Today just happens to be World Sake Day, so let’s do a recap of this Japanese spirit.
Getting the right rice is one thing – the brewers also have to make sure the rice is polished to the right degree, by milling the grains to remove the bran. Grapes already have residual sugar in them, so just adding yeast will start the fermentation process. But, rice doesn’t have any sugar in it, so for fermentation to start, the toji has to first steam the rice, and then sprinkle ‘koji’ on it.
A good, pure source of water is also very important to sake making, as it is used in almost every step of the brewing process, from the washing of the rice to the dilution of the final product. As mentioned, unless the label says that a sake is ‘junmai’, then it will likely contain a certain amount of ‘brewer’s spirit’ .