Her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Eating Well, The Wall Street Journal, SevenFifty Daily, VinePair, Wine Enthusiast, Travel & Leisure, and more. Why Trust ?īetsy Andrews is a freelance journalist specializing in food and drink, travel, and the environment and has been writing about wine and spirits for two decades. Some less-polished sakes are easier to sip when warm. But pungent junmai and other sakes that are made from rice that’s been milled less can hold up to the heat and still deliver wonderful flavor. You lose all the fragrance that makes it so great that way. Very delicate, floral daiginjo is not meant for heating. How do you know if you should drink it cold or hot? It clocks in around 15 percent to 18 percent ABV. Though some sakes, like the Gekkeikan Zipang Sparkling, are low in alcohol, most sake is higher in alcohol than wine. After that, the sake may be filtered and pasteurized, mixed with some alcohol, or aged. Then the mash is pressed to extract the sake. The rice is milled, washed, steamed, and then inoculated with koji and yeast, then mixed with water to create a mash that ferments. Sake is made using four basic ingredients: rice, which is normally polished to remove the outer layers and expose the starchy interior koji, a type of mold that grows on rice which aids in fermentation yeast for fermenting and water-lots of it. Importers try hard to explain the sakes they bring into the country, so the brewery’s website or its importer’s website can yield information about the integrity of the product and the process by which it was made. Though a touch of added alcohol is perfectly fine, the sake should not include other additives. Sake should be made with pure spring water, high-quality rice, and carefully made koji. Try a range of bottles, and when you find a sake you like, go deeper into that style. Still, others like kimoto sake have to do with the way the yeast starter is prepared. Others have to do with whether the sake is filtered, has added alcohol, carbonation, etc. Some styles are dictated by how much the rice used to make it is milled. There are many styles of sake, among them finely crafted, perfumed daiginjo mushroomy, characterful junmai milky, sweet nigori bubbly sparkling sake and more. But if you’re more into umami flavors, go for a junmai like Shichida (find it at ). If you like your drinks fruity and fragrant, daiginjos like the Nanbu Bijin "Southern Beauty" (view it on ) will give you what you want. The following is a list of the best sake to drink right now, according to the experts. Whatever your preference, we recommend Hakkaisan Tokubetsu Junmai for a classic and versatile choice. “In general, expensive sake is made with rice that’s been polished down 50 percent or more.” With the bran, proteins, and fat removed, the sake comes out “lighter-bodied and fragrant.” But if you’re looking for a bolder, earthier flavor, you might try a sake made from rice that’s been more gently milled. How do you choose among sakes? “Price point is an easy start,” says sake sommelier Chizuko Niikawa, founder of the spirits consultancy Sake Discoveries. “It’s more about harmony: matching textures and layers of umami.” “Most have no tannins, and they’re low in acidity, so classic food pairings don’t work,” says Samuels. Yet, you can’t treat sake as you would sauvignon blanc. That’s where the beer comparisons stop because largely non-carbonated sake has an alcohol content-and elegance-closer to that of wine. The freshness of the water begets a fresh drink. The cold from the snow alone chills the tanks to 3C for 3 years, with no electricity used. Using 1,000 tons of snow, the sake tanks sit along side the snow pile in a large insulated room. This is a large snow storage cellar at the hakkaisan brewery. Japan’s rice-based elixir is brewed, and like beer, says Samuels, its texture, structure, and minerality are dependent on the water source-often a pure mountain spring. This Junmai Ginjo sake is aged for 3 years in tank at the Hakkaisan Yuki Muro building. Water that flows from the mountain is used to produce its sake.“Sake is built like a beer, but it drinks like a wine,” says Monica Samuels, director of sake and spirits at Vine Connections and a Sake Samurai, a title bestowed on experts by the Japan Sake Brewers Association. It has a fruity bouquet, elegant sweetness, and refreshing, bubbly mouthfeel.īrewery: Hakkaisan Brewery Co., LTD (founded:1922)įounded in 1922, Hakkaisan Brewery is situated at the foot of Mount Hakkai in Niigata. It's fine, beautiful bubbles are expressed when poured into a glass. The secret to these bubbles that burst in your mouth is "bottle conditioning." The additional fermentation within the bottle, naturally carbonates the sake. Tasting Notes: This clear, sparkling sake features fun and delicate bubbles. Can be enjoyed before meal, and lends itself to Japanese and Western foods, as well as dessert.
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