What is sake?

Sake has been brewed in Japan for well over a thousand years, but you don't need any of that history to enjoy it. At its simplest, sake is a clear, smooth drink made from polished rice and water, fermented with the help of a mold called koji and a little yeast. It can be crisp and dry, soft and fruity, rich and savory, or anywhere in between.

The short version

• What it's made from: rice, water, koji, and yeast. Some styles also get a small amount of distilled alcohol.
• How strong it is: most sake is around 15 to 16% ABV. Undiluted styles can reach 18 to 20%. WESAKE's can is 12% ABV and the Sakura bottle is 14.5%.
• How it tastes: clean and smooth, with flavors that range from melon, pear, and white flowers to steamed rice, nuts, and gentle umami.
• How to drink it: usually chilled, sometimes warm, always at your own pace. Sip it like you would a glass of wine.

In Japan, the word "sake" can mean any alcoholic drink. The rice drink itself is usually called nihonshu, which simply means "Japanese alcohol." Outside Japan, sake almost always means the rice drink, and that's what we mean here.

What sake is made from

Every sake starts with four ingredients:

1. Rice. Not the rice you cook for dinner, but special sake rice with large grains and a starchy core. Varieties like Gohyakumangoku and Yamada Nishiki are famous for it. The rice is polished before brewing to strip away the outer layers.
2. Water. Sake is about 80% water, so breweries care a lot about their water source. Soft water and harder, mineral-rich water make noticeably different sake.
3. Koji. A mold (Aspergillus oryzae) grown on steamed rice. Koji turns the rice starch into sugar, the job malt does in beer.
4. Yeast. Yeast turns that sugar into alcohol. Different yeast strains bring different aromas, from apple and banana to florals.

We go deeper on each one in what sake is made from, and you can see the four that go into WESAKE on our sake page.

How sake is made, in one minute

Sake is brewed, not distilled. Brewers polish the rice, wash and soak it, and steam it. Koji mold is grown on part of the steamed rice, then the koji, more steamed rice, water, and yeast go into a tank together. Here's the clever part: the koji keeps turning starch into sugar while the yeast turns sugar into alcohol, both at the same time in the same tank. That's called multiple parallel fermentation, and it's what makes sake unique.

After a few weeks the mash is pressed to separate the clear sake from the rice solids, then it's usually filtered, pasteurized, rested, and bottled. For the full step by step, read how sake is made.

Is sake a wine, a beer, or a spirit?

None of the above, exactly. Sake is brewed from grain like beer, but it's still, smooth, and usually sipped like wine. It isn't distilled, so it's not a spirit. People call it "rice wine" all the time, and it's an easy shorthand, but sake really is its own category. We compare them in sake vs wine and is sake wine, beer, or a spirit.

The main types of sake

Premium sake is graded by two things: how much the rice was polished, and whether a little distilled alcohol was added. The words you'll see most often are:

• Junmai: made only from rice, water, koji, and yeast, with no added alcohol.
• Ginjo: rice polished to 60% or less of its original size, for a lighter, more aromatic sake.
• Daiginjo: rice polished to 50% or less, often the most delicate and fragrant.
• Honjozo: rice polished to 70% or less, with a small amount of distilled alcohol added.

Put two together and you get styles like Junmai Ginjo, which is what both WESAKE sakes are. Our guide to the types of sake has the full chart, and what is Junmai Ginjo explains our favorite.

What sake tastes like

Sake has less acidity than wine and no tannins, so it feels smooth and round. Instead of sharpness, it brings umami: that savory, mouth-filling quality you get from broth or aged cheese. On top of that you'll find aromas from the rice and yeast, from fruity and floral in Ginjo styles to steamed rice, mushroom, and nuts in fuller Junmai styles.

Labels often list a sake meter value, or SMV, which hints at whether a sake drinks drier or sweeter. Read more in sake meter value and sake acidity.

How to drink sake

You can drink sake cold, at room temperature, or warm. As a rule of thumb, light and aromatic styles like Junmai Ginjo are best chilled, while fuller, rice-forward styles can be lovely warm. Our guide to serving sake hot or cold has a temperature chart.

Glassware is flexible too. A small ceramic cup is traditional, and a white wine glass is great for picking up aroma. And with a can, you can skip the glass entirely. However you pour it, sip it slowly, the same way you would a glass of wine.

Once a bottle is open, sake is at its best fresh. Keep it cold and enjoy it soon. How long sake lasts covers storage, opened and unopened.

What to eat with sake

Sushi is the classic, but sake works with a surprising range of food: tacos, pizza, fried chicken, ramen, oysters, cheese. Its gentle umami and low acidity make it easy to pair. See our sake food pairing guide for ideas.

How to say it

It's "sah-keh," with two syllables, not "sah-key." Nobody at the bar will mind either way.

Where to start

If you're new to sake, a chilled Junmai Ginjo is a friendly first step: clean, smooth, and easy to like. That's exactly why we made WESAKE. Our Junmai Ginjo can is dry and light, brewed in Niigata, and made to drink straight from the can or pour into a glass. The Sakura bottle is floral and dry, made for sharing at the table.

Ready to dig deeper? Start with the complete guide to sake.