Japan Navigator

The Japan Times writes about a new trend in the sake world, organic sake.

Sake has been reinventing itself in many ways these last years so there is a lot of excellent sake on the market.

The main thing to watch out for when buying sake is that you don’t buy the ordinary sake (“futsushu”) with added alcohol – the stuff sold in supermarkets in carton packs. Do yourself the favor of buying a premium sake, preferably a “Junmai” which contains no added alcohol and is 100% natural. So always look at the list of ingredients. If it only says “rice, koji” it is a premium sake. When it also lists “brewer’s alcohol” see if there is a “rice polishing ratio” on the bottle. If that is 70% or lower it is still a premium sake, but with just a bit of extra alcohol to make the taste lighter. If there is no rice polishing ratio, it is bulk sake with lots of added alcohol to increase volume. If it also lists “sugar” as ingredient, please forget about it. There is enough better stuff, although even the cheapest sake from Japan never contains chemicals or preservatives – and of course there are no sulfites either.

As organic is expensive, it usually will be a premium sake and not the bulk type. But just as with organic wine, only small quantities are being brewed so far.

Some other interesting types of sake are: “Ginjo” or “Daiginjo,” the sake with the lowest rice polishing ratio making it very aromatic and fruity (”low” means that most of the rice has been polished away and only pure starch is left for brewing); “Genshu,” the undiluted, unfiltered and often also unpasteurized sake – just as it comes out of the press in the brewery, with a higher alcohol content than usual; this is excellent on the rocks and with its firework of tastes it makes a great summer drink; “Koshu,” sake that has been ripened for many years and which tastes (and looks) like brandy, a good late evening drink; “Kijoshu,” the sweet after-dinner sake that fits marvelously with a chocolate dessert; “Nigori,” the somewhat sweetish sake that still has some rice particles left after only a rough pressing, so it looks like milk – popular in the U.S.; and “Kimoto” or “Yamahai” sake, which thanks to the use of a traditional and time-consuming way of cultivating the yeast has a very full body.

Enjoy!