. Irresistible and very hard to get enough of.
Will sake drink give you hangovers?
This is one popular question keep asking. First, we must recognize that sake drink is an alcoholic beverage with a significant alcohol by volume percentage. This emphasizes the need for moderation when drinking your sake just like any other booze. But then comparatively, sake drink is not at the top for hangover-inducing drinks. This is because its fermentation is carried out with rice and water. Another thing to keep in mind here is that sake doesn’t present any sulfites while having a very reduced amount of acidity when compared to wine. Also, the histamine composition of sake drink is also reduced. So in all, the hangover effect is not very high.
What are the health benefits of sake
Sake drink reduces your risk of cancer
Sake contains an impressive amount of amino acids which greatly inhibit the growth of tumor in the body. When supplemented with the foods like salmon that have a healthy composition of omega-3 fatty acids, sake drink significantly reduces your risk of cancer.
Sake drink boosts up your immune system
Still talking about the amino acid composition of sake, there is selenium which is a very powerful mineral. Selenium has an esteemed reputation of ramping up the power of your immune system while reducing the chances of contracting degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s or even Parkinson disease. Sake drink also enhances your skin while preventing you from developing allergies.
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