What is sake: the truth about traditional Japanese drinking that you didn’t expect to hear (7 photos)

Author: Great Mute

01 August 2021 12:25

Community: Facts

Tags: Japan sake facts what is it  

15472

7

What do we know about sake? Usually everyone is limited to two facts: this is a traditional Japanese alcohol and it is made from rice. Most of the other information that we are used to hearing about this drink is not true and belongs to the realm of legends or tales. What we will tell you about sake is much more surprising than popular speculation, and you definitely did not expect this from a Japanese alcoholic drink.

0

See all photos in the gallery

We need to start with the fact that we are mistaken in calling alcohol obtained from rice sake. This word in Japanese means any alcoholic drink, regardless of its origin. Residents of the Land of the Rising Sun call the rice drink “nihonshu”. If you see this word somewhere on the menu, you can be sure that this establishment knows a lot about drinking.

0

Another common mistake we make is calling this product rice vodka. This definition casts a shadow on all Japanese drinkers, since the strength of Nihonshu is only 15 degrees. In addition, the technology for producing alcoholic beverages has nothing in common with vodka. By the way, sake (as we will continue to call nihonshu so as not to be confused) is also not wine by nature. So what is it?

×

sake

Despite the popularity of traditional Japanese restaurants in Perm and Russia, not every roll fan has tried sake.
Although it is a popular alcoholic drink from the land of the rising sun, it has not become widespread in Asian food cafes or on store shelves here. Sake is made from rice and rice malt through fermentation. The drink is called “rice vodka”, sometimes “rice wine”, although by European standards it cannot be classified as a specific group of alcohol, since the method of preparation is different. The alcohol content in Japanese sake is 15-18%. Just like wine, it is divided into sweet and dry. A good quality drink has tart notes of fruit, mushrooms, soy sauce and cheese.

Serve chilled or warmed in small portions, poured into traditional Japanese cups designed for two to three sips.

Low alcohol

The most popular low-alcohol drink is beer (4-5.5%). Here the Japanese are in solidarity with the rest of the world. Famous brands:

• “Asahi” (the most “massive”);
• “Suntory” (“premium”, with a rich aroma);
• “Sapporo” (with unusual bitterness);
• Kirin (typical lager);

Important! In Japan, only drinks with a malt content of 67% or more are called beer. If there is less alcohol, the alcohol is called “second beer” (“happoshu”), and when there is none at all, it is called “third beer.”

Asahi is a mass Japanese brand that produces not only beer, but also soft drinks.

Ladies in Japan prefer shu-hai - light fruity alcohol (5-8%). The flavor palette is very wide, the most popular are any citrus fruits, pear, peach, pineapple.

Traditional Japanese wine is plum wine (ume-shu). The taste is very soft and pleasant. The alcohol is almost not felt, the drink is more like juice. It is aromatic and sweet, but without being cloying. Apricot, raspberry, and blackcurrant wines are also popular. The best brands are Takara Shuzo, Gekeikan, Toya, Fu Ki.

Important! A gifted bottle of fruit wine in Japan is a wish for health and longevity.

Portuguese Franciscan monks introduced grape wine to Japan. The climate there for grapes, to put it mildly, is unsuitable, but over four centuries, several worthy brands have appeared, the products of which are supplied outside the country:

• L'Orient Sakura No Wine Shirayuri
• Choya Silver
• Magrez-Aruga.

Green tea

The Japanese simply call green tea tea, because this drink has long become traditional. They drink it in the morning, during breaks between work, to cheer up, or on vacation to relieve stress.

Grown on local plantations in the south of the island. Among the popular varieties:

• Sencha - classic loose leaf tea;
• gyokuro (pearl dew) - an expensive variety characterized by sweetness and high caffeine content;
• matcha (matcha) - powdered tea used in classical Japanese tea ceremonies, also added to ice cream, desserts, noodles; over the past couple of years it has become popular in tea and coffee shops in Perm, where you can try “matcha latte” and other drinks.

Japanese culture

The Japanese are very hardworking people. And like all normal people, after a working day they need to somehow relax. Their national tea helps them in this, over a cup of which they relax and have intimate conversations.

