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Japanese Sake

Japanese sake is an alcoholic beverage made from rice. However, the use of the word “sake” to represent this drink in English is not in line with its use in Japan. There, the word refers to all manner of alcoholic drinks.

Nihonshu is the traditional word for Japanese sake. It comes in the two broad categories of junmai and honjozo. The first category means that no distilled alcohol has been added, while the latter does include the addition. In the United States, it is illegal to add distilled alcohol. This means that any domestic sake is made in the junmai style.

Typically, fine Japanese sake is served cold. The term for this is reishu. Atsukan is the term to use when it is served hot.

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