Sake, often referred to as rice wine in English, is a uniquely Japanese alcoholic beverage whose history goes back over 2,000 years. While not well known throughout the world for much of its existence, sake has seen an international boom in recent years with exports from Japan growing to over 36 million liters per year in 2022.

There’s no better time than now to learn more about sake, whether you’d like to purchase a bottle from your local liquor store or head to one of Japan’s many sake breweries to taste it at the source.

Learn more about sake, how it’s made and where to try it below.

What is Sake?

Sake is an alcoholic beverage made with rice, koji mold, yeast and water. Most sake is clear and tends to have a strength similar to wine (up to a maximum abv of 22%). Depending on the type of sake, flavors can vary wildly from clean and dry to fruity and sweet with hints of apple, banana or lychee.

In Japanese, there are two words for sake, seishu (清酒), referring to all sake; and nihonshu (日本酒), referring only to sake brewed in Japan with rice grown in Japan. In conversation, the latter is much more common.

How Sake is Made

Sake’s history is believed to go back as far as the late Jomon and Yayoi periods of Japan when rice cultivation took hold in the country. It was originally a drink prepared for the gods, and miko shrine maidens would chew on grains of rice to release their sugars before spitting them into a clay pot to naturally ferment into a cloudy and potent beverage. The sake-making process was refined over the centuries, crystalizing into the one we see today sometime in the Edo Period.

Like beer brewing, sake-making requires a two-step process to produce alcohol. First, the starch in the rice has to be converted into sugar. Then, the sugar is metabolized by yeast into alcohol. However, unlike beer brewing, which separates these steps, sake-making does them in parallel. Aptly, this process is referred to as parallel fermentation.

The Sake-Making Process

Rice Polishing

First, rice is polished to remove proteins that may cause off flavors, leaving behind as much starch as possible. Lightly polished rice grains are usually used in lower grade sake, and highly polished rice grains tend to be used in high grade sake like Ginjō and Daiginjō varieties.

Washing, Steeping and Steaming

The polished rice is then washed, steeped in water and then steamed. This makes the grains softer and more easily accessible for the koji mold in the next step.

Cultivating the Koji Mold

Cooled rice is placed in the kojimuro, a room that is heated and humidified to promote the growth of koji mold. The rice is laced with mold spores and left to rest for several days as the koji grows.

Making the Starter

Rice, water, yeast and koji mold are added together to produce the starter. The yeast population grows as it feeds on sugars produced by the koji mold. It takes about 10 days to 2 weeks to finished preparing the starter.

Fermenting the Mash (Parallel Fermentation)

Once the starter has stabilized, it is moved to a large fermentation tank and over the course of four days, three batches of rice, koji and water are added to the tank. The mash ferments over the course of 3 to 4 weeks.

Pressing, Pasteurization and Filtering

After the sake has finished fermenting, the sake is pressed to separate the liquid from the lees. Then, it is pasteurized and filtered. It may be aged for up to six months before being pasteurized a second time and then bottled.

Types of Sake

Sake can be largely split up into one of six varieties, determined by the rice polishing rate and whether or not it is fortified with alcohol.

The more polished the rice, generally the higher grade the resulting sake. Rice is polished to remove proteins and other compounds besides the starch. The rice polishing rate, in Japanese seimeibuai (精米歩合), refers to the amount of the original grain that remains after polishing. The lower the percentage, the more the rice has been polished.

A distilled spirit may be added to sake shortly before pressing to produce a clearer and drier beverage or promote a specific flavor profile. If the distilled spirit added exceeds 10% of total volume, the sake must be labeled as futsūshu (普通酒).

There are a few other types of sake that differ slightly in the sake-making process, such as nama-zake (生酒), which is not pasteurized, or genshu (原酒), which is not diluted with water before bottling. You may also find fukurotsuri (袋吊り) or shizukuzake (雫酒), sake that has been separated from the lees using a traditional straining technique of hanging the mash in bags above a collection tray.

Flavor Profiles

Like grape wines, sake can be dry, sweet, light or full-bodied. These are generally measured with the Sake Meter Value (SMV) and acidity. Dry and light sake are known as tanrei karakuchi while sweet and full-bodied sake are known as nojun amakuchi. While this system doesn’t reveal any specific tasting notes, it is a good starting point for finding the right sake for the occasion.

Where to try Sake in Nagano

There are plenty of places to try sake around Nagano. You can visit one of the prefecture’s many sake breweries and taste sake at the source, or you can enjoy sake with a meal at a traditional restaurant or Japanese izakaya pub. There are also bars that specialize in sake and offer a wide selection of brands from around Japan.

For sake brewery hopping, there’s no better place to visit than the five Gokura breweries of Suwa, all within walking distance of Kami-Suwa Station. And if you’d like to try a wide range of local sake, you can visit Shinshu Kuraudo in Nagano Station or the Matsumoto Sake Pub not far from Matsumoto Castle.

And if you’d like to get a firsthand experience of the sake-making process, you can head to Kurabito Stay for a special 3-day 2-night sake-making program at Kitsukura Brewery in Saku City.

Conclusion

Despite its simple ingredients, sake offers an endless array of flavor, mouthfeel and aroma. It can be difficult to start your sake journey when there are so many options to choose from, but hopefully this guide points you in the right direction on where to begin. On your next trip to Nagano, be sure to stop by a pub or one of its many sake breweries for a taste of this delicious and unique beverage.