Geishas often help lead the tea ceremony. In Europe, there was a certain stereotype that geishas were Japanese courtesans. But this is far from true, because geishas sell only pleasures for the soul, not the body. In Japanese, "geisha" means "person of art." From an early age they are taught to sing, play musical instruments, painting, calligraphy and a host of other useful things. Adult geisha are comprehensively developed people and can support any male conversation.

Thus, a geisha is a holiday woman, a combination of beauty and intelligence, attractiveness and femininity, including sexuality. The Japanese also love to compose haiku and admire sakura. Without the latter, it is generally impossible to imagine Japan.

Beer

The Japanese are fans of the traditional foamy drink that came to them from European countries. Beer brewing in Japan has not undergone much change. Corporations produce products for supermarkets, and local brews from Japanese craft brewers can be sampled in beer bars and local stores.

Some Japanese, especially fond of experimenting, still create atypical types of beer, for example:

• colored beer;
• “All-Free” - without sugar, calories, alcohol and carbohydrates, tastes like the real thing;
• dairy - from a mixture of milk and beer;
• sweets - non-alcoholic for children, alcoholic for adults in the form of drinks, candies and other sweets;
• for dogs;
• with tomato and melon goya flavors.

By the way, alcohol can be sold in Japan from the age of 20.

Strong alcohol

It seems strange, but Japan has excellent whiskey production. The Americans, who essentially controlled the country after World War II, played a major role in the popularization of the drink. The Japanese simply adapted its name to suit their own language - “uisuki”.

The quality is more than good, Japanese brands even receive awards at international exhibitions. A bottle of Yamazaki Suntory, Shirasu, The Hakushu or Hibiki is a great souvenir and simply a work of art.

Japanese whiskey has received recognition from foreign experts.

Historical reference

The exact origin of shochu has not been established. Perhaps the base for it was the eastern arrack, a distillate from a variety of fruits. Be that as it may, shochu appeared in Japan at least around the middle of the 16th century, and possibly earlier. Missionary Francis Xavier wrote in 1549: “The Japanese drink rice arrack <...> however, I have not seen any drunk people here. As soon as a Japanese feels intoxicated, he immediately lies down and falls asleep.” The first written mention of shochu itself dates back to 1559. Two carpenters who were building a wooden temple carved an inscription on the roof: “The senior priest is so stingy that he never even poured us shochu. What a misfortune!”

From the mid-16th century to the end of the Edo period (1868), Japanese grain moonshine was made using a single distillation method. During the Meiji period (1868-1912), multiple distillation emerged and took hold.

The Japanese word "shochu" is a modification of the Chinese word 燒酒, which roughly translates to "burnt liquid" or "fire water".

In the early 2000s, a real boom in shochu began, especially among young people and women. For the first time in history, the consumption of this drink has surpassed that of sake. The reason for this is recent medical research that has proven the health benefits of cereal distillate: in particular, it reduces the risk of thrombosis, diabetes, and heart attack. Shigechiyo Izumi, who lived to be 105 years old (according to some sources - up to 120), claimed that he drinks shochu every day and owes his longevity to it.

On the island of Kyushu, the birthplace of the drink, the term “sake” refers to shochu. Here it is diluted with hot water.

Stage 2: starter, fermentation, pressing

The resulting wort is mixed with water and yeast, adding them gradually. In the resulting leaven, “syu”, sugar is converted into alcohol from two to four weeks. The main fermentation, "moromi", lasts 20-30 days at a temperature of 10 to 20°C, and in high-end nihonshu it is always low. It is made in the cool season, in winter, as these are ideal conditions for fermentation. After finishing the moromi, the mass is pressed, resulting in the separation of pure sake (“seishu”) and a white sediment (“sakekasu”), in which the koji remains.

Drink of Emperors

The history of sake goes back 2000 years. The first mention of it as a drink made from rice appeared in the eighth century, and in the 12th century. it was already part of festive and religious rituals; nobles and aristocrats drank it. It was produced in temples and at the imperial court, and later in small village communities. The technology was different from modern technology: rice was chewed in the mouth and spat into special containers where fermentation took place. Only in the 15-16th centuries. with the flourishing of cities and trade, production technology began to develop and finally acquired the form we know. Koji was discovered, large production centers appeared, and the drink itself entered the everyday life of the Japanese and their everyday culture. But he was still a canteen.

