Does sake need to be refrigerated?

Sake is often sold at room temperature, which leads a lot of people to wonder whether the fridge matters at all. It does, but not always in the way you'd expect. The short version: open sake goes in the fridge, unpasteurized sake always goes in the fridge, and everything else depends on how soon you'll drink it.

The quick answer

Situation	Refrigerate?
Opened bottle, any style	Yes
Unopened nama (unpasteurized) sake	Yes, always
Unopened Ginjo or Daiginjo	Best in the fridge
Unopened pasteurized Junmai or Honjozo	Cool, dark cupboard is fine for a few months
Unopened aged sake (koshu)	Cool and dark; follow the brewer's advice
Sake you plan to drink cold tonight	Yes, give it a few hours

Why sake likes the cold

Sake is a fresh drink. Most of it is made to be enjoyed within about a year of bottling, while its aromas are bright and its flavors clean. Three things wear that freshness down:

• Heat speeds up the slow chemical changes that dull aroma and deepen color.
• Light, especially sunlight and bright shop lighting, can change sake's flavor surprisingly fast.
• Air, once the bottle is open, starts to flatten the sake over days.

A fridge deals with heat and light at the same time, which is why it's the safest home for any sake you care about. It isn't strictly required for every unopened bottle, though, and the reason comes down to pasteurization.

Pasteurized vs nama sake

Most sake is pasteurized, usually twice: once after pressing and again at bottling. Gentle heating stops the enzymes and microbes that would otherwise keep changing the sake. That makes pasteurized sake stable enough to sit on a shelf for a while without spoiling.

Nama sake skips some or all of that pasteurization. It tastes lively and fresh, but it's still changing, so it has to stay cold from the brewery to your glass. Treat it like fresh juice: straight into the fridge, unopened and opened.

You'll see a few versions on labels:

• Nama or namazake: not pasteurized at all. Always refrigerate.
• Nama-chozo: pasteurized once, at bottling. Keep it cold.
• Nama-zume: pasteurized once, before storage. Keep it cold too.

If the label says nama in any form, or "unpasteurized," or "keep refrigerated," the answer is simple: yes, it needs the fridge. For more on the label words, see our guide to sake.

Unopened sake

For pasteurized sake you haven't opened yet, think about how soon you'll drink it and how delicate it is.

Aromatic premium styles like Junmai Ginjo and Daiginjo are worth keeping in the fridge even before opening. Their fruity and floral notes are their best feature, and cold storage protects them. Read more about the style in what is Junmai Ginjo.

Fuller styles like Junmai, Honjozo, and Yamahai are sturdier. A cool, dark cupboard away from the stove and windows is fine for a few months.

Wherever it lives, keep sake upright, out of the light, and away from big temperature swings. Moving a bottle back and forth between a warm room and the fridge over and over can dull it.

Opened sake

Once you open a bottle, refrigerate it. That's true even if you like to drink that sake warm: store it cold, then warm only what you're about to pour.

• Recap it tightly right after pouring.
• Stand it upright in the fridge door or on a shelf.
• Enjoy it within about a week or two. Aromatic styles lose their sparkle first; some fuller sakes soften nicely over the first few days.

If it starts to taste flat, smell sherry-like or sour, or turns yellow, it's past its best. Our guide to how long sake lasts covers the signs in detail.

Chilling vs storing

Storing sake and serving it are two different questions. You might keep a bottle of Junmai in the cupboard and still want to drink it chilled, or keep a Honjozo in the fridge and warm it up at dinner.

For serving, give a bottle a few hours in the fridge to bring it down to about 5 to 10°C (41 to 50°F). In a hurry, a bucket of ice and water chills a bottle or a few cans in about 15 to 20 minutes, much faster than ice alone. Avoid the freezer: it's easy to forget a bottle, and freezing sake can push out the cap or crack the glass. For every temperature from snow cold to hot, see hot or cold sake.

What about cans?

Cans make storage easy. They block light completely and seal tight, so a can is protected from the two things that age sake fastest on a shelf. Keep cans somewhere cool and dark, out of hot cars and direct sun.

A 180 mL can is a single serve, so there's nothing to store once it's open. Pour it into a glass or sip it straight from the can, and enjoy it that day.

How to store WESAKE

The can: store cans somewhere cool and dark, and put them in the fridge a few hours before you plan to drink them. WESAKE is a Junmai Ginjo and tastes best ice cold. Heading to a picnic or a party? Pack the cans in a cooler with ice so they arrive cold.

The Sakura bottle: keep it in its box or a cool, dark place until you're ready, then chill it before serving. After opening, recap it, keep it in the fridge, and enjoy it fresh over the next several days.

Want more serving ideas? Read how to drink sake, or meet our sake.