Registered: May 2002
Location:
Posts: 4131
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I will now share with you all that I learned in my sake class the week
before last.
Please note that as the evening wore on I took sketchier and more
difficult to read notes.
History:
'Sake' in Japanese is roughly equivalent to 'liquor' it does not
refer specifically to rice wine (which is called nihonshu).
Originally, sake was prepared by spitting chewed rice into a bowl
chewing allowed starches in rice to break down into sugar, which would
then ferment by the action of naturally occurring airborne yeasts.
Most sake was made by wealthy landowners who owned the rice paddies.
When merchant classes began producing it, heavy taxes were levied.
Landowning vampires.
In the 1900s, a very coarse sake was brewed in cedar casks it was
served hot to mask the harsh flavor. Sake served hot in restaurants
today is of inferior quality. Be sure to turn your nose up at people
who drink their sake hot, and to vigorously deny ever having preferred
it that way yourself.
The importance of water was discovered by accident by a brewer who
noted that sake made at one of his distilleries was consistently
better than that made at another, even though both used the same rice
when he imported water he found that he produced equally good sake
at both sites.
1904, yeast strains were numbered, 1 15, 1 6 are no longer used.
During world war II, rice shortages led to the sale of other alcohols
as sake, which continued until the 60's.
In the 70's, jizake (microbreweries) took off. Large breweries produce
1000's of gallons, small ones as few as 6-10, costing hundreds of
dollars per bottle.
Recently, as the traditionally male toji (brewers) begin to die off
and their offspring refuse to take up the family business in favor of
moving to Tokyo to become DJs, women are being allowed in, some of
whom make light, floral, elegant sake.
Production:
Usually 16 % alcohol, but some sakes are served at 'cask strength'
upwards of 20%. Some sakes are filtered and clear, others are more
rustic, particulate, milky.
Ingredients: rice, yeast, water (sometimes brewer's alcohol, sugars,
acid these in inferior sake).
Rice types (all with suffix nishiki) all have their own distinct
characteristics.
Omachi, yamada, miyama (masculine). Rice is always milled. Milling
rice removes impurities, but raises price as product is lost. Unmilled
rice is short, round, cracked, yellow. Milled is a tiny bead shape,
white/clear, smooth.
Levels of milling:
honjozu 70%, junmai, ginjo 60%, daiginjo 50%, some down to as little as 35%
7, 9, and 10 are most used yeasts
7= user friendly
9= big & floral
10=acid
Softer water produce more delicate sake.
Nobu restaurant serves a sake known as yk35, which is a key to the
formula used for that wine:
y for rice variety, yimanonishiki
k for yeast #9 (9 in japanese is 'ku')
35 for milled to 35%
Geographic factors: Mountainous regions tend to produce heavier sake,
which pairs well with the heavier, meat-based diet in that region.
Coastal regions produce light sake to go with fish-based diet. Colder
regions enable greater yeast stability and thus better sake.
Regional Differences:
Kyoto: elegant
Shimane: robust
Niigata: premium sakes that are clean, light, elegant
Ehime: dessert sake
Hirosha: famous for soft water & delicate wines
General Info:
Sake should be stored & served cold, and is good for 10 days after opening.
Vintage sake is not normally desirable. Sake is made in winter, held
till fall, and should be drunk same year it is released.
Some sakes are aged, can be gamy.
|