The quality of nihonshu was revolutionized in the 20th century with the introduction of special rice milling equipment, aromatic yeast races, and premium rice varieties. And temperature control over fermentation made it possible to most accurately influence the taste of the drink.

How to read a label

Nihonshu is made in each of Japan's 47 prefectures, with thousands of brands and hundreds of manufacturers. The areas of Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Hiroshima and Akita are responsible for the best examples. These production zones have developed around large sources of water, which is very important for production. Over the past 50 years, sake has transformed from a local exotic drink into a fashionable and popular drink in the West, so many producers (sakakura), especially those working for export, have translated their labels or translated them into Latin. However, even if the label contains only hieroglyphs, then numbers, for example, the percentage of rice polished, will be written in numbers and can give an idea of ​​​​the level of the drink. The same can be said about the fortress.

It is worth keeping in mind that sake is made not only in Japan, but also in China, the USA and some other countries.

The power of a small seed

With the help of koji, glucose is released and normal alcoholic fermentation begins with the participation of yeast (sugar is converted into alcohol). In the case of sake, it occurs in parallel with the processes of grain destruction. It is the complex double fermentation that is one of the unique features of this drink. The other is the initial polishing of the rice, which determines the category of the future drink: the greater the degree of polishing of the raw materials, the more premium the sake.

The starch necessary for fermentation is contained in the center of the grain, but its upper layers consist of proteins, fats and other elements that negatively affect the organoleptic properties of the drink. Therefore, rice is polished, removing 25-70% from each grain. For comparison, edible rice contains 90% of the grain, while premium sake rice contains no more than 50%.

Sake is different from grain vodka and therefore not just any rice is suitable for it. The right grain should be large and low in protein. Sake is made from one or several varieties of rice. The best is considered to be yamadanishiki, called the “king of rice”; it was bred in 1936. Miyamanishiki and Gohyakumangoku are not inferior to him. You can also find omachi, haenuki, devakirari and some others.

Blend from the past

Sake has such a long history that it is difficult to say who, when and how first began to produce this drink in Japan.
It seems that the idea of ​​​​making alcohol from one of the main products of Japan was bound to come to the minds of local residents sooner or later. But the way it happened initially looks a little strange. There is a word in Japanese called kuchikamizake, which refers to an unusual method of making sake using human saliva. In this case, the rice was chewed and spat into special urns, in which the enzymes in the saliva stimulated further fermentation of the mass until the required level of alcohol content was reached.

In addition to a share of abomination, this process had its own bit of ritualism, because traditionally young Japanese virgins had to do the chewing of rice. And in general, many special rituals were associated with sake, because in ancient times this drink was made as an offering to the gods of fertility, because it is made from rice, one of the main foodstuffs of the Japanese.

Stage 4: pasteurization and aging

At the final stage of production, the drink is pasteurized by heating to 80°C for half an hour. This does not kill, but rather puts to sleep the bacteria and yeast. Seishu is kept in special sealed flasks for 6-12 months. Sometimes rice distillate (fermentable alcohol) is also added to it, which not only increases the strength and changes the taste, but also affects the final classification of the drink. Otherwise, seishu can, on the contrary, be diluted with water to make it less strong. Sake masters are called "toji". It depends on them how the drink turns out in the end.

Japanese appetite, or itadakimasu. KAMPAI!

No matter what overseas country I lived in and no matter how much I merged in my lifestyle with the local population, I always cautiously admitted two things: a) that I was cold, and b) that I was already drunk, I couldn’t get another drink. Because as soon as I said about them, this was certainly followed by: “What are you doing??? This is impossible! You’re Russian!”

I answered: “Yes, I’m Russian, but I’m not a cyborg!”, further explaining that there is such a thing as acclimatization, and therefore, I feel the temperature overboard just like everyone else. They believed with difficulty about acclimatization, but they didn’t believe about intoxication.

The Japanese, especially the northern ones, seasoned by frequent visits from our sailors and not only from Vladivostok and Sakhalin, know firsthand about Russian alcohol resistance. But getting acquainted with the Japanese drinking culture and their love for alcohol, coupled with a huge variety of drinks, I began to doubt whether they are so different from us? And what is the “secret of success”, if I may say so, that they are not called drunks, but we are...

