What is sake? When you ask this question in Japan and then in the rest of the world, you’ll get two different answers.
In English, “sake” refers to the alcoholic fermented rice beverage from Japan that you’ve probably sampled at your local izakaya (or local sake bar, if you’re lucky!).
But ask for “sake” in Japan and you may be met with a questioning look. Why is that? Because in Japanese, “sake” refers to all alcoholic drinks in general. That includes beer, wine, whisky, shochu, and the beverage we call “sake” in English.
So what do the Japanese call “sake”? In Japanese, the word for what we refer to as sake is nihonshu. Nihonshu translates as “Japanese alcohol,” and if you ask for nihonshu at an izakaya, you will be greeted with a smile.
Language lesson aside, we will be referring to this wonderful beverage as sake in this article to keep things as simple as possible.
Polishing
One of the first steps in sake making is the polishing of the rice. Prior to the actual sake-making process, the rice kernel has to be “polished” — or milled — to remove the outer layer of each grain, exposing its starchy core.
To get some perspective on rice polishing, keep in mind that to get from brown rice to white rice, you need to polish rice to about 90 percent (i.e., polishing off 10 percent).
To produce good sake, you need to polish off much more than that! We’ll get into a little more detail below, but for now keep in mind that good sake is usually polished to about 50 to 70 percent (i.e., from 30 to 50 percent is polished off). So if you read that a sake has been polished to 60 percent, it means 40 percent of the original rice kernel has been polished away, leaving it just 60 percent of its original size.
The more rice has been polished, the higher the classification level. But more polished rice doesn’t always mean better rice. Sake experts also love the cheaper local stuff, as long as it’s made from quality ingredients by good brewers. Ultimately, you should trust your own palate and preferences.