Sip+Learn — Sake 101

Sake isn’t just restricted to the eight classes encompassed by the tokutei meisho-shu system. In fact, sake branches out from those eight broad starting points with a whole range of additional terms that you’re likely to see on any given bottle you happen to pick up an examine.

This time we’ll cast the net a bit wider, including terms that describe more general attributes, less common processes, and some variants only produced during certain times of year.

When you pick up a bottle of sake, you’ll generally be confronted with a label covered in unfamiliar characters, which can all be rather intimidating. Don't worry, we are here to guide you through all that funny characters and help you conquer the world of Nihonshu!

It’s time to delve a little deeper into ingredients of sake, and the various ways in which they are processed and combined, result in the extensive lexicon you’ll find on most sake labels and provide you with the knowledge you’ll need to decode them.