Drink Matron

Tag: sake

  • Don’t take your Sake too seriously – Sake! Sake! Sake! Bomb!

    Last weekend I was introduced to the sake bomb.

    For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, a sake bomb is a shot of sake only slightly balanced on top of two chopsticks sitting on glass half filled with beer.

    Once all the shots are ready, the group of people who you are drinking with yell “Sake, Sake, Sake, Bomb!” while banging on the table, causing the shot to fall off the chopsticks and into the glass. You then immediately drink the shot, and then that’s all you can remember.

    Just kidding about the last part, but it is definitely quite an experience.

    Alternatively, counting to three in Japanese is also common. “Ichi, Ni, San, SAKE BOMB!”

    Now, I’ve read a lot of stuff on the ‘net saying that this is a vulgar tradition and that it’s offensive to Asian people, but I don’t agree. I think it’s only truly offensive to the poor people in the restaurant who have enough sense not to get the dang sake bomb in the first place, and have to listen to the drunk group of people yelling loudly and banging on tables.

    In other words, it’s fun!

    Nothing about drinking bombs is traditional or respectful. No matter what bomb your chugging, you have to remember that you are…chugging. Not sipping graciously and talking about the qualities that are added to sake once you drop it like it’s hot into a cup of beer. Just because much about Japanese and other Asian cultures is traditional, don’t count what’s done with their booze as trashing it.

    Plus, the shot had to come from somewhere.

  • Is Sake Supposed to be Served Hot?

    Short Answer: Not necessarily.

    Long Answer: Sake has been a staple beverage in Japan for many hundreds of years.  Prior to the 20th century, sake was generally a much rougher, grainier drink and taste “flaws” were more apparent in the beverage.  Thus, warming a tokkuri of sake was considered the only way to serve it for the common man.  There were some sakagura that made a superior sake but it was reserved for the more affluent members of society.  As the fermentation process has evolved and been refined, on aggregate sake has become a cleaner, more delicate product.  Think about wine made from grapes.  They generally tell you to chill white wines prior to serving, but do you think that was the case prior to refrigeration?

    Throughout its existence, sake has been served at temperatures ranging from just above freezing (referred to as reishu) all the way to steaming hot (referred to as kanzake).  The warmer the sake is served, the more flavorful and drier the flavor will become, while chilling it will open up the bouquet of the sake as well as give it a crisper flavor.

    There are two major factors in deciding whether to heat, chill, or serve your sake at room temperature.  The first is food pairing.  Simple flavored foods like sushi or sashimi are paired well with kanzake as well as fatty and oily dishes (like hot pot dishes).  Particularly sharp flavored food, like sweet and sour dishes, are best paired with reishu.  If you aren’t drinking with food you can drink it either way!

    The second factor in deciding on a temperature is quality of the sake.  Higher quality sake have multi-leveled, very nuanced flavors that can be overpowered and lost when heated.  Heating these quality sakes would be like drowning filet mignon in ketchup.  Lower quality sake isn’t necessarily going to be bad, but I can attest that warming these sakes definitely improves the flavor (and makes your cheeks very red).