What is SAKE?
So I figure that I should go into one of the questions that I hear most in the restaurant.
“What actually is sake?”
First of all, let’s look at what it’s not.
Sake is not a spirit. Spirits are distilled, a process that can refine a base ingredient to higher and higher levels of alcohol by volume (ABV). Think whisky, think vodka, think brandy and rum. Just don’t be thinking sake.
There are various reasons for the confusion here. One, simply put, is that clearer sakes can look suspiciously like gin or vodka. Next, lower grade sakes can be bulked out with neutral spirits and water to increase the volume of production.
The spirit tends to give the sake a burn when consumed which many people associate with high strength, distilled alcohol. Yet another reason is that heating sake exaggerates the flavours, which can create the perception that what you are drinking is stronger than it really is.
With that out of the way let’s get back to the main question. What is sake? Sake is brewed, meaning that sake is a fermented beverage. Think beer, think wine, think cider, but don’t be thinking that sake is one of these. It is unique. Sake is…
well, sake.
Fermentation occurs when yeasts eat simple sugars, and luckily for those of us that enjoy the odd beverage, alcohol is created as a byproduct. For most fermented products the process cannot create alcohol levels much higher than 17% ABV, and this is because the yeast works its magic to the point when the alcohol actually kills it. Part of the magic the sake brewer works is to generate
a product with an ABV that can be higher than 20%, making sake the strongest beverage of the fermentation world. Anything higher than this requires distillation.
An important thing to remember here is that the brewer usually chooses to add water from their local supply to bring the level down to a more palatable 15-17%. Because water varies across the country, this addition helps to give a sake brewery its regionality.
Anyway, I hope that makes things clearer than a Honjouzo Daiginjo. Sake is not a spirit, a wine, or a beer. Sake is a beverage made from fermenting rice. And it is awesome.
Case closed!
T.S.A.
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Wayne Shennen According to Wayne Shennen, good bartending is all about balancing flavours. “The subtlety of each ingredient should shine through,” explains the passionate New Zealander, a trained sake sommelier and one of Sydney’s most respected bartenders at award-winning Saké Restaurant & Bar. “If you can taste what you’re drinking, you tend to treat alcohol with more respect.”a |
Saké Restaurant & Bar
12 Argyle Street
The Rocks, Sydney
t. 02 9259 5656
The Sake Alchemist #1
Tasting Business at Saké Restaurant & Bar
