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Sake (Japanese: 酒; pronounced ) is a Japanese word meaning "alcoholic beverage", which in English has come to refer to a specific alcoholic beverage brewed mainly from rice, and known in Japan as nihonshu (日本酒 "Japanese alcohol"). This article uses the word "sake" as it is used in English. Sake is widely referred to in English as "rice wine". However, this designation is not accurate. The production of alcoholic beverages by multiple fermentation is more characteristic of beer than wine. Also, there are other beverages known as "rice wine" that are significantly different from nihonshu.
Other beverages The word "sake" can also refer to different beverages in different regions of Japan. In Southern Kyūshū, sake usually refers to a distilled beverage, potato shochu (imo-jochu 芋焼酎). Shōchu is a distilled spirit made with koji (麹 or 糀), Aspergillus kawachii. In Okinawa, sake refers either to shōchu made from sugar cane, or awamori (泡盛, literally "bubble top"), or kūsū (literally "old drink"). These latter forms of sake are distilled from long-grain rice and black koji (kurokōji 黒麹), Aspergillus awamori. History The history of sake is not well documented and there are multiple theories on how it was discovered. One theory suggests that the brewing of rice first started in China, along the Yangtze River around 4800 BC and was subsequently exported to Japan. Another theory traces sake brewing back to 3rd century Japan with the advent of wet rice cultivation. The combination of water and rice lying around together would have resulted in molds and fermentation. Regardless, the first sake was called kuchikami no sake, (口噛みの酒) or "chewing-in-the-mouth sake," and was made by people chewing rice, chestnuts, millet, acorn and spitting the mixture into a tub. The enzymes from the saliva allowed the starches to saccharify (convert to sugar). Then this sweet mixture was combined with freshly cooked grain and allowed to naturally ferment. This early form of sake was likely low in alcohol and consumed like porridge. This method was used also by American Natives; see cauim, and pulque. Chinese millet wine, (小米酒), made the same way, is mentioned in inscriptions from the 14th century BC as being offered to the gods in religious rituals. Later, from approximately the 8th century BC, rice wine, (米酒) with a formula almost exactly like that of the later Japanese sake, became popular in China. Centuries later, chewing was rendered unnecessary by the discovery of koji-kin (麹菌 Aspergillus oryzae), a mold whose enzymes convert the starch in the rice to sugar, which is also used to make amazake, miso, and soy sauce. Rice inoculated with koji-kin is called "kome-koji" (米麹), or malt rice. A yeast mash, or shubo (酒母), is then added to convert the sugars to ethanol. This development can greatly increase sake's alcohol content (18%-25% by vol.); as starch is converted to sugar by koji, sugars are converted to alcohol by yeast in one instantaneous process. Koji-kin was discovered most likely by accident. Koji spores and yeast floating in the air would land in a soupy rice-water mixture left outside. The resulting fermentation would create a sake porridge not unlike the kuchikami no sake but without the hassle of needing a whole village to chew the rice. This porridge was probably not the best tasting but the intoxication was enough to keep people interested in making it. Some of this mash would be kept as a starter for the next batch. Experimentation and techniques from China sometime in the 7th century AD gave rise to higher quality sake. Sake eventually became popular enough for a brewing organization to be established at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, the then capital of Japan. This resulted in full time sake brewers, and these craftsmen paved the way for many more developments in technique. It was during the Heian Era (794-1185), that the development of the three step addition in the brewing process was developed (a technique to increase alcohol content and reduce chance of souring). For the next 500 years the quality and techniques used in brewing sake steadily improved. The use of a starter mash or "moto" where the goal is to cultivate the maximum amount of yeast cells possible before brewing came into use. Brewers were also able to isolate Koji for the first time, and thus were able to control with some consistency the saccharification (converting starch to sugar) of the rice. Through observation and trial and error, a form of pasteurization was also developed. Batches of sake that began to turn sour due to bacteria during the summer months were poured out of their barrels into tanks and heated. However, the resulting pasteurized sake would then be returned to the bacteria infected barrels. Hence the sake would become more sour and, by the time fall came around, the sake would be unpalatable. The reasons why pasteurization worked and how to better store sake would not be understood until Louis Pasteur discovered it some 500 years later. During the Meiji Restoration, laws were written that allowed anybody with the money and know-how to construct and operate their own sake breweries. Around 30,000 breweries sprang up all around the country within a year. However, as the years went by the government levied more and more taxes on the sake industry and slowly the number of breweries dwindled to 8,000. Most of the breweries that grew and survived this period of time were set up by wealthy land owners. Land owners who grew rice crops would have rice left over at the end of the season and, rather than letting this stash of rice go to waste, would ship it to their breweries. The most successful of these family breweries still operate today. During the 20th century, sake-brewing technology grew by leaps and bounds. The government opened the sake-brewing research institute in 1904, and in 1907 the very first government-run sake tasting/competition was held. Yeast strains specifically selected for their brewing properties were isolated and enamel-coated steel tanks arrived. The government started hailing the use of enamel tanks as easy to clean, lasting forever, and being devoid of bacterial problems (the government considered wooden barrels to be "unhygienic" because of the potential bacteria living inside the wood). Although these things are true, the government also wanted more tax money from breweries as the wood