Many points remained unsolved and unsolved for me until I left Japan. I still don’t understand how you can drink almost to the point of unconsciousness almost every day, but at the same time be “fresh” at work at 8 am? And why did I see so few alcoholics there?

Is it about their discipline and strict daily routine? They start drinking at 7 pm, and by 10 they are already sleeping like a hero... Maybe it’s the magic pills and potions that they take before they start drinking? I even brought some of these for myself! Ginger tablets: you drink, and in the morning there is no trace of a hangover. Although many of my friends believe that this is nothing more than a placebo... Or salvation in capsule hotels, where they stay overnight, earning themselves an extra couple of hours of sleep? Or maybe the reason is the environment and the quality of drinks (yeah, the notorious radiation again)? Or is it all about the genes not producing the enzyme that, as we were told, allows us to break down alcohol? Then how can they even drink so much?..

I soon realized that it was not they who lacked some kind of enzyme, but apparently, me. With my Eastern European genes, I would definitely die if I drank as much and as much as the Tokyoites. First beer, then sake, then cocktails, followed by a tray of tequila and vodka, then whiskey, then wine, and again cocktails... I was “lost” even at the first cocktails, and this despite the fact that I can actually hold my drink , as the saying goes.

Hot, cheerful and instantly becoming very noisy, the Japanese go about their business: they blush, say toasts, cut the truth in the eyes, sing karaoke and - the crown of the evening - the men tie ties around their heads! With ties, at first I tried to find a connection to history, to traditions. I thought maybe these were all echoes of the samurai past and the hachimaki headband... No, it turned out - just an American heritage left over from the 1980s. A kind of demonstrative rebellion against the main attribute of the meaning of life (work)! So to speak, let's fool around with the shrine...

What happens next? Then the strength runs out, and the people fall asleep. Moreover, they do not always have time to get home, which often amuses cyber-onlookers from all over the world. At the introductory training about Japanese culture, we were told that there is no need to wake up the bodies scattered along the streets of Roppongi and Shibuya (including women), otherwise they will think something wrong! Let them, they say, continue to sleep. It’s both touching and hilarious, of course, to watch them take off their shoes on the subway before collapsing into the seat.

Only the South Koreans turned out to be more dangerous than the Japanese in their drinking skills. We were afraid to fly to Seoul on a business trip, remembering the stories of absolutely everyone who had been there, how they were almost drunk to death by their colleagues, who themselves interfered with everything, then passed out for half an hour on the sofas in a restaurant or club, then woke up and started again drink with the same intensity and disorderliness!..

The enzyme is missing, you say? But if you believe scientific research and Wikipedia, alcoholism does not develop in Asians, “because they instantly get drunk from minimal doses of alcohol, sober up just as quickly, but suffer from a long and severe hangover.” And to this there are frequent comments on the Internet: “Maybe... But not in Japan / Korea. Damn, those f**kers can drink!”

I'm subscribing! Because I got drunk faster, not them! And it was me who had the hangover in the morning, not them! However, I now look at stories about sleeping in the workplace or meetings differently. Many people know that falling asleep during a meeting is not a rare phenomenon, and is even supposedly revered. Like, this shows how hard a person works, how hardworking he is, that he doesn’t even get enough sleep, he literally burns at work, what a great guy! Aha, I think, he has slow acetal dehydrogenase! But simply - hangover!

So, what did I know about Japanese drinking before Japan? Sake, plum wine and Asahi beer! Meanwhile, in a country where the annual per capita consumption of alcohol for people over 15 years of age is 8-9 liters (but where are they compared to the leader of the list, my homeland, Lithuania, with their 15 liters!), the variety of alcoholic drinks is amazing!

Three main categories can be identified: traditional alcohol, imported alcohol and Japaneseized alcohol.

Sake (nihon-shu) and plum wine (ume-shu) fall into the first category. As it turned out, I drank plum wine all my alcoholic life as a Chukchi. I mean, it's wrong. How can you understand what is right if they bring it to you in a glass and don’t say anything? That, in fact, in its pure form it is more like liqueur, and none of the Japanese drink it like that. What should be served in a highball glass, on ice and preferably diluted with sparkling water. And that, after all, this is a purely feminine drink, and I have never seen men in Japan drink it.

