
Etiquette
Etiquette
There is etiquette for enjoying sake.

Japan is a country that highly values courtesy and hospitality. The etiquette for sake drinking is also based on this set of values. However, these manners are by no means formal. Take them as hints for drinking sake in a more appropriate way

Pouring
Pour with both hands by holding the tokkuri in your right hand and supporting the bottom with your left hand. When pouring for someone on your right side, do not turn your right wrist over to pour Your right hand will be facing down and that is considered poor manners.

When offering sake to someone, offer it when their cup is less than one-third full. Do not offer when your companion is in the middle of drinking, or when there is enough sake in their cup.
Receiving
Hold the cup lightly in one hand, and support the bottom with the other hand. When the sake is poured, take a small
sip before putting the cup on the table. If your companion's cup is empty, offer to pour sake for them in return.

When someone offers you sake, take a small sip of the sake remaining in your cup before holding it out to the person pouring (you do not need to finish all of the sake in the cup).
Bad Example
Don't shake the tokkuri

It is poor etiquette to shake the tokkuri to check whether there is any sake left. If the sake has been warmed, shaking the tokkuri will cool it down.
Don't peek into the tokkuri.

Don't drink straight from the tokkuri.

A tokkuri is for pouring sake into smaller vessels. Even if you are the only one drinking sake, do not drink from the tokkuri directly as you would from a beer bottle.
Do not blend the contents of several tokkuri.

Do not combine the sake into one tokkuri even if there are several tokkuri with only small amounts remaining. This affects the temperature and flavor of the sake.

Ask for water when you drink sake.
Ask for water along with your sake, as you would when having a chaser along with drinks with a high alcohol content or a strong flavor. The water drunk alongside sake is called yawaragi-mizu. ''Yawaragi' is Japanese for a calm state of things. By drinking water at intervals, the next sip of sake is even more delicious. It's also very useful to avoid getting sick from drinking.
Category

Ingredients and manufacturing methods

Type of Sake

Pairing and temperature

Etiquette

How to read the label
