December 14, 2011
Haute Sake

Drink it with Asian cuisine, drink it with light European dishes—just don't drink it hot.
by Nick Passmore for Four Seasons Magazine, Issue Four 2011

"If you go to a restaurant and see 'Sake, hot or cold' and that's it, don't order. Have a beer."

This is the blunt advice of Rick Smith, founder of New York City's only premium sake shop, Sakaya, and it reflects the quality of the sake one too often encounters in Japanese restaurants outstide Japan. "It's the low-grade sake, what I refer to as hot jet fuel because it's served hot, and it's high in alcohol," continues Smith. This type of sake is mass-produced as cheaply as possible and is often jacked up by adding sugar, alcohol and sometimes even flavoring agents such as MSG. The Japanese call it, along with other non-premium sake, futsu-shu.

Artisanal sake, or jizake, which is made by small breweries in limited amounts, couldn't be more different. It conforms to the strict government quality standards of premium sake, which means it is produced by brewing just four ingredients: special highly milled sake rice, yeast, water and mold-infused rice called koji that converts rice starch into sugar. (The process is similar to that used in making beer, which is why the oft-heard moniker for sake, "rice wine," is inaccurate.)

Jizake sakes are subtle, refined and complex, comparable to a fine estate-produced wine, single-malt Scotch and, yes, a craft beer. Premium sake comes in a range of distinctive styles, the result of the sake brewmaster deftly combining a multitude of elements: the type of rice used, the degree to which it is polished, and the yeast strain used, the type of koji mold used, the source of the water, and the duration and temperature of the fermentation, to name the major ones. (The growth of artisanal sakes has led to speculation that style also reflects local terroir, as in wine, though this link is far from clear.)

Unlike wine, sake it not intended to be aged: It should be drunk young, while still fresh. Serve it at room temperature or slightly cooler, but not ice cold—that deadens the subtleties of flavor—and never boiling hot. Premium sakes work well with all Japanese food, other Asian dishes as long as they're not too spicy, and lighter European dishes.

A favorite is the Sato No Homare 'Pride of the Village.' From the oldest active brewery in Japan (founded in 1141) and marked by liquorice, mint and lemon sherbet flavors followed by an impossibly long finish.