SAKE: Japan’s Destined Beverage- Kelvin Rosario

This report you are about to read is all about sake. Now that I have taken beverage class here at Johnson and Wales University my eyes have open to a whole new out look on alcoholic beverages. Sake in particular has really caught my eye. While doing the reading on this project I cannot wait till the day that I try sake and I hope and know that I will enjoy it like the Japanese do. Now walk with me on the path of knowledge of sake, because it’s going to on great ride. It was for me.

When everyone thinks of sake they think it’s a Japanese drink. Well they aren’t far from the truth, even though sake is correct for the Japanese culture it was actually started in mainland China back in the 4800 BC. Now to this day sake is considered the national beverage which is pretty much a no brainier because sake was meant to be a Japanese beverage. The cultivation of sake of the main ingredient rice which is what sake is made of started more than 2,500 years ago. Now no one is sure how sake came to be made in this world at first. There seems to be two ways that it could have started one way was by accident and the other was that someone decided to do the chew and spit technique. Either way the sake of that day was a low alcohol thing. It was actually oatmeal looking gruel which people ate with chopstick like pincers. This was actually eaten for it nutritional value rather then to get drunk off. In AD 689 the Imperial palace made a brewing department which took sake from being a farmer’s drink into something that rulers would value greatly. After about a hundred years the Japanese with help from the Chinese made sake making more efficient. This came about by getting rid of the chew and spit technique and using a kind of mold to break down the rice. Soon after this it seems that sake came to be made for the pleasure of the Shinto gods. And just as beer goes sake was being made by the monks of temples and shrines. This was aside of the Imperial court. Now when it comes to Japanese made things everything has to be perfect, that also goes as well for the production of sake. During the next four hundred years to come sake was being perfected and was being made with methods still honored to this day. Around the 16th century sake makers started to take over the production of sake from the monks so that common people could enjoy the greatness of the sake. Before this it seems that sake was only being enjoyed by the upper or rich class. When this started this also started the making of many different types of sake. Every sake was different in the way that the effect came from the area it was made in, the type of food that was in the area, landscape, the climates, which area grew the best rice, and like beer which area had the best supply of water. Just like beer if the condition of water is bad the condition of the sake would be bad. Sake and beer have a lot of similarities but sake is probably a bit more difficult to make. The area difference made two areas the sake capitals for sake production. Kyoto and Kobe became the most popular areas. Just because these two areas were the best doesn’t mean that other areas in Japan didn’t make sake. To this day Japan as several sake breweries. When the year 1575 came around two things change the making of sake forever. The first was the polishing of the rice grain which got rid of all the impurities that gave sake an off-taste. This also made so that white rice was used instead of brown rice which was the rice used in that time. The second was the marriage of sake and food which brought sake into the social and cultural fold. In 1698 there were more than 27,000 sake breweries all over Japan. Sake became everything to Japan. Small local breweries made their sake to match the food in hat area. For example if a sake brewery was close to the ocean then it would make its sake to match up perfect with seafood. Adding distilled alcohol to help preserve sake, the invention of the waterwheel and fermentation tanks, also with the help of better transportation helped fuel the increase of sake production. Once the government saw how much sake was being produced they realized how much money they were not making and decided to make a liquor tax which banned home brewing. Just like the government to all ways make money off of the hard working. In the 1800s mass producers and small microbrewers became the industry of sake. Kobe and Kyoto became the major brewing centers that made sake for national purposes in Japan. Smaller breweries made sake for the regional markets which helped them create different flavors and styles for those regions. Also this was an affect of the water and rices of that region those breweries were in. Now depending on how hard or soft the water was in that area the quality of sake was either bigger in flavor or light in flavor. The difference in taste of sake made for a lot of loyalty in the local breweries, which is still very present today. The only ones to really drink outside sake are the young generations. It’s not disloyalty just a sense of curiosity (Timken 13-15).

In order to make sake three ingredients are needed and they are rice, water, and yeast. Depending on the quality of rice and water in the area grown u will either have great wine or not so great wine. As in wine making and beer making water is a vary important factor. If your water is terrible then your sake will be terrible. Now what is sake is it a wine like everyone calls it or is it a beer? It’s actually neither. Sake is in its own category. People call sake a wine because the characteristics of the sake are high in alcohol which can range from 15-20 percent by volume and as no carbonation. So it’s pretty easy to see how some people call sake a wine. Others call sake a beer because like a beer sake uses a grain which is rice while beer uses barley and some times a bit of rice. So it’s easy to know how people get sake confused with a beer. Sake is in a league of its own. So how do they get sake with rice and water? There are many steps to making sake. If you were to compare sake making with either beer or wine making you would have to say it’s a lot harder to make sake. All together there are nine steps to sake making. The nine steps are (in order) rice polishing, washing and soaking, steaming of the rice, koji production, the yeast starter, the mash, pressing, filtering, and then finally pasteurization. These steps are long and hard. Now lets discuss these steps one by one. Rice is brown no matter where you grow it. Even its kernel is brown. In order to get the right kind of rice for the best sake you must mill or polish the rice grain by 20 percent for cheap sake and 50 percent for expensive sake in order to get the right size needed. This all depends on the quality of sake u are shooting for. Now the rice is milled because all of the impurities that make the sake have an off taste are on the outside of the rice grain. Actually most of the nutrients are milled away as well with all impurities. Next the rice is washed to remove powder called nuka which is present on the rice grain when milling. Then after it is washed it is soaked in water to be ready to be steamed. Now when the rice is steamed it is put in a vat called a koshiki where steam is blasted directly on the rice so that it can evenly be steamed. Once the rice is steamed the rice is spread on a large piece of cloth in cool air. It can also be run through machine that breaks up any clumps and cools the rice faster. The next step is koji production or steamed white rice that has a mold on it called Aspergillus oryzae which releases enzymes. This enzyme helps break down starch molecules into smaller molecules which become sugars and then are processed with yeast cells. Now the yeast cells cant survive on it own because it can be overpowered by other bacteria. In order for the yeast to survive a small vat is made with a high concentration of yeast cells which is then mixed with more rice and water. Now the yeast is safe and will not be over powdered. Now a three step brewing comes into play with water, rice, and koji. This happens three times. Now once everything is added together its fermenting time. Fermentation can last from 18 to 32 days. Now at this point you do not want to ferment for to long because if u do then the sake will have off flavors to it. This fermentation is the reason why sake has a high alcohol level up to 20 percent or more. Now the next step is pressing. Now to press the sake separate from the mash of rice it is put in to a cotton bag which is put into a box called a fune. Then the lid to the fune is cranked down on to the cotton bag separating the sake form the mash. Once pressed the sake is left to sit for ten or more days so that all and any chemical reactions and sediments settle. Then the sake is filtered separating the sediments from the clean sake. Now the final step comes about. Most of the sake is pasteurized which is heated up to 150 degrees F. once cooled the sake is pumped into bottles on to a bottling for shipping(Gauntner 9-22).

