Revelations and Misconceptions about Sake
by Tom McKenna
First misconception about sake: the toast is Kanpai, not Kampai. The
first of many misconceptions when it comes to drinking things Japanese.
Second
misconception: sake isn’t a wine per se. Even though the phrase “rice
wine” will appear on bottles, in stores, let me repeat, sake isn’t wine
in terms of how the stuff is made.
First revelation: the
process of making sake is more similar to the process of brewing beer
than it is to the process of producing wine. Where wine is made from
the single fermentation of a fruit juice, sake comes from the multiple
fermentations of a grain, rice.
Second revelation: some of the
best sake to be had whether one is toasting incorrectly or thinking
they are sipping a fine, aged wine is made right here in Forest Grove,
Oregon in the only American owned sake brewery in the US.
SakéOne is located in Forest Grove. The tasting room ( 820 Elm Street, Forest Grove ) is open is 7 days a week from 11- 5.
SakéOne was founded by a group of folks who simply loved saké and had a
vision - to produce world-class saké in the United States. Although
saké was traditionally made in Japan, they believed that premium ginjo
saké could be produced in the United States. With water as one of
saké's most critical ingredients, the east slope of Oregon's Coastal
Mountains was identified as an ideal water source for its purity. And
so Forest Grove, Oregon, became the home of SakéOne, producer of
Momokawa and Moonstone, America's most honored sakés!
Overall truth: It’s a whole lot simpler to drink the stuff than it is to understand all that goes into making it.
From
what I have gathered, the first sakes were made like this: interested
consumers chewed cooked rice, spit their chew out into a large bowl,
along with other half mauled items, and let it all ferment using their
own enzymes as the fermentation agent. The discovery of a mold called
“koji”, the same mold that is used to produce soy sauce and miso,
refined the process saved us from savoring someone else’s half eaten
dinner.
Sake beg
ins with polished rice. A milling process
refines raw rice down to almost half its original size removing all the
protein and oils and leaving only the starch. The starch is converted
to sugar with the addition of the koji mold and then the sugar is
converted to alcohol. And this is where sake departs from beer.
Sake’s multiple fermentations occur within a single step. Beer’s occur
within different, sequential steps.
And it gets more complicated
from here on in. But stay tuned, there will be more about sake
including a trip to Momokowa to taste Forest Grove's finest first hand
plus some easy primers about the wide variety of sakes available.
( Editors prerogative - Coming soon. A Food,Wine,Life's Pleasures tasting journey to Forest Grove - all comers welcome )
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