If you’re like me – or what I used to be like anyway – when you drink sake you do it at a bar or restaurant, often with a group of friends.
And you take it however they serve it, hot or cold.
Well I have news for you with these two big tips that will teach you how to properly drink sake. I learned this while on a Zoom taste test with Tkyu sake, so it comes from an expert source.
Sake Tip #1: Drink It Cold
When receiving the sample bottles before our taste test, I asked the Tyku representative if I should heat it up before the show. She stated no, that I should actually put it in the refrigerator.
The reason, she explained, is that sake is at its best when it is served chilled. If a bar or restaurant serves it to you warm or hot, it generally means that they are serving cheap or low-grade sake. That makes sense because my first sake experiences was having it hot out of a dispenser at a dive bar, the Hermosa Beach Yacht Club.
Sake Tip #2:
Drink the sake in a sake glass – which is is slightly bigger than a shot glass – and fill it up to the rim. In fact, the traditional way to drink it in Japan is to overfill it and let it spill over into a small sake box.
Sake Bonus Tips
Unlike spirits, sake has a limited shelf life. It’s more like wine. Two months max, one month or less is best. It won’t really go bad or anything but it will lose much of its flavor after that time…Store the bottle in the refrigerator…You can make cocktails out of sake. One recipe is to mix it with juice and ginger. I tried it and it’s great.
And now, go enjoy drinking sake. Kanpai!
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