Let抯 talk sake

There are literally tens of thousands of different sakes made by some 2000 producers worldwide. Most, but not all, sakes are made in Japan. There are four producers in the United States, that produce more than 200 different sakes. Worldwide, about one out of three glasses of wine consumed are sake. In the United States only about two out of every 100 glasses of wine are sake. But, the domestic popularity of sake is rising.

There are two basic types of sake: futsû-shu, which are the 搉ormal?sake; and tokutei meishôshu or 搒pecial designation?sake. Futsû-shu is the equivalent of table wine and more than 75 percent of all sake produced is Futsû-shu. Tokutei meishôshu is distinguished by the degree to which the rice is polished and distilled alcohol is added. The more the rice is polished, the fewer surface impurities remain and the better the sake. The addition of alcohol does not increase the potency or volume of the Sake. Rather, the addition of small amounts of distilled alcohol improves the aroma and body of the product. Although there are important exceptions, in general, sake does not age well and should be served soon after it is made.

In Japan, sake is served cold, warm or hot, depending on the preference of the drinker, the quality of the sake and the season. Sake is one of the few alcoholic beverages that is regularly consumed hot. Typically, hot sake is consumed in winter and cold sake in summer. As heating serves to mask the undesirable flavors of lower-quality sake, it is said that practice became popular during World War II to mask the rough flavor of low-quality sake resulting from scarcity of quality ingredients during the war.

The most common way to serve sake in the U. S. is to heat it to body temperature (37°C/98.6°F), however, many experienced sake drinkers prefer their sake at room temperature (20°C/68°F), or chilled (10°C/50°F) . Sake is served in shallow cups, called choko (Although Riedel is now producing a footed glass specifically for premium sakes.) Sake is usually poured into the choko from a ceramic flask called a tokkuri. When someone offers to fill your sake cup, it is considered polite for you to raise the cup to meet the tokkuri. Drinking from someone else抯 sake cup is considered a sign of friendship or as a way to honor someone of lower status.

I acquired my taste for sake during the 1980s when I was spending time in Japan and China on business. The Japanese have a wonderful tradition that is probably responsible for the large volume of alcohol consumed in their country. When drinking with a friend, it is your responsibility to keep your friend抯 glass (or cup) filled. Having experienced this tradition firsthand, it抯 easy to understand why it抯 not unusual for the Japanese to fall asleep at the table in a restaurant. You may find that sake is an acquired taste, but I think it抯 worth the effort.

- Cellar Notes -

I抦 not going to recommend you go out and buy a bottle of sake. If you did, you would find that you could spend as little or as much as you wanted to.

Ordinary sakes are very inexpensive and extraordinary sakes are extraordinarily expensive. What you want to do is sample as much sake as you can for as little cost as possible. The way to do that is the same as it is with wine, by the glass at a restaurant.

While you won抰 be able to buy most sakes exactly by the glass, you can buy them in a fairly small size of tokkuri. Obviously the best and perhaps only restaurants in this area that serve sake are going to be those serving Japanese, Chinese or other Asian cuisines.  Fortunately, those are plentiful.

As with wine, talk to the waiter; find out what they recommend. Some Asian restaurants will also have a sake list. And, don抰 forget, it抯 up to you to keep your dining companion抯 choko from getting empty.