There are three main types of japanese specialty liquors, whiskey, sake, and shochu.
Among them, sake is called the national liquor by the Japanese. From this, one can imagine the status of sake in the hearts of Japanese people, how much it is loved, and how widely it is spread.
In fact, The Japanese sake culture is very interesting, and the taste is refreshing, which is a completely different special flavor compared to whiskey.
Let's learn about all aspects of sake culture today!
01 The origin of the history of sake
In the Yayoi period of the 4th-3rd centuries BC, the rice cultivation culture began and sake was born.
The origins of sake can be traced back to "chewing sake", when the Japanese put heated grains in their mouths and chewed them thoroughly, using enzymes in saliva to convert starch into sugar, and then fermented into sake. This is the very original method of sake brewing in Japan.
By the Yamato period, Chinese winemaking techniques were introduced to Japan. Both Chinese rice wine and liquor use one thing in the brewing process, yeast.
Later, Japan also borrowed from it, using yeast, and never needed to "chew" again (the picture below is a scene in a Japanese anime that produces "chewing wine").
Later, Japan began to develop its own brewing technology, which became more and more advanced, including "parallel compound fermentation" and "fire into the method" sterilization technology.
Later, in China, rice wine gradually declined, and baijiu became the national liquor; in Japan, sake developed and became the national liquor.
Once the brewing of sake needed to borrow the brewing of rice wine, but now the development of Japan's sake brewing industry has long been very mature, and even reached an advanced point.
02 Brewing process
To make sake, water, rice, and yeast are used.
It should be emphasized here that the water and rice used to make sake in Japan are very high-quality, which is an important reason why they can brew high-quality sake.
Sake brewing begins with soaking polished rice in water and then steaming it to soften it; when the rice is cooked, it is fermented by adding yeast to convert the starch in the rice into sugar, and at the same time fermenting to produce alcohol, which is finally brewed into sake.
Japanese sake is a fermented sake.
The degree of fermented sake is low, and Japanese sake is generally around 15 degrees. Distilled spirits, on the other hand, have a relatively high degree of strength because they are distilled again on the basis of fermentation, concentrated, and have a high alcohol content. For example, Japanese shochu and liquor are distilled liquors, and the degree is around 35 degrees to 50 degrees.
03 Taste and classification of sake
Sake tastes are divided into two types, sweet and spicy.
Sweet mouth, is a better type of entrance, the taste is sweet, the wine contains a lot of sugar, soft and smooth to drink.
Spicy, not sweet, the sense of alcohol is obvious, and spicy also represents "spicy". The alcohol sensation is obvious, sometimes it is more choking, and the irritation is slightly stronger.
So whether the taste of sake is sweet or spicy, how to see?
This information can be found on the label on the side of the bottle.
In general, there are two values on the wine label, "Japanese sake" and "acidity".
The value "Japanese sake" has nothing to do with alcohol and refers to the sweetness (i.e., sugar content) of sake.
The general value is between -3 and 8. With 0 as the midpoint, the higher the meaning of the spicy (the more spicy, not sweet), if the negative value is lower, the sweeter it is.
Therefore, the choice of spicy mouth or gankou can be judged and selected by the value of "Japanese sake degree".
Another influence on the taste is "acidity", and the acidity column is positive. The higher the acidity, the more mellow the wine, and the lower the wine, the more delicate the body.
There is also a value worth noting on the wine label, that is, the "polished rice step", that is, the degree of sake refined, which usually directly reflects the quality of a bottle of wine.
For example, 50% of the rice polishing means that 50% of the surface of the rice used to make sake is ground out, leaving only nearly 50% of the rice heart as the raw material for subsequent sake making.
The smaller the degree of polishing, the smaller part of the rice heart is left, and most of the outer part of the rice heart is discarded.
The smaller the degree of polished rice, the more expensive the sake and the stronger the aroma.
Although the smaller the degree of polished rice, the better the quality of the wine, it also represents a certain degree of waste.
Knowing these basic values, you can better understand the major classifications of Japanese sake.
04 There are 8 classifications of the two major grades of sake
Sake can be divided into eight types under two different categories, depending on the degree of polishing (polished rice stepping) and whether there is artificial addition of edible alcohol during the brewing process.
According to whether alcohol is artificially added, it can be divided into pure rice wine and sake with added alcohol.
On this basis, according to the different degrees of polishing, there are 4 classifications of each. This is shown in the figure.
It is generally believed that pure rice wine is better than the original brewed wine with added alcohol, the former has a stronger aroma of rice and is biased towards sweetness; the latter alcohol aroma is more prominent, biased towards spicy mouth.
In these classifications, pure rice daigin is often considered to be the highest quality sake.
05 Sake represents the brand
Otter sacrifice
Otter Festival is arguably one of the most famous sake brands in Japan.
Asahi Sake Brewery, located in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, was founded in 1770 and has been around for nearly 250 years. The reputation of otter festivals has spread far and wide, and can be found in many fine dining restaurants in Paris, London and New York. Moreover, when US President Barack Obama received Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the White House, the amount of alcohol he drank was a otter sacrifice, which shows his fame.
Siberian crane
Hakutsuru has been engaged in the brewing industry since 1743 and is located in Miying Township in Tangogoku.
The so-called "Beach Five Townships" refers to the area after the merger of Higashitan District, Nada District, and Nishinomiya City in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, and has the name of the first sake town.
Known for its cold winters and the high-quality water (Miyami) and good rice (Yamada Nishiki), which make sake, it has nurtured many famous traditional sake brewers with a long history, such as Kikusei, Fukushou, and so on.
Gongshui refers to the spring water gushing out of the local area, and the water in the beach area has high hardness, more phosphorus and less iron.
The "Tan Wuxiang" area is close to the "Keihanshin" area, and the water and land transportation are very developed, so the liquor industry has developed very well. The product line is very rich.
Shochiku Ume
Shochiku plums began in 1842, at the end of the Edo period, and the "treasure sake brewing" that brewed shochiku plums was located in Fushimi, a sake country in the ancient capital of Kyoto.
When Shochiku first entered the judging committee (the Oscar of the sake industry), it was known as "soft in the mouth, refreshing and then drunk". The name of The Pine Bamboo Plum comes from the Chinese "Three Friends of the Cold Year", which is obviously deeply influenced by Chinese culture, so it also has a little more affinity in the Chinese market.
Laurel crown
Founded in 1637 in Fushimi, Japan, Laurel Crown is an ancient sake brewing house that has a history of nearly 400 years.
For the first time in history, Laurel Crown introduced a system that can be brewed all year round in Japan, actively introducing modern technological innovations and promoting the progress of the entire industry. At the same time, it strives to open up overseas markets and has a branch in Shanghai.
The masterpiece is Fenglin Pure Rice Daigin Brew, using Yamada Nishiki, the king of sake rice, with a 35% step of polished rice, with exquisite and elegant fruit aromas: melon, cantaloupe and honeysuckle, with a smooth taste and a pure and long aftertaste.
Chrysanthemum
Kikusei is known as Japan's "national guest wine" and began in 1659. Kikusei is still made with the ancient method of "raw brewing" passed down from the Edo period to this day, and even after World War II, when the sweet wine was just like the sun in the sky, it still insisted on the strong smell of the wine, but the entrance was silky and spicy sake, and it was famous for this.
There are actually many brands of sake, today I will only introduce 5 for you, more brands to be discovered and understood!
I believe that after reading this article on Japanese sake science, you must have made a qualitative leap in your understanding of sake.
Add a lot of whiskey that you've tried, so change the flavor and try the sake, it must be another flavor!