You can experiment with sake all your life! And it’s not at all true that they only drink it warm. Japanese friends told me that, in general, warm sake (atsukan) is not the best, and that the best quality is often cool (reishu). Well, I don’t know... When one autumn I caught a bad cold, but couldn’t cancel my trip with my mother to Kyoto, she treated me there for lack of mulled wine with warm sake. I'll tell you, 150 grams 3 times a day for two days - and the cold disappeared!

Perhaps the most common drink is shochu. It is drunk in a variety of forms, by everyone, always and everywhere: from Japanese izakaya pubs to expensive restaurants and cocktail bars. Its constituent base can be rice, millet, potatoes and even soba (buckwheat), and the distillation principle is similar to whiskey. And here you have more than enough variety: on the rocks, and warm, and cold, and with sweet plum, and with bitter, with the taste of beer, and with the taste of tea (many people like it!), and in general with everything. In short, as versatile as a little black dress.

Further, through unsuccessful (alas) tests, I also tested awamori - rice vodka from Okinawa, they say it looks like shochu, but in my opinion it’s a rare disgusting thing; and at the top of the disgusting rating are Doburoku and Nigorizake. Outwardly it looks like a paste, the texture is starchy slurry, the taste is sweetish-fermented, and you immediately want to spit it out. What I don’t understand at all: how can men drink this - it looks, sorry, like sperm? Or is it just me?..

Nigorizake also has a “subspecies” - amazake. A low-alcohol sweet drink, often even sold in vending machines.

To be honest, I didn’t really become friends with traditional Japanese alcohol, but Japanese drinks captivated me for the rest of my life! Beer is beyond competition. I’m not a big fan of beer, but Japanese Asahi or Yebisu (funny to the Russian ear, I agree) are a completely different matter. Interestingly, in Japanese culture the word dry has a completely different meaning. More precisely, perception. Because the beer category was the first to massively put the dry descriptor on its product (and then even super dry appeared). For the Japanese, the meaning of this word is not “dry”, but rather “sparkling-refreshing”. It’s funny, but they don’t perceive the same dry on vermouth or gin at all.

Of course, the world knows about Japanese whiskey, and I am sure that for many, Yoichi, Hibiki and Nikka have become an integral part of their collections. Perhaps the most striking example of the success of Japanese distilleries is their skill in copying and perfecting. The two most famous and successful whiskey houses - Suntory and Nikka - were founded by people who learned their craft in Scotland, only to then return to Japan and 100 years later “pull” the Scots and dislodge them from the centuries-old podium of the championship of distilleries. This is what I understand, the student has bypassed the teacher! By the way, quite recently Japan was gripped by panic: there were interruptions in the availability of aged whiskey in stores, and all because of... the series! The fact is that previously the Japanese themselves did not particularly bother with the age of whiskey, since they most often consumed it as a cocktail, the famous “highball”, diluted with sparkling water. Basically, expensive Japanese whiskey was exported to Western countries to the delight of all connoisseurs of an expensive and high-quality drink. And then there was a boom in aged whiskey in the country, and there simply wasn’t enough for everyone! And the series, by the way, is about the founder of the Nikka company, the same one who studied in Scotland! So hurry up to buy, otherwise it is unknown when production capacity will increase.

But what I can’t forgive the Japanese is their gin! Having been a fan of this drink since my student days, I always believed that my personal rating would be unshakable: Tanqueray, Beefeater and Hendricks! But how can we live now without Ki No Bi, this heavenly drink originally from Kyoto? And besides Japan, it is sold only in 10 countries, and even there you will have to run around for it. And yes, the name Obi-Wan KiNoBi is now spelled that way for me!

Of course, you can't miss Japanese cocktail bars. This is the highest level of mixologists, in my opinion. How easy it is to be spoiled by the ideal proportions of ingredients and unusual taste combinations, the magical atmosphere of intimacy and at the same time sincerity of each of the bars, the aesthetics of serving in magnificent dishes, with crystal-transparent rounds or ice cubes (by God, even the heart bleeds when they Then they threw it in the sink!)! And these divine nectars like Wasabi Gin & Tonic, Smoked Garganella, Blue Cheese Martini continue to beckon in my sad memories and make me wrinkle my nose from the very first sip of Moscow Mule in “Moskau” itself... If you’re in Tokyo, be sure to run to Iron Fairy, Code Name Mixology and New York bars. This is for overclocking, you can try the rest yourself.

