Sake

I don’t drink a lot of a sake, but I do enjoy it. Here’s some notes about it.

Varieties

There are a few varieties of sake.

Junmai-Ginjo

I think this is the fruitier one. Sequoia’s “Coastal Ginjo” is described as “medium-dry and fruity sake” and is 14-15% ABV.
Genshu

Clear, like a ginjo, but bolder (drier?).
Nigori

This is the cloudy one, which I like a lot. I’m not sure how else to describe it, but it’s somewhat bolder than a ginjo or genshu. For this reason, Sequoia Sake recommends for tasting that you taste the ginjo and genshu before the nigori.

It kind of looks similar to the Korean drink makkoli, which is also made of rice.

A flight of sake showing a ginjo, genshu, and nigori. — A ginjo, genshu, and nigori sake (from left to right) from Sequoia Sake. The ginjo and genshu are both clear and the nigori is a cloudy white.

Terms

Junmai: Junmai means that there are no additives, meaning the sake is made with only rice, water, koji, and yeast.
Koji: A mold used for making sake. I think this converts rice starch to sugar, which is converted by yeast to alcohol.
Sake Meter Value (“SMV”): Is a measurement relative to water (IIRC, having to do with how much the sake floats relative to water). Negative values tend to mean the sake is sweeter.
Sake kasu: Leftover rice and (I think) koji parts from making sake.

Questions

Some questions I have about varieties that I’ll need to answer the next time I go sake tasting.

How do you pair sake?

I know that the 100% koji sake is paired well with high-fat foods like steak, but when would you get a ginjo, genshu, or nigori?
Hot and cold sake?

Most of the sake I’ve had is cold, though I have had hot sake a couple times. I’m not sure which sakes are appropriate for serving hot. Is it just any of them?
Process differences?

How are ginjo, genshu, and nigori different in terms of their process? Sake is made from rice, koji, and water, but what’s done differently?

Brands

I don’t know much about sake brands.

Sequoia Sake (see below)
Jozen

Tried this at Maruya. It was described to me as being fruitier. I think it was probably a junmai ginjo.
Sotenden

Also tried this at Maruya. It was described as being “drier”. I enjoyed this one a lot.
Shinsei

Tried at Maruya, described as being “full body”. This was my partner’s favorite.

Places

Places where you can get sake.

Sequoia Sake in SF (map)

I think this is the only sake brewery in SF. They’re pretty good. They have a small warehouse that’s open to the public on Saturdays. If you get their membership, you get four flights for free.

A couple other cool things about them: You can get sake kasu from them, which is the rice part leftover from making sake. I forget all of its uses, but you can use it for cooking. They also use it to make soap bars, and they have a sample of it in their bathroom.

They also had a 100% koji rice nigori sake, which is pretty interesting. Apparently it’s good with high-fat foods like steaks.
Takara Sake in Berkeley (map)
Known for their “Sho Chiku Bai” sake. Went there recently on 2023-03-12.

Has a pretty good sake museum and tasting room. The museum shows how sake used to be made in the 19th century, and they show a video that explains how sake is currently made.

Compared to sake tasting at Sequoia Sake, they explain a lot more about what different terms in sake mean.

They had an interesting 15-year aged sake, which was both sweet and savory?

Miscellaneous

Maruya 2023

Tried some sake with my partner at Maruya in SF in February 2023. Found out that sake tastes different depending on the cup it’s served in. We were served sake in a ceramic cup and a pewter cup, and the pewter cup was less… harsh? Or more mellow.

We tried (at least) three types of sake. In one of the flights they had “Jozen”, “Sotenden”, and “Shinsei” described respectively as being fruitier, drier, and full body. I think my favorite was the “Sotenden” and my partner’s was the “Shinsei”.