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Want to drink something so Japan-nice? Searching for the perfect pair to gulp down your sushi? Look no further. We serve SAKE, Japan’s second most popular drink next to beer.

Mistake no more its pronunciation, ingredients, process, flavor, serving and ettiquette with this crash course in Sake Tasting.

1. Pronounced as sah-kay, it can either be served warm or cold.

Warm Sake

• Serving it warm is the classic way to enjoy sake. The warmth increases the intensity of the alcohol, as well as its dryness. This is especially true with sake which has distilled alcohol added to it.

• To serve warm, pour sake into a jar called “tokkuri”. Place “tokkuri” in a saucepan of hot water which has been heated before it reaches its boiling point. The ideal temperature is between 100 to 105° Fahrenheit or a little higher than body temperature.

• You can use a microwave to heat sake, but there’s the risk that you boil it accidentally. Boiling destroys the aroma and flavor of the sake.

• After it reaches desired temperature, pour sake in small cups called “ochoko”. In shops selling Japanese items, a sake jar comes with two small cups.

Cold Sake

• Serving it cold is the contemporary way to enjoy sake, especially as a refreshing drink during summer season.

• The premium ones or sake belonging to higher grades must be served slightly chilled. I must reiterate slightly chilled because if it’s too chilled, the flavors are masked. Then again, if it’s warmed, its delicate aroma and flavors are spoiled.

•   Pour it in a specially designed sake cup or wine glass.

Neither Cold Nor Warm

Junmai, with its fuller flavor and higher acidity, is best served and enjoyed at room temperature.

2. Food Pairing

• Warm sake goes well with cool sushi. Its dryness complements plain foods such as sashimi and also cuts oiliness of hot pot dishes.

• Sake high in acidity complements oily dishes like tempura.

• Pair off chilled sake with salmon phylo tart.

• A sweet sake pairs nicely with a creamy dish.

• Premium sake pairs well with a salad or fruit dish.

Strongly-flavored and spicy dishes don’t pair well with sake because they will not just drown the subtleties but will also overpower its taste.

Experiment and do not limit your sake to Japanese or Asian dishes. Try out Western dishes which complement or contrast the flavors of sake.

I must quote Award-winning sommelier Maria José Huertas who said that when you marry wines with food, you will soon find that for every dish, there tends to be at least four or five wines that are a good match. The same can be true to sake.

3. Etiquette

• When in Japan or with Japanese, observe their customs in serving sake. The more formal the situation, the more it calls for customs to be observed. You pour sake for your companion/s and they pour it for you in return.

• In formal events, hold the tokkuri with both hands when pouring. The person receiving should lift sake cup from the table, holding it with one hand and then supporting it with the other.

• In informal events, pour and receive sake with one hand.

• Among very close friends, pouring rituals are observed only on the first round.

I knew and practiced none of these when I first drank sake in Japan. The occasion certainly did not call for one. My fellow traveler and I bought a tetra-packed sake straight from the grocery. So the second time around, I went for a sake tasting in Sho Chiku Bai at Berkeley, California. My trip to the latter proved that it’s becoming increasingly popular abroad. The variety course included:

• a ginjo type – light and clean, refreshing with smooth aroma;

•  a junmai unpasteurized type – bold and yeasty with a fruity and refreshing taste;

• a junmai type – well balanced and full bodied;

• and two flavored type sake. My personal favorites were the plum-flavored sake – rich, sweet and complex flavor with cherry and almond;

•  and lychee-flavored sake which has a fruity, sweet and mellow aroma to it.

Our sake tasting turned out to be “edu-taining”. Educational with the Takara Sake Museum just right beside the bar housing gigantic tanks used in the processing of sake which show how sake is made. Entertaining with all the lively and rich flavors of the sake tasting at the bar.

Part of the adventure in traveling is tasting new dishes and drinks. But you don’t even have to go far to taste it. As sake is becoming increasingly popular and made available to more bars and liquor stores, I wouldn’t be even surprised to find it in your refrigerator.

Glass of Sake picture by Marshall Astor