
Glossary
Drinking cup for sake
A sake decanter with a tapered neck and rounded body is called a tokkuri. Sake is transferred from the bottle, and the tokkuri is used at the table.
The masu, used as a vessel for sake, was originally a traditional Japanese tool for measuring liquid or grain. Made of Japanese cedar, it infuses the sake with a light aroma of the wood.
Choko used in Japanese sake competitions are made of white ceramic and have a blue bullseye pattern on the inside. Check the color of the sake with the white part, and its cloudiness with the blue part of the pattern.
The shape of a wine glass holds aromas inside the glass, so it makes it easy to appreciate the delicate aromas of sake.
Sake Types
This refers to the very first part of the sake that comes off the press when the moromi is pressed. It contains a little particles and relatively less amounts of alcohol.
Its appeal is in the freshly fermented and pleasantly stimulating carbon dioxide.
Sake can be matured for 6 months to one year.
For example Junmai-shu, longer-term storage smooths out the sake's flavor. Some koshu is aged for two, three, or even over five years.
Most sake on the market has had its alcohol content adjusted 15-16% through dilution with water, but since genshu is undiluted sake, it's alcohol content is often quite high, at 18-20%.
This is sake that contains a lot of carbon dioxide.
This sake has been pasteurized once and stored until fall, and is then shipped without a second pasteurization..
By making the sake in winter, brewers are able to do a long, slow fermentation to create sake that features more refined flavors.
This sake is made with sake as a base ingredient in place of water.
Dense and sweet, this sake has been prized since ancient times.
This sake is made with a traditional shubo (moto or yeast starter) that cultivates lactic acid bacilli before yeast propagation.
Sake is usually made by pressing the moromi after that, sake is filtered to stabilize the quality, but this sake skips that last step.
Sake that has been kept in a cedar cask, has its own special aroma.
Freshly pressed sake is stored at low temperatures, and is pasteurized only once, just before shipping. This sake retains the flavors of unpasteurized sake.
This sake is pasteurized, stored, and moderately matured for a stable product quality.
The matured sake is then bottled without a second pasteurization.
This sake is sent to market without any pasteurization in the production process.
There are many types, such as junmai nama and ginjo nama.
This is a white, cloudy sake made by straining the moromi through a coarse cloth only.
Nigorizake that is shipped without pasteurization is called kassei seishu (active sake), and still contains living yeast and enzymes.
The official sake brewing year runs from July to the following June.
Usually, sake that is shipped within the same brewing year would be classified as shinshu.
Generally, this is sake with an alcohol content below 12%. It has a soft feeling in the mouth and is perfect for people with a low tolerance for alcohol, or for when you want to drink but not feel the effects too strongly.
This sake is packaged in a special container and has been frozen into a sherbet-like texture.
Words Related to Sake and Izakaya (Japanese Pubs)
This is a type of sake cup. Usually larger than cups referred to as choko, they hold a hefty amount of sake. They are typically made of porcelain or ceramic.
A bowl-shaped vessel with a mouth for pouring along the rim. A traditional Japanese vessel, it is also used in cooking.
As with a tokkuri, sake is poured from the bottle to the katakuchi, and then from the katakuchi to the choko.
This is a drinking style in which sake is poured to purposely overflow into a dish or masu placed underneath the drinking vessel.
After the sake in the drinking vessel is finished, pour the overflow into the cup to drink it.
Asking to calculate the bill, this is also called okaikei and okanjo.
Take your bill to the staff and say oaiso and they will calculate the total for you.
A vessel with a long handle. Since it is used as a vessel for pouring sake into cups just like a tokkuri, some people call choshi to mean tokkuri.
Water. The same as yawaragi-mizu that goes along with sake, or a chaser drunk alongside whiskey, this term refers to water given freely at Japanese restaurants.
A snack given before you order your meal. It is also called saki-zuke. The type of food given depends on the restaurant.
Category
Use this section to tell customers about your store or add content from one of your pages which makes it easy to add images, video or any other content

Ingredients and manufacturing methods

Type of Sake

Pairing and temperature

Etiquette

How to read the label
