Welcome to sakeguide.net
Kijoushu is a luxuriously sweet and complex sake. It was (re-)discovered in the 1970s to create an all-Japanese alternative to prestigious sweet wines like Sauternes, but the original recipe is much older.
While the analogy “what grapes are to wine, rice is to sake” isn’t quite true, rice is naturally still a very important element of sake production and has an influence on the character of the final product. In this article, we will talk a bit about rice farming and have a look at some of the most popular rice varieties used for sake brewing.
Large amounts of water are used at almost every step of the brewing process (ca. 30 times the volume of the finished product) and roughly 80% of a bottle of sake is H₂O. So it goes without saying that water quality plays an important role in defining the quality and character of a sake.
One thing you might want to know when picking a bottle of sake is ‘will this be sweet or dry-tasting?’ The different grades of premium sake (like Junmai or Ginjo) tell you what to expect in terms of aroma and umami, but brewers are free to decide for themselves how much sweetness they want their sake to have. So how can you tell?
Mention Bratislava and most people think of winding streets and pretty houses with colourful facades. But if you like sake, your next visit to the city should also include Matsu, a stylish and cozy café offering not only excellent coffee and matcha drinks but also a well-picked selection of sake to enjoy there or to take home.
Deciphering sake labels can be difficult, all the more so if you don’t know any Japanese (and even then, the artistic calligraphy can complicate things). Luckily, many importers will add their own back label to the sake they sell. But if you have bottle without such information, this article will help you out.
