Sake Guides
Articles on choosing, tasting, serving, and how sake is made. Currently available in Japanese.
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09Sake by Price Range: Choosing a 720ml Bottle for Any Budget
When you pick up a 720ml bottle of sake, it is hard to see where the price differences come from. A ¥1,200 bottle and a ¥4,000 bottle are not separated by "better" and "worse." They are aiming at different things. This article divides 720ml sake into four price bands and lays out, for each budget...
Buying #Beginner #Gift #price #buying #gift -
12How to Choose Sake as a Gift: A Guide to Japan's Gifting Traditions
When giving sake in Japan, the surest way to avoid second-guessing yourself is to settle two things first: who the gift is for, and what the occasion is. The very same bottle calls for different selection criteria (and different gift wrapping) depending on whether it marks a year-end thank-you or...
Buying #Beginner #Gift #Overseas #gift #buying -
30A Guide to Sparkling Sake: How the Bubbles Get There, and How to Choose
Sake that fizzes the moment you pour it is showing up more often at toasts and as gifts. But "sparkling sake" isn't one thing. There are three distinct ways to get the bubbles in, and each one changes how fine the fizz is, how sweet or dry the sake tastes, and how carefully you need to open the b...
Types #Soshu (light & crisp) #Beginner #Gift #sparkling -
31The World of Aged Sake (Koshu): Color, Aroma, and How to Enjoy It
Sake has its own world of long, patient aging: aged sake known as koshu, or jukusei-koshu ("long-matured sake"). As it ages, the color deepens toward amber and the aroma shifts toward caramel and dried fruit. It's a different kind of pleasure from the clear, fragrant ginjo aromas of young sake. T...
Types #Jukushu (aged) #Intermediate #Gift #aged #storage -
32What Is Kijoshu? A Rich, Sweet Sake Brewed with Sake Instead of Water
If you're hunting for a sweet sake, or scouting a candidate for an after-dinner pour or a gift, meet kijoshu (貴醸酒, "noble brewed sake"). It's a rich, sweet sake made by replacing part of the brewing water with sake itself. Expect a syrupy texture and a sweetness that calls to mind umeshu (plum li...
Types #Intermediate #Gift #kijoshu #sweetness dryness -
36A Guide to Sake Competitions: Kanpyokai, IWC, SAKE COMPETITION, and Kura Master
Have you ever looked at a "Gold Medal" sticker on a sake bottle and wondered exactly how impressive that is? Here's the short answer up front: a gold medal is a sign that a brewery's craftsmanship is excellent. It doesn't necessarily mean that particular bottle is the tastiest sake you'll ever dr...
Awards #Intermediate #Gift #awards -
37How to Read a "Gold Medal" Sake Label
It's tempting to reach for a bottle the moment you spot "Gold Medal" on the label. But which competition awarded it, in what year, and to which sake exactly? The label alone won't tell you. A "gold medal" doesn't mean the same thing from one competition to the next. Awards can be a useful clue wh...
Awards #Beginner #Gift #awards #label