Sake

Sake

Sake is a Japanese traditional alcoholic beverage. It is brewed from water, rice and yeast.

In general, there are four basic types of sake. Honjozo-shu (本醸造酒)(at least 30% of rice polished away; a little of distilled alcohol is added), Junmai-shu (純米酒)(pure rice sake; no adding of distilled alcohol), Ginjo-shu (吟醸酒)(at least 40% of rice polished away; with or without alcohol added), Daiginjo-shu (大吟醸酒) (at least 50% of rice polished away).

Keywords for Sake

• Namazake (生酒)

  is sake that has not been pasteurized. It requires refrigerated storage and has a shorter shelf-life than pasteurized sake.

• Genshu (原酒)

  is undiluted sake. Most sake is diluted with water after brewing, to lower the alcohol content from 18-20% down to 14-16%, but genshu is not.

• Muroka (無濾過)

  means unfiltered. Note that this refers to sake that hasn’t been carbon filtered, but which has been pressed and separated from the lees, and thus is clear, not cloudy. Carbon filtration can remove desirable flavors and odors as well as bad ones, thus muroka sake has stronger flavors than filtered varieties.

• Nigorizake (濁り酒)

  is cloudy sake. The sake is passed through a loose mesh to separate it from the mash. It isn't filtered thereafter and there is much rice sediment in the bottle. Before serving, the bottle is shaken to mix the sediment and turn the sake white or cloudy.

• Seishu (清酒)"clear/clean sake,"

  , is the Japanese legal definition of sake and refers to sake in which the solids have been strained out, leaving clear liquid. Thus nigorizake and doburoku (see below) are not seishu and therefore aren't actually sake under Japanese law. However, nigorizake can get seishu status by being strained clear and having lees put back in afterward.

• Koshu (古酒)

  is "aged sake." Most sake does not age well, but this specially made type can age for decades, turning yellow and acquiring a honeyed flavor.

• Taruzake (樽酒)

  is sake aged in wooden barrels or bottled in wooden casks. The wood used is sugi (杉, Cryptomeria), which is also inaccurately known as Japanese cedar. Sake casks are often broken open ceremonially for the opening of buildings, businesses, parties, etc. Because the wood imparts a strong flavor, premium sake is rarely used for this type.

• Shiboritate (搾立て) "freshly pressed,"

  refers to sake that has been shipped without the traditional six-month aging/maturation period. The result is usually a more acidic, "greener" sake.

• Fukurozuri (袋吊り)

  is a method of separating sake from the lees without external pressure, by hanging the mash in bags and allowing the liquid to drip out under its own weight. Sake produced this way is sometimes called shizukazake (雫酒), meaning "drip sake."

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)