Sake Tasting Reviews

Sawanotsuru Refined Sake 720ml, £11.20 Waitrose.

This is a really good Honjozo-shu, brewed using a combination of Yamada Nishiki and Gohyaku Mangoku sake rice.  The Honjozo-shu is brewed using water, koji rice, rice and a small amount of distilled alcohol is added to accentuate the aromas in the Sake. 

A dry, light and fragrant Sake, it can be consumed chilled (5-10°C), room temperature (15°C), or warmed (45°C-50°C).

Alcohol by Vol: 14.5%
Rice Polishing Ratio: 65%
Sake Meter Value: +2.0
Acidity: 1.5

Summary: Good entry level Sake, reasonably priced and good quality.

Ozeki Sake 375ml, £6.45 local Asian store.

This Sake is a fair Junmai-shu, brewed in California using American grown rice.
It is a little sharper and less fragrant than the Sawanotsuru Sake. 

Junmai-shu consists of water, rice and Koji rice.

It is best served cold (4-10°C) or warmed to (40-46°C).

Alcohol by Vol: 14.5%

Polish Rate: 70%

Sake Meter Value: +8
Acidity: 1.3

Sake Rice: Short Grain ( S-102 )

Summary: Drinkable, best when served warm.

Bek Se Ju 375ml, £TBC

I know this is supposed to be a Sake review, however my local Asian store sells this Korean rice wine and I thought it worth mentioning as I enjoyed drinking it.

Bek Se Ju literally means, 100 years old, referring to the health benefits of the wine. It is brewed using 12 herbs including Korean red ginseng, ginger, licorice, omija, wolfberry and cinnamon.

Alcohol by Vol: 12.5%

Summary: Drinkable, served cold (5-10°C)

 

Doragon (Sake) Rice Wine 700ml, £6.25 Sainsbury's

This is a Chinese made rice wine in a Futsu-shu style, apparently, and I think calling it a Sake would be extremely disrespectful to Sake brewers.  Distributors recommend drinking it warm, however serving this rice wine warm or hot will not mask its vile taste.  It is harsh and incomparable to the likes of Ozeki or Sawanotsuru.  For the home brewer this will give you a good idea of what bad Sake tastes like.

If you have never tried Sake, stay well clear as it will probably put you off trying Sake again.  Surprisingly this won the IWSC Silver 2011 'Quality Award'.  For me it comes close to drinking acetone. Sainsbury's supermarket ditched Sawanotsuru for this rubbish. Tesco also sell Doragon, but in a brown bottle.

Alcohol by Vol: 14%

Summary: Disappointing, avoid at all cost it's not fit for drinking only cooking.