Sake

1. Grant C. Klover Culture & Cuisine: International Flavors 2012 Sake

2. Overview • Rationale • Objectives • History • Traditions • Hot or Cold • Ingredients • How to Make • Tools • Types /Taste • Objective Review • Bibliography

3. Rationale • A focused study of Sake and its history in Japan, its uses in everyday life and in religious ceremonies. • By learning about sake we will gain a better understanding of the history and traditions of the Japanese. • By looking at the importance of how to serve and taste sake students will gain a better understanding of the characteristics of modern day sake. • Students will taste sake and use provided information about the taste characteristics of sake to participate in a sake tasting.

4. Objectives • Gain a brief understanding of the history and importance of sake in Japan • Learn how sake is made • Learn different types and tastes of sake • Learn the traditional and modern ways to serve sake

5. History • Sake was first made at least 2,000 years ago • Origins traced back to when wet rice cultivation was introduced to Japan in 300 BCE • The earliest “polishing” was done by the whole village- chewing rice and nuts and spitting the kernels into a communal tub • This sake was called "kuchikami no sake," which is Japanese for "chewing the mouth sake"

6. History cont. • At first, sake was produced for private consumption • Sake was used for many different purposes in the Shinto religion • In the 1300s sake began to be mass produced • Japan's Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century introduced automation and machinery into the brewing process, making sake more readily available

7. Traditions • Sake has always been a drink of reverence, family, and friendship, consumed to mark important occasions • Tradition holds that a person must never pour their own sake • Instead, another person pours for you, and you do the same for them • Sake has been a major part of Japanese life for thousands of years, and its popularity is now increasing world wide

8. How to Serve: Cold • Sake on the rocks • Only well-balanced sake can survive this diluting • Chilled sake (between 40⁰ and 50⁰) • Called Reishu • Crisp, light, aromatic sakes best served this way as are unpasteurized sakes

9. How to Serve: Hot • Room Temperature Sake (Between 60⁰ and 70⁰) • Sakes with a lot of flavor, body, and astringency are best in this range • Cheaper (regular) sakes are intended to be served room temperature or heated • Warm and Hot Sake (85⁰ to 130⁰) • Japanese word for heated sake is kanzake, abbreviated as o-kan • Two ranges of warmed sake: nuru-kan and atsu-kan, the warm and the piping hot

10. Ingredients… • Good Rice = Good Sake • Short Grain Rice • Here in the U.S.A. this variety is often called "pearl" or "California pearl“ • Not expensive, and readily available in grocery stores that cater to ethnic foods • Cold Mountain Rice Koji • Difficult product to find • Koji is steamed rice that has had koji-kin or koji mold spores cultivated onto it • Without Koji, there is no sake

11. Ingredients… • Sake Yeast • Very different from wine yeast and bread yeast • Special Yeast Strains • there are two which stand out as being currently the most popular with modern sake producers • Sake #7 • the most commonly used strain in Japan • Sake #9 • popular with producers of ginjo grade sakes

12. Ingredients… • Salt • Epsom salt is preferred, but Morton salt can be used as a substitute • an optional ingredient, but it's one of those ingredients that can make the difference between "really good" sake and "great" sake • Water • “Even in the tiniest amount, iron can really wreck a sake by darkening the color and damaging the aroma in a very short period of time” • You can use distilled water instead to avoid this

13. Equipment for the Home Brew • Fermenter • BTF Iodophor Sanitizer • A large steamer • sake rice needs to be steamed • A racking cane and hose • Airlocks and one-hole stoppers • Glass jugs of one-gallon capacity • A means to control fermentation temperature

14. How to Make Video’s • How to make sake at home part 1 • How to make sake at home part 2 • Professional Sake making • Making and Tasting Sake

15. How to use Tasting Chart

16. JUNMAI • Rice only • No adding of distilled alcohol • In the past, at least 30% of the rice kernel had to be ground away during the brewing process to qualify as a Junmai. • Today the laws have changed, and Junmai can now be milled at any percentage, as long as the number is listed somewhere on the label.  

17. Junmai Tasting Notes: • Generally a bit heavier and fuller in flavor than other types of sake, with slightly higher acidity; goes well with a wide range of food • The nose is often not as prominent as other types of sake, nor are other parameters dependent on whether a sake is a junmai or no

18. HONJOZO • A bit of distilled alcohol is added • Generally lighter than Junmai, and often very nice at room temperature or warmed • At least 30% of rice kernel is ground away during brewing process.  

19. Honjozo Tasting Notes: • The flavor is lighter, and magically the fragrance becomes much more prominent. • Honjozo often makes a good candidate for warm sake.

20. GINJO • Highly milled rice • With or without added alcohol • At least 40% of rice kernel is ground away during brewing process. • Called JunmaiGinjo when no alcohol is added. 

21. Ginjo Tasting Notes: • The taste is layered and complex, light and fragrant

22. DAIGINJO • Highest milled rice • Like Ginjo can be made with or without added alcohol • At least 50% of rice kernel is ground away during the brewing process. • Called JunmaiDaiginjo when no alcohol is added.

23. Daiginjo Tasting Notes: • the taste is even lighter and more fragrant and fruity than Ginjo sake.

24. Junmai-Ginjo • This process strictly prohibits the use of any additives, and up to 60% of the rice is refined, compared with only 27% in normal Sake making. In other words, the desired taste and aroma of Junmai-Ginjo must be achieved solely by a delicate balancing of rice, water and malt in a natural fermentation process.

25. Name and Type Notes • Some Ginjo and Daiginjo are also Junmai (i.e., a JunmaiGinjo is a Ginjo with no added alcohol). If a Ginjo or Daiginjo is not labeled Junmai, then the added alcohol is limited to the same small amounts as Honjozo.   •  Although each "type" has a general flavor profile, there is much overlap in taste elements. Very often one cannot tell which type one is drinking, and therefore these "types" should only be considered as generalized guidelines of quality.  

26. Objectives review • A better understanding of the history and importance of sake in Japan • Learned how sake is made and how to make it yourself at home • Tasted different types of sake and know how to talk about the taste of sake • Know the different ways that sake is served and why

27. The End

28. Bibliography • Harper, Philip, and Haruo Matsuzaki. The Book of Sake: A Connoisseur's Guide. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2006. Print. • "The History of Sake." Asian Art Mall. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://www.asianartmall.com/historyofsake.htm>. • "How to Make Sake at Home - a Taylor-Made Guide." Taylor-MadeAK - Brewing Sake. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://www.taylor-madeak.org/index.php/2008/02/29/how-to-make-sake-at-home-a-taylor-made-g>. • "Introduction." Sake.com. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://www.sake.com/introduction.html>.

29. Bibliography cont. • "Sake - Types and Grades of Japanese Sake, Nihonshu, Rice Wine." ESake - Premium Japanese Sake (Rice Wine, Nihonshu) Online. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://esake.com/Store/grades-chart.html>. • "Sake - Types of Japanese Rice Wine." ESake - Premium Japanese Sake (Rice Wine, Nihonshu) Online. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://www.esake.com/Knowledge/Types/types.html>. • "Sake." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sake>. • "Sake World - Types of Sake." Sake World Homepage - John Gauntner. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://www.sake-world.com/html/types-of-sake.html>.