Sake

Sake is a Japanese alcoholic drink, brewed from rice. The word (酒) is pronounced as SA-KEH (the E sound like the A in CARE.) Its history can be traced back to the 3rd century. The first sake was called kuchikami no sake, (口噛み酒) or chewing-in-the-mouth sake, and was made by an entire village chewing rice, chestnuts, and millet and spitting the mixture into a tub to ferment.

Centuries later, the use of yeast was discovered, which greatly increased the sake's alcohol content. World War II also altered the recipe, when rice shortages forced brewers to develop new ways to increase their yields. By government decree, pure alcohol and glucose were added to small quantities of rice mash, increasing the yield by as much as four times. 95% of today's sake is made using this technique, left over from the war years, though connoisseurs say that the best sake is still made with just rice, koji, and water only.

There are four basic types of sake, created by slightly varying the brewing method.

• junmai-shu, made from rice only; no alcohol added
• honjozo-shu, with a slight amount of distilled alcohol added
• ginjo-shu, from highly milled rice; alcohol may or may not be added
• daiginjo-shu, from even more highly milled rice; again alcohol may or may not be added

Sake that has not been pasteurized is refered to as namazake, and may be made with any of the above methods.

The most common way to serve sake in America is to heat it to body temperature (100°F/40°C), but professional sake tasters prefer room temperature, and chilled sake (50°F/10°C) is growing in popularity.