Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning
• What you need

Sake (pronounced "sah-keh", not "sah-kee") refers to wines in Japan and especially rice wine or Nihonshu in the West. There are many practices in enjoying and drinking sake. Although such practices are not practiced outside of Japan, it is advisable to learn about it.

Steps

1. 

   Become familiar with traditional jugs and mugs.
   • Sake is stored in small ceramic jars, called tokkuri. It has a small neck and bulging lower part but there are other types, such as katakuchi, shaped like a teapot.
   • The type of cup used to drink sake is still controversial because some people think that a small cup without a handle is called a ochoko or sakazuki (looks like a flat plate) and the most popular is masu (wooden box type). Wine goblets, while not traditional, are also a good way to drink sake. The wine cup is designed to help drinkers see the colors and feel the full aroma that affects the taste of the wine, so that the drinker can fully enjoy the delicious taste of the wine. Use traditional jugs and mugs if you want real value, but choose a wine glass if you want the full flavor of sake.

2. 

   
   
   Leave the sake at the right temperature. Regular sake, honjozo-shu and shunmai-shu are usually kept at room temperature, while ginjo-shu and namazake (unpasteurized sake) are usually chilled. Do not make sake at a higher temperature than room temperature as its quality will decrease.

3. 

   Pour the wine into the client's cup, but not yourself. Hold tokkuri with both hands with palms facing down. You can wrap the tokkuri with a towel to prevent the alcohol from dripping. Take turns pouring wine into each customer's cup.Don't pour yourself alcohol. Because it is the client's duty to keep the host's cup full.
   • You can use one hand to hold the bottle of wine to pour, but the other hand must touch the hand that is holding the bottle. This is the equivalent of pouring wine with two hands.
   • If you are in a higher position than the person you are pouring wine from (eg you are their boss), pour the wine with one hand (without touching the hand pouring wine with the other).

4. 

   
   
   Keep the cup properly when you are pouring the wine. In a formal case, keep the cup as it is poured. Hold the cup with one hand (usually the right hand) and place it on top of the other.
   • If the dispenser is of a lower status than you (such as your subordinate), you only need to hold the cup with one hand.

5. 

   Cheer. You can say "Kanpai" if you are in a Japanese restaurant. Touch the cups together. When drinking with someone of a higher status than you, be sure to keep the rim of your cup lower than that person's mouth when lifting.

6. 

   
   
   Sake is not too strong (it does not have as high alcohol as some of today's California wines, unless genshu) and is drunk as white wine. However, if the sake is served hot, it should be consumed slowly as the alcohol vapor will evaporate from the wine into your nose and neck as you drink. It's not a small cup so don't drink it all at once! As you drink, turn slightly away from the person of higher status. If you are drinking with someone of extremely high status, you should turn completely before drinking. advertisement

Advice

• Usually sake should be consumed within 2 or 3 months of purchase and for 2 or 3 hours after opening. Sake that is not immediately consumed should be preserved as wine.
• The best way to determine at what temperature the wine should be drunk is to let the chilled sake turn to room temperature, taking turns to see when it is best.
• Sake is heated or atsukanIt is usually drunk in cold weather or when drinking of poor quality as it helps neutralize the taste. When it's hot or when drinking premium sake, refrigerate it.
• If your friends keep pouring wine into your glass when you don't want to drink anymore, take small sips so that the glass doesn't run out.
• Traditionally, sake is served with snacks (such as with sashimi), not with meals. Normally, you should not drink sake while eating rice or a rice dish (like sushi) as it is considered superfluous. If you want to eat sushi, drink all the sake before eating.

Warning

• The bartender is legally responsible for the actions of the guest. Therefore, do not let a client get drunk if they will have to drive and do not let a drunk passenger drive.
• Tejaku is the term for pouring sake yourself and is often seen as rude.
• As with other alcoholic beverages, do not operate heavy or dangerous machinery (like a car) while drinking sake.
• The "rice wine" on the menu is not real sake. Some, such as shochu and capillary, are distilled from rice or potatoes but are not sake.

What you need

• Sake wine
• Wine bottle (Tokkuri)
• Drinking cup (Ochoko)
• Small pan