Sake




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All You Ever Wanted to Know About Sake

[The following is an edited version of an Associated Press
article written by Kelly Dinardo. It appeared on 1/6/09]

For years most Americans knew sake - if they knew it at all - as a hot, jet fuel-like drink sipped from thimble-sized cups between bites of sushi. Turns out we were swallowing schlock.

"There wasn't a lot of selection and what did come to us was an inferior brew," says Ed Lehrman, a wine and sake importer and founder of Vine Connections. "Distribution of sake was limited to Japanese trading companies. They sold the food, the plates, and the sake to sushi restaurants. Sake wasn't getting its due; the majority was table sake, which isn't very good."

But about 10 years ago two things changed that. In the U.S., Asian food trends boomed. Asian and Asian-fusion restaurants flourished, non-Asian restaurants served dishes with ingredients such as miso, wasabi and edamame, and grocers offered more ethnic fare. At the same time, the Japanese began turning away from sake. Young drinkers view sake as old fashioned and favor beer and wine instead. As a result, sake consumption in Japan has fallen sharply since 1995.

To survive, premium sake (pronounced SAH-kay) brewers in Japan turned to Americans and began working with importers who introduced sake to the fine wine market. "Non-Japanese companies started importing sake and doing dog-and-pony shows to educate people about it," says Beau Timken, author of Sake: A Modern Guide. Educators and restaurateurs got interested, explained Timkin. "Sake started getting more face time."

American's thirst for sake exploded. The U.S. has become the largest importer of Japanese sake worldwide. During the past five years, the volume of sake brought from Japan has grown about 14 percent a year (987,475 gallons in 2007 and estimated at more than 1 million gallons for 2008) with an estimated total retail value around $150 million.

Now some restaurants even have a sake sommelier on staff, and it's increasingly common to find sake on the wine lists of non-Asian eateries. Drinking sake at home also has become easier as premium sakes show up at more wine shops. Single-serve, sake drinks such as sake2me, a lightly carbonated sake that comes in Asian-themed flavors such as yuzu and ginger mango, are on the upswing.

Despite the increased consumption, most people still know little about it. Though often called rice wine, sake is brewed like a beer. "Sake is built like beer and drinks like wine," explains Timken. Like beer, sake is fermented from a grain - in this case rice - whereas wine is made from fruit. Brewers polish the grains of sake rice to remove the outer coating. How much of the outer layer is milled away is part of what determines the sake's grade; the more of the outer layer that is removed, the more refined but more expensive the sake. Brewers then steam the rice and add yeast so it will ferment. Aging, filtering, and pasteurizing the sake completes the process.

Another common misconception is serving temperature," says Timothy Sullivan, who runs the UrbanSake blog and teaches a Sake 101 class. "Some people think it must always be served cold. Others think it must be served hot. The truth is it depends on your mood and what kind of sake you're drinking." Heating is often used to mask lower quality sakes, but some do blossom with a little warmth. For the most part high-quality sakes are best consumed cold and out of wine glasses.

And as many French, American, and other non-Asian restaurants have demonstrated, sake isn't just for Asian food. In general, delicate sakes -- those that have more of the outer layer milled away -- pair better with lighter food so the sake is not overwhelmed by the meal. More robust sakes can stand up to heartier flavors. "Part of sake's appeal is that there's no snob factor," says Timken. "Don't be afraid to experiment, taste lots of different types, and ask questions. That's how you learn. I'm just a guy from Ohio. If I can learn to understand sake, anyone can."