In short, one of the undeniable advantages of tourism to Japan is the opportunity to buy booze on any day and at any time of the day. Despite all the Japanese’s uncompromising attitude towards drugs, the only thing that is allowed to everyone with virtually no restrictions is tobacco and alcohol. Such a loyal attitude towards this on the part of the government is caused by the understanding that the Japanese, who are dying at work and are constantly holding back their emotions, need to somehow unwind and relax!

But they have generally had such a benevolent attitude towards drinking since ancient times: neither Shintoism nor Buddhism condemns people for drinking alcohol. I remember once, with my friends from St. Petersburg visiting me, I watched the Mikoshi procession: this is when an altar is carried on a structure like a palanquin, in which it is believed that God is located.

I was immediately confused by several factors: why were the men wearing ultra-mini kimonos; why are they dancing, and most importantly - are they DRUNK??? And my friend swore that with her own eyes she saw, among other men in a kimono, one without underpants!

It turned out that representatives from the surrounding temples were “rolling” God through the streets, and this should be done with music, entertainment and beauty! So they dress up, pick up drums and dance along the way. Men's mini-kimonos are a reference to farmers' clothing; they are more convenient to work the field in. By the way, farmers in the Japanese hierarchy of society are by no means in the lower layers of the pyramid! On the contrary: they follow after the samurai, and from time immemorial have been the richest class (at the lowest level, by the way, are merchants and merchants).

The answer to “why drunk?” I was shocked: “We drink like this on religious holidays,” a colleague told me, “to MAKE God LAUGH”... I think this is brilliant! I think if all the religions of the world had this approach, there would be no wars at all.

But I never learned anything about the man without underwear. Apparently, it wasn’t a matter of religion...

In general, what else can I add here? Unless you raise your glass and say KAMPAI!! That is, “TO THE BOTTOM!”

Production technology

Ingredients:

• Water. In Japan it is especially soft, and this gives the shochu its recognizable flavor.
• Raw materials. Rice, barley, brown sugar, wheat, etc.
• Koji (a special strain of mold). There are black, white and yellow. All three types are used in the production of shochu.
• Moromi. Intermediate “broth” at different stages of production (see picture).

Raw ones are soaked and steamed to provoke the destruction of the peel and the release of starch. Japanese koji yeast is then added to the product, which converts pure starch into sugar without the need for malt or enzymes. Thanks to this, the first fermentation (fermentation) begins in the mixture, which lasts about a week. At the end of this stage, the steamed main ingredient (for example, sweet potato) and water are added to the future shochu, provoking secondary fermentation. Finally, the finished mash is distilled and aged, then diluted to the required strength, bottled and sent to the shelves.

Shochu and sake should not be confused; from the point of view of production technology, these are very different drinks. Shochu is a distillate (moonshine) made from starch or sugar-containing raw materials, and sake is rice wine, that is, filtered mash without distillation. Shochu is much stronger and has a “nutty-earthy” flavor with almost no fruity notes.

Types of shochu

Multiple distillation (Class A). An alcoholic beverage that has been distilled more than once, diluted with water to an alcohol content of 36% or less, and meets the following requirements:

• unsprouted grains were used for production (the drink should not be malt);
• non-charcoal filters were used for filtration;
• if sugar was the base ingredient, the finished distillate must have a strength of at least 95%;
• the drink is not fortified with additional alcohols not included in the list of permitted ingredients.

This shochu is often called kōrui shōchū (korui), it is made from potatoes (regular and sweet), and corn. Large productions “specialize” in this type; korui shochu is sold in all stores and is very popular.

Single distillation (Class B). An alcoholic drink based on grain, potatoes and sugar, subjected to a single distillation, with a strength of no more than 45%. Sometimes the name otsurui shōchū (otsurui) is found. It is distinguished by a pronounced taste of the base ingredient, mainly produced in small and medium-sized distilleries.

Korui shochu – distilled several times, maximum strength – 36%. Otsurui shochu is distilled only once and diluted to 45%

Shochu is also distinguished by its aging period (aging occurs in stainless steel vats, clay vessels or oak barrels):

• 1-3 months;
• 3-6 months;
• 6 months – 3 years;
• more than 3 years.

The longer the aging, the softer the taste and the less “fusel” notes in the drink.