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HISTORY
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The history of sake can be
traced back to the
3rd century in Japan.
The first sake was called kuchikami no sake, 口噛み酒 or
"chewing-in-the-mouth sake", and was made by an entire
village chewing rice,
chestnuts, and
millet and spitting the
mixture into a tub, allowing it to mold.
Then the moldy mixture was combined
with freshly cooked grain and allowed to
ferment. The resulting
fermentation produced a much stronger alcohol content than simple
fermentation, as higher levels of starch digesting enzymes in the mould
allowed more sugars to be available to the yeast
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.
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MAKING SAKE |
SAKE BARRELS |
SAKE POUR |
Centuries later, chewing was
rendered unnecessary by the discovery of
koji 麹, a
yeast whose enzymes
convert the starch in the rice to sugar.
This development greatly increased
the sake's alcohol content.
World War II also
altered the recipe, when rice shortages forced brewers to develop new ways to
increase their yields.
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, though connoisseurs say that the best sake is still made with just
rice,
koji, and water.
There are four basic types of sake,
created by slightly varying the brewing method.
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junmai-shu, 純米酒, literally
"pure rice wine" made from rice only, with no alcohol added
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honjozo-shu, with a slight
amount of distilled alcohol added
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ginjo-shu, 吟醸酒, from
highly milled rice; alcohol may or may not be added
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daiginjo-shu, 大吟醸酒, from
even more highly milled rice; again alcohol may or may not be added
Sake that has not been
pasteurized is referred
to as namazake or kizake, 生酒, and may be made with any of
the above methods.
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In Japan sake is served cold,
warm or hot, depending on the preference of the drinker, the quality of the
sake and the season. Typically, hot sake is consumed in winter and cold sake
is consumed in summer.
It is said that the alcohol in warm or hot sake is
absorbed by the body more quickly, so drinking sake warm was popular during
and after
WWII to mask the
roughness of the flavor due to difficulty of obtaining ingredients. Sake is
one of the few alcoholic beverages that is regularly consumed hot.
The most common way to serve
sake in the
United States is to
heat it to body temperature (100°F/40°C), but professional sake tasters prefer
room temperature, and chilled sake (50°F/10°C) is growing in popularity.
Sake
is often drunk as part of
Shinto purification
rituals (compare with the use of red
wine in the
Christian
Eucharist). During
World War II,
Kamikaze pilots drank
sake prior to carrying out their missions. Today barrels of sake are broken
open during Shinto festivals and ceremonies or following sports victories.
These sake are served freely to all to spread good fortunes and called
iwai-zake, literally "celebration sake". Sake is also served during the
light meal eaten during some
tea ceremonies.
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