Sake’s Other Side

A sake aged for five years and a sparkling sake at 12% ABV both illustrate the breadth of sake, but each calls for a different explanation. For the first, storage temperature and time matter. For the second, alcohol content and the way its bubbles are produced take the lead.

Aging, lower alcohol, sparkling, and RTD describe different aspects of a product. Separating these terms also reveals how several characteristics can coexist in one bottle. Products in Bacchus Global’s range offer concrete examples of sake’s other side.

Read Aging Through Both Time and Temperature

Sake contains sugars, amino acids, and aroma compounds. These components continue to change during storage, with the pace and direction depending on temperature and the sake’s composition. Some maturation produces amber color and honey-like or nutty aromas; another approach uses low temperatures to restrain change over time.

BORN Dreams come true, made by Kato Kichibee Shoten in Sabae, Fukui, illustrates the latter approach. It blends junmai daiginjo sake matured at −10°C for approximately five years and is bottled at 16% ABV. The brewery describes depth of flavor and a smooth palate as its defining qualities.

The useful detail is the combination of five years and maturation below zero. The brewer chooses temperature and time according to the aroma and texture sought. Adding storage temperature to an aging period helps explain the kind of development intended for the sake.

Separate Alcohol Content from Flavor

Sake commonly contains around 15% to 16% alcohol, although individual products vary. SHICHIKEN Sora no Irodori Sparkling-sake, made by Yamanashi Meijo in Hakushu, Yamanashi, is 12% ABV. Its alcohol content is lower than that common range, and its bubbles come from secondary fermentation in the bottle.

ABV measures the proportion of alcohol in the liquid. Sweetness, acidity, umami, and texture require separate assessment. A product with less alcohol can still express distinct rice-derived umami or sweetness. Breaking “light” into these specific qualities makes the description more useful.

Fruit-based products add another consideration: the ingredients combined. BORN YUZU is an 8% ABV liqueur blending junmai sake with yuzu from Kochi and beet sugar from Hokkaido. Distinguishing lower-alcohol sake from a sake-based fruit liqueur makes it easier to explain the source of citrus aroma, acidity, and added sweetness.

Understand Bubbles and Kijoshu Through the Process

The stage at which bubbles are formed helps explain sparkling sake. During secondary bottle fermentation, yeast converts sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide inside the bottle. The resulting gas dissolves into the sake and appears as bubbles when the bottle is opened and the liquid poured.

SHICHIKEN Yama no Kasumi Sparkling-sake is a lightly cloudy sake made by secondary bottle fermentation. Its fine suspended solids and bubbles contribute to the texture. Alongside the presence of bubbles, a clear finish or a retained haze offers another clue to the sake’s character.

Sora no Irodori combines secondary bottle fermentation with kijoshu brewing. Kijoshu is made by replacing part of the brewing water with sake. Here, the brewery uses its own junmai sake, Furinbizan. Connecting sake-based brewing with an umami-rich profile, and bottle fermentation with bubbles, gives “a new brewing method” a concrete explanation.

Read RTD as a Serving Format

RTD stands for Ready to Drink and describes prepared formats such as premixed canned cocktails that can be served directly after opening. When examining a sake-based RTD, check its base drink, added fruit juice or sugar, ABV, and container size individually.

Lower alcohol describes alcohol content; sparkling describes bubbles; RTD concerns preparation, packaging, and serving format. Treating a can and a lower ABV as separate pieces of information makes a product’s features easier to understand.

For dining establishments in Bangkok, product and category names can be accompanied by maturation temperature, actual ABV, bubble production, and added ingredients. BORN’s sub-zero maturation, SHICHIKEN’s bottle fermentation and kijoshu brewing, and a yuzu liqueur each show a different process. Following those processes makes the breadth of sake tangible through specific products.