Sake

Sake (Japanese:酒; pronounced 'sa.kɛ' ) is a Japanese word for "alcoholic drink". In English, "sake" means one kind of alcoholic drink made from rice. In Japan, people call this drink nihonshu ( "Japanese alcohol") or sake. This article uses the word "sake" as it is used in English. In English, it is sometimes called rice wine. This term is misleading though: wine is the result of fermenting grape juice. Even though Sake has an alcohol content similar to wine, its production is more similar to that of beer.

 Ingredients 
Sake is a fermented drink. Most sake is made from rice, water, kōji, and yeast. Sometimes a small amount of lactic acid is used in brewing. Water or small amounts of pure alcohol can be added at the end of production. Sake can have from 12 to 22% alcohol, but is usually around 15 or 16%. Lower quality mass-produced sake can have added sugar or flavorings.

Serving sake

Amazake
Amazake is sweet, low or non-alcoholic sake. 

Related pages
Awamori
Doburoku
rice wine
Shōchū

Category:Fermented drinks
Category:Japanese food