The Hot or Not of Sake
You may be under the impression that heating sake is simply a way to disguise bad quality. And we can’t lie - sometimes it is. When that piping-hot tokkuri arrives at your table in a restaurant and you are simply blown away by the alcoholic fumes before even taking your first sip, we can’t promise it’ll be the best sake you’ve ever had.
So yes, unfortunately, hot sake does have a bit of a bad rep. But if you do it the right way, with the right sake, it’s a completely different story.
How do you know when to heat your sake? Is it a guessing game? Do you need a special-sake-heating machine? Once you get the hang of it, we promise it’s quite simple. To help you out, we’ve created a brief guide - The Hot or Not of Sake.
When
We won’t bore you with the nitty-gritty details, but heating a sake can help enhance cereal flavours, as well as your perception of sweetness and umami. Sake with delicate floral/fruity aromas or a crisp, fresh and palate-cleansing nature should be refrained from heating as this can destroy the flavour. However, sake with a fuller body or savoury profile can be served warm to enhance and even unlock hidden charms that you may not have noticed when served chilled. A great example of this is our Ultra Dry Junmai, which develops gorgeously from dry minerality, into notes of toasted rice with the increase in temperature.
How
So you’ve picked out your ideal sake. Now what?
There are two ideal warm serving temperatures for sake - known as ‘atsu-kan’ and ‘nuru-kan’. Atsu-kan is typically the hottest you should serve sake, at around 50 degrees Celsius. This creates sharp and pronounced flavours and accentuates the warmth of the alcohol. Nuru-kan is a gentler heat in comparison, at 40 degrees Celsius, and is more of a universal guideline for warm sake. In the case of serving warm sake, refrain from using delicate glassware and instead look towards a traditional ochoko (ceramic sake cup) and tokkuri (sake carafe). At a pinch, we will turn a blind eye to an espresso cup and a ceramic teapot…
There are some simple yet effective ways to heat up sake in the comfort of your own home. For brevity, we will recommend our most trustworthy method: a DIY hot water bath:
Pour your sake into a heat-resistant vessel of choice
Bring a pot of water to boil (this step can also be replaced by using a kettle)
Remove the pot from heat and place your sake vessel into the hot water, ensuring the water level reaches around halfway up (and that the vessel doesn’t tip over…)
Let it sit for about 3-5 minutes, checking the temperature of the sake periodically with a thermometer until desired temperature is reached
Whilst rumours swirl online of microwaving sake to heat it, we prefer to avoid this method unless you are truly desperate for hot sake right here, right now! The process is slightly risky as the sake can overheat quickly and result in a loss of aroma (that being said, Kenbishi offer a microwavable 180 ml size ‘Kuromatsu Honjozo Junmai’ sake which has been specifically designed to efficiently warm the sake whilst preserving aroma. A very practical invention!).
What
We wouldn’t rave about warm sake if we couldn’t recommend a few!
Bi Bi Bi: a dry sake with strong minerality that develops a hint of sweetness alongside cereal characteristics when heated - fantastic with seafood!
Dragon of Oshu: Warm this sake to accentuate its silky texture and for a smooth mouthfeel that will keep you reaching for another taste.
Sadaijin Junmai: Rich, full-bodied and just a general crowd-pleaser of a drink, we believe that this Sadaijin Junmai should be everyone’s introduction to hot sake.
If you’re curious to find out about our recommended serving temperatures for any of our bottles, simply click on ‘The Geeky Details’ on each product page at the bottle shop-and remember these are only guidelines, so feel free to play around with sake temperature as you see fit!
Happy sipping ~
