1. The Origin of Sake
Japanese sake is Japan’s national liquor developed based on the brewing method of Chinese rice wine.
Japanese people often say that sake is a gift from God. For more than 1,000 years, sake has been the most commonly consumed beverage among Japanese people. Sake can be seen at large banquets, wedding ceremonies, in bars or at ordinary people's tables. Sake has become Japan’s national quintessence.
According to Chinese historical records, in ancient times Japan only had "turbid sake" and no sake. Later, some people added charcoal to the turbid wine to precipitate it, and drank the clear wine, hence the name "sake". After the mid-7th century AD, Baekje, an ancient Korean country, had frequent contacts with China and became a bridge for the introduction of Chinese culture to Japan. Therefore, the Chinese technology of using "quzhong" to make wine was spread to Japan by the Baekje people, which led to great progress and development in Japan's wine making industry. By the 14th century AD, Japan's brewing technology had become increasingly mature. People used traditional sake brewing methods to produce high-quality products, especially the sake produced in the Nara region, which is the most famous.
Since the Meiji Restoration Movement in Japan in the second half of the 19th century, the quality of Japanese sake has gradually declined. Especially during World War II, Japanese wine merchants added a large amount of edible alcohol to sake to improve its quality. Increasing the amount of brewing and making huge profits has eclipsed the unique flavor of sake. Therefore, Japanese elders call this inferior sake "the wine of troubled times" and praise the original pure Japanese sake as "the wine of peace". As the sake brewing industry has been affected by the "troubled times" in history, which has left a bad impression on Japanese consumers, and the new generation of Japanese advocates drinking beer and spirits, the sales volume of sake has declined year by year. Today, although the quality of Japanese sake has returned to its original level, and modern brewing technology and equipment are used to continuously improve product quality, its products only account for 15% of the Japanese alcohol market sales. According to statistics, the annual sake production in Japan was 1448×10000000L in 1988, 1457×10000000L in 1993, and only 996.9×10000000L in 1995. There are more than 2,000 large and small sake breweries in Japan, among which the five largest sake breweries and their famous products are: Obao Factory's Gekkeikan, Konishi Factory's Shirayuki, Hakutsuru Factory's Hakutsuru, Nishinomiya Factory's Nihonsen and Ozeki Factory's Ozeki wine. Most of Japan's famous sake breweries are concentrated near Kobe and Kyoto in the Kanto region.
2. Classification of sake
(1) Classification according to different production methods
(1) Junmai sake Junmai sake is Junmai liquor. It only uses rice, rice koji and water as raw materials, without adding edible alcohol. Most of these products are for export.
(2) Ordinary brewed sake Ordinary brewed sake is a low-end popular sake. It is edible alcohol that is more harmful to people in the original liquor. That is, 100% alcohol 120L is added to 1 ton of raw rice mash.
(3)ZuzozoshuZuzoshu is a strong and sweet sake. It is prepared by adding edible alcohol, sugar, acids, amino acids, salts and other raw materials during blending.
(4) This sake is a mid-range sake, and the amount of edible alcohol added is lower than that of ordinary sake.
(5) Ginjoshu When making Ginjoshu, the rice polishing rate of the raw materials used is required to be below 60%. Japanese sake brewing pays great attention to the degree of whiteness of brown rice. The whiteness is measured by the rice polishing rate. The higher the whiteness, the lower the rice polishing rate. Whitened rice absorbs water quickly and is easy to steam and gelatinize, which is beneficial to improving the quality of wine. Ginjoshu is known as the "King of Sake".
(2) Classification by taste
(1) Sweet wine Sweet wine is a wine with more sugar and lower acidity.
(2) Spicy wine Spicy wine is a wine with low sugar content and high acidity.
(3) Strong wine. Strong wine is a wine that contains a lot of extracts and sugars and has a strong taste.
(4) Light Liquor Light Liquor is a refreshing wine that contains less extract and sugar.
(5) High-acid wine High-acid wine is a wine characterized by high acidity and strong sourness.
(6) Raw sake Raw sake is sake that is made without adding water to dilute it.
(7) Commercially available wine Commercially available wine refers to wine that is bottled and sold after the original wine is diluted with water.
(3) Classification by storage period
(1) New sake New sake refers to sake that has not passed the summer after being filtered.
(2) Old wine Old wine refers to sake that has been stored for one summer.
(3) Old-aged sake Old-aged sake refers to sake that has been stored for two summers.
(4) Secret wine. Secret wine refers to sake that is more than 5 years old.
(4) Classification according to the levels stipulated in the Liquor Tax Law
(1) Special grade sake is of high quality, with an alcohol content of more than 16% and an original extract concentration of more than 30%.
(2) First-grade sake is of better quality, with an alcohol content of more than 16% and an original extract concentration of more than 29%.
(3) Second-grade sake is of average quality, with an alcohol content of more than 15% and an original extract concentration of more than 26.5%.
According to Japanese law, special-grade and first-grade sake must be submitted to relevant government departments for appraisal before they can be classified. Due to the high tax on Japanese wine, the tax on special-grade wine is four times that of second-grade wine. Some wine merchants often sell second-grade products, so they are popular among connoisseurs. However, starting in 1992, this traditional classification method was cancelled. Instead, it was classified according to the quality of brewing raw materials, fermentation temperature and time, and whether edible alcohol was added, and marked as "junmai wine", "junmai wine", " "Ultra Pure Rice Wine".