If you are not familiar with Japanese Sake, you must be wondering what Japanese Sake is made from and how it is made.
In general, Japanese Sake is made from three ingredients; rice, water, and rice koji (rice molt).
However, for Honjozo-shu, unlike Junmai-shu, distilled alcohol is added.
(see https://unmomentoporfavor.wixsite.com/mysite/about-japanese-sake-1/8-categories-of-japanese-sake for the difference between Junmai-shu and Honjozo-shu)
Can you believe that such a delicate drink can be made only from three ingredients!?
Or it may be correct to say that Japanese Sake is a delicate drink because it is only made from three ingredients!!
And here is the photo of one of the Japanese Sake breweries in Tokyo where magic happens!! The place is called "Ozawa Shuzo (sake brewery)".
Ozawa Shuzo is surrounded with beautiful nature that enables Ozawa Shuzo to make its smooth and delicate Japanese Sake.
The chart below shows the process of how Japanese Sake is made.
(http://www.sawanoi-sake.com/service/about)
*1 "Sei-mai" is the kind of activity that rice gets polished in a rice-polishing machine to shave off the unnecessary part of rice. Seimai buai (rice polishing ratio) is a figure indicating the extent to which genmai (brown rice) gets polished and becomes hakumai (white rice).
*2 "Shinshi" or "Shin-seki" means soaking rice into water, and "Mushi" means steaming rice.
*3 "Koji" is mould used in the production of various fermented drinks/food and is made by growing the useful mould koji-kin on rice, barley, soy beans or other grains.
*4 "Kobo" is yeast. This yeast is occassionally referred to as "Sake Kobo" (Sake Yeast).
*5 "Shubo" is yeast starter. Shubo is superior yeast that is cultivated by using steamed rice, koji, and water for the sake of making Japanese Sake.
*6 "Shikomi Water" is water used for Japanese Sake making.
*7 "Sandan Jikomi" is three stage mashing. "Shikomi" or "jikomi" is the activity that mixes the raw materials (water and rice) for seishu in tanks or other vessels is called shikomi (mashing).
*8 "Moromi" is the fermenting mass made by mashing shubo, steamed rice, koji, and water.
*9 "Jousou" is the activity of pressing/filtration to separate sake and sake cake.
*10 "Seishu" is sake that has been filtered and is clear.
*11 "Roka" is the process of passing a cloudy liquid through paper, cloth or other filtration medium to remove fine solids in liquid.
*12 "Sake-kasu" or ofter referred to as "rice cake" is the solid portion left after mature seishu moromi is pressed to separate sake from the remaining solids
*13 "Hi-ire" is the activity to heat and sterilize sake, thereby killing off micro-organisms and deactivating amylase, protease and other remaining enzymes, in order to improve storage stability.
The chart above makes you think that Japanese Sake making is simple, but it actually is not.
This process requires great care and thorough control of temperature and humidity.
It is always better to see the actual Japanese Sake making process, so if you are interested, since Ozawa Shuzo conducts a sake brewery tour during the Sake making season, you should check it out!!
Here is the English page for making a reservation for the tour!!
http://www.sawanoi-sake.com/en/about#tour
If you have difficult time figuring out how to make a reservation, please contact us so that we may be able to help you (I am Japanese, btw).
impv.myself@outlook.jp
Thank you for reading our post!
Are you interested in taking our quizzes about Japanese Sake and get an Amazon gift card? If so, let’s register your email address at our landing page https://unmomentoporfavor.wixsite.com/mysite !!
If you have any comments/questions and/or information you want to know, please write comments to us:)
References:
http://www.sawanoi-sake.com/en
http://www.nada-ken.com/main/en/index_s/84.html
http://www.nada-ken.com/main/en/index_k/108.html
http://www.nada-ken.com/main/en/index_s/210.html
http://www.nada-ken.com/main/en/index_m/202.html
http://www.nada-ken.com/main/en/index_r/234.html
http://www.nada-ken.com/main/en/index_h/256.html
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