Today Japan has 1,500 sake breweries. Of these 1,500 only 20 brew large amounts of sake year round. But Japan as many small brewers that produce small amounts of sake year round but of this small amount they produce some of the best sake Japan has to offer. I will be naming two brewers from Japan. These brewers are Tentaka Shuzo which make the Hawk in the Heavens brand and Asamai Shuzo or Am no to which make the Heaven’s Door brand. Both are vary know and well off. Lets start with Tentaka. A wholesaler named Motoichi Ozaki was on a trip to Kyoto and had a dream of a hawk soaring toward the heavens. Now the hawk is a powerful symbol for the Japanese. In 1914 Ozaki bought a sake brewery that was near bankruptcy. With the dream of the hawk fresh in his mind he decided to sell his sake under the name Tentaka or “Hawk in the Heavens”. Tentaka brewery can be found in the east end of Nasu, Nogahara in a town called Yuzukami. This brewery is surrounded by rice fields and mountains. The air and water is clean and fresh. This area is surrounded by three flowing rivers and has managed to avoid tourism. 80 percent of the sake is sold in Tochigi Prefecture. There sake is brewed with water from an underground stream that originates in the Yamino and Nasu mountain ranges. Tentaka is third generation owned. The sake brewed here is refreshing to drink with deliciousness and a bit of earthiness to it. Other sakes from Tentaka can be Silent Stream a Daiginjo sake. Both of these types of Tentaka sakes are sold in the U.S.A (esake).

Asamai brewery was stated in 1917 by a man named Soukou Kakizaki with a local friend. They began only 20,000 yen with each share of stock at 500 yen. They won four consecutive awards from 1930-1934 at national sake tasting competitions. In 1943 Asamai brewery stoped brewing do to war related reasons. They were granted a special permit a year later to begin brewing again. Asamai brewery uses Akita grown rice and Akita yeast AK-1 to brew their sake. They have won 5 straight gold prizes in the prestigious national new sake competitions. They are proud of their accomplishments, and intend to continue to strive to maintain high standards of quality. Their sake is crisp with an array of flavors. Some of their sakes are quiet and some are fruity and fragrant. Every sake produced by Asamai brewery has great rice, great water, and excellent yeast. Asamai brewery is located in Asamai Hiragacho with a population of 16,000 people. It is a farming region which mainly grows rice, watermelon, and apples. This region is beautiful bring more and more tourist every year. The regions water flows up in springs and has been famous since the Edo era. Other sake products by Asamai are Time of Reflection which is a Daiginjo. Both of these brands are sold in the U.S.A. (esake).

Sake can go great with Japanese entrees like grilled ginger beef, won-ton twist fries, rice cracker canapés, hard-boiled egg halves, mushroom sauté, eggplant with miso sauce, crab and kiwi salad, scallops and watercress, chicken hot-pot, and simmering tofu (Kondo 189-199). If you were having a clean and dry junmai sake then foods that would pair nice would be sushi, sashimi, grilled fish, tempura, and Chinese food. A daiginjo would go great with sashimi and marinated fish. If you were to have a semi-dry junmai sake it would go good with sushi, sashimi, tempura, yakitori and fried dishes. If you were going to have a nama draft sake foods like sashimi, fresh oyster, seafood salad, and shrimp cocktail would go great. Lastly if you wanted to have a nigori flavored sake you would pair it with grilled fish, spare ribs, Korean BBQ, and spicy foods (takara). Sake is a great drink and many of then can go great with anything. Something’s are left up for you to try and experiment.

Now that you have been through the world of sake it your turn to so and experience the great taste that await you. Once I’m able to get my hands on a good bottle of sake I will enjoy it with every interest in heart. I have learned a lot about sake with this project and can’t wait to one day explore the taste and excitement that waits. And hopefully one day on my journey as a future chef maybe ill go to Japan an experience fresh sake the way the Japanese do.