in wooden barrels sucks up a significant amount of sake ( somewhere around 3% ) that could have otherwise been taxed. This was the end of the wooden-barrel age of sake and the use of wooden barrels in brewing was completely eliminated. During the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-1905, the government banned the home brewing of sake. The reason being that, at the time, sake made up an astonishing 30% of Japan's tax revenue. Since home brewed sake is tax-free sake, the logic was that by banning the home brewing of sake, sales would go up, hence more tax money would be collected. This was the end of "doburoku" (homebrewed) sake, and this law still remains in effect today despite the fact that sake sales make up only 2% of the government income. When World War II erupted, the sake-brewing industry was dealt a hefty blow as the government clamped down on the use of rice for brewing. Most of the rice grown during this time was used for the war effort, and this, in conjunction with many other problems, was the doom for thousands of breweries all over Japan. Previously, it had been discovered that small amounts of alcohol could be added to sake to improve aroma and texture. But by government decree, pure alcohol and glucose were added to small quantities of rice mash, increasing the yield by as much as four times. 95% of today's sake is made using this technique, left over from the war years. There were even a few breweries that were able to produce "sake" that contained no rice at all. Naturally, the quality of sake during this time suffered greatly. After the war, breweries slowly began to recover, and the quality of sake gradually went up. However, new players on the scene: beer, wine, and spirits, became very popular in Japan, and in the 1960s beer consumption surpassed sake for the first time. Sake consumption continued to go down, but in contrast, the quality of sake steadily improved. Today, the quality of sake is at the highest it has ever been, and sake has become a world beverage with a few breweries springing up in China, Southeast Asia, South America, America and Australia. More breweries are also turning back to older methods of production. While the rest of the world may be drinking more sake and the quality of sake has been increasing, it is not clear sailing for the sake industry. In Japan, the sale of sake is still declining and it is uncertain if the exportation of sake to other countries can save Japanese breweries. There are currently around 1,500 breweries in Japan right now, whereas there were about 2,500 in 1988. Brewing
Types of brewing process By varying the brewing process, many different types of sake can be created. Categorized by brewing method, there are several types of Sake: By creating a starter-culture of micro-organisms, a higher-quality brew is possible. The starter-culture, called "moto" (酛) is stored at 5-10°C, allowing the lactic acid micro-organisms to become dominant in the culture. Lactic acid is important to flavor and preventing un-wanted infections. Subsequently, the rice, kōji, and water is added at three separate stages. The mixture is called moromi (醪 or 諸味), and grows the mass by three additions. Initiating a brew with a starter-culture, the subsequent batches to moromi also increase the alcohol levels slightly. Varieties
Serving sake In Japan sake is served cold, warm or hot, depending on the preference of the drinker, the quality of the sake and the season. Sake is one of the few alcoholic beverages that is regularly consumed hot. Typically, hot sake is consumed in winter and cold sake is consumed in summer. As heating serves to mask the undesirable flavors of lower-quality sake, it is said that the practice became popular during World War II to mask the rough flavor of low-quality sake resulting from scarcity of quality ingredients. The most common way to serve sake in the United States is to heat it to body temperature (37°C/98.6°F), but professional sake tasters prefer room temperature (20°C/68°F), and chilled sake (10°C/50°F) is growing in popularity. Sake is served in shallow cups, called choko. Usually sake is poured into the choko from ceramic flasks called tokkuri. Other, more ceremonial cups, used most commonly at weddings and other special occasions, are called sakazuki. The influx of premium sakes has inspired Riedel, the Austrian wine glass company, to create a footed glass specifically for premium sakes such as Ginjo and Daiginjo. Drinking from someone else's sake cup is considered a sign of friendship, or to honour someone of lower status. Another item used by some traditional sake drinkers is a box, called masu, traditionally made of Japanese Cypress. In some of the more traditional Japanese restaurants, as a show of generosity, the server may put a glass inside the masu (or put the masu inside a saucer) and pour until a large amount of sake overflows and fills this secondary container. Aside from being served straight, sake can also be used as a mixer for cocktails, such as the traditional Japanese tamagozake or the modern American drink sake bomb. Storage In general, it is good to keep sake refrigerated in a cool or dark room as prolonged exposure to heat or direct light will spoil the sake. Sake is best consumed within a few months after purchase, if it is stored in the temperature of a room. After opening the bottle of sake, it is best consumed within 2 or 3 hours. It is possible to store in the refrigerator, but it is best recommended to finish the sake within 2 days. This is because once premium sake is opened, it begins to oxidize and will noticeably impact the taste. If the sake is kept in the refrigerator for more than 3 days, it is best to use it to prepare or cook food. In the case of daiginjo-shu, there are aged sakes like as wines, that should be stored in the low temperature. It is said that the best aging years are 3, 4 or 5. The taste becomes smooth even if the aging is only a half of year. As most of ginjo-shu are made in spring, a half year aged sakes are called "achieving aki-agari (autumn growth)". When the aging is more than ten years, the taste and smell becomes a little bit like as sherry, and the color becomes light brown. There are also vintage sakes, however they are not sold in ordinary market. Ritual uses
See also Further reading Water from Heaven(2003). General information. | ||||||||||||||
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