What does sake (rice wine) taste like and what food is it good with?

Answer 1

sake, is an acquired taste. by that I mean most people don't care for it at first. It is medium strong in taste, should be served warm, and goes well with most asian dishes.

Answer 2

Rice Wine Taste

Answer 3

Served warm its got quite a kick, I think its somewhere between a wine and a spirit but with a malty taste. The above user is right its gooooooooood :)

Have with Japanese food, teriaki sauce actually has sake in it. A nice plate of sushi and a bottle or warm sake is a beutiful and elegent meal almost to good to eat (almost)

It should be warmed in a clay bottlle to 37c/98.6F in a bath of water, but can be served at room temperature (20c/68F) or chilled to 10c/50F (serry dont know how to do the degrees symbol) depending on the season and the quality of the sake (heating covers up the bad taste of cheap sake).

If you find its not to your taste, try plum wine its good too.

Answer 4

sake(rice wine) is japanese version of rice wine and is compratively very light...it is malty,dry,smells strong in case the wine is of good quality...tastes good when served warm..it is best with roasted meat and fresh fish..basically with salty meat...if u r health consious then u can try these with peanuts..peanuts and rice wine go well in taste plus it is good for stomach...peanut could be salty if u want........try not to drink the whole bottle at once...take your time and feel the real deal...there is another version of rice wine from nepal..they call it A-La....its more strong than sake and even strong people with high drinking limit dare not to over drink this wine...

Answer 5

The most commond sake in US are warm sake, that why most people real say serve warm.

Indeed, sake was traditionally served warmed. This was related to the fact that sake was, until about 30 or 40 years ago, much, much rougher, fuller, sweeter and woodier than it is now. Warming suited it much better back then.

But in the end, one big reason sake was warmed in the old days was that it was woodier and rougher, and warming masked a lot of the less-than-refined aspects.

However, about 30 to 40 years ago, things began to change in the sake-brewing world. Brewing technology and the availability of new strains of sake rice (and the equipment to properly handle it) and new pure yeast strains led to sake with bold and lively taste and fragrance profiles. Much more delicate and fragile sake also came about, with fruit and flowery essences all of a sudden becoming part of the equation. Most premium sake today is delicate, fragrant, and elegant. To heat such sake would be to destroy precisely the flavors and fragrances the brewer worked so hard to have you enjoy!

So: Most good sake should be enjoyed slightly chilled. How chilled? Like wine and any other premium beverage, each sake will be different at even slightly different temperatures. Every sake will appeal to some people at one temperature, and other people at another temperature. What appeals to you most is the best temperature for that sake, for you, on that day.

Sake should never be served too cold. When sake is over-chilled you cannot taste anything. Sure, flaws would be covered up, but so would more refined aspects of the sake, as nothing is discernible. If someone tells you to enjoy sake ice cold, it is because they know their sake is inferior. To propagate such an untruth is unethical and unfair to brewers of fine sake.

The truth is, there is plenty of good sake, premium ginjo and sometimes daiginjo even, that goes quite well when gently warmed.

Many sakagura (sake breweries) will tell you that a particular sake of theirs is especially tasty when warmed. Some list that information right on the label. Also, tasting a wide variety of sake at a wide variety of temperatures will soon make it clear which flavor profiles appeal to you at warm temperatures and which do not.

Now let review the type of Sake in the market.

Most Commond

Junmai-shu
Made with only rice, water and koji mold. The rice used must be polished to at least 70%**. Often a full and solid flavor profile, clean and well structured.

Honjozo-shu
Made with rice, water, koji and a very small amount of pure distilled alcohol ("brewers' alcohol") to help extract flavor and aroma. Light, mildly fragrant, easy to drink.

Mid Grade

Junmai Ginjo-shu
Brewed with labor-intensive steps, eschewing machinery for traditional tools and methods, using highly polished rice (at least 60%**) and fermented at colder temperatures for longer periods of time. Light, fruity, refined.

Ginjo-shu
Brewed with labor-intensive steps, eschewing machinery for traditional tools and methods, using highly polished rice (at least 60%**) and fermented at colder temperatures for longer periods of time. Light, aromatic, fruity, and refined.

Premium Grade

Junmai Daiginjo-shu
A subclass of junmai ginjo-shu, brewed with very highly polished rice (to at least 50%** see below) and even more precise and labor intensive methods. The pinnacle of the brewers' art. Generally light, complex and fragrant.

Daiginjo-shu
A subclass of ginjo-shu below, brewed with very highly polished rice (to at least 50%** see below) and even more precise and labor intensive methods. The pinnacle of the brewers' art. Generally light, complex and quite fragrant

You can no more ask "what food goes well with sake in general" then you can ask "what goes well with wine." Which sake? Although sake may not have the presence of wine, nor the fullness or impact, there are still many styles and countless individual flavor profiles. Each will work well with some food, less well with others.

The principle and philosophy of matching is the same. It should be fun, precisely because it is imprecise and calls for imagination. The object of the game is to enhance the food, the sake, or hopefully both. When it works well, the result is an alchemical manifestation of a golden food and sake experience

Answer 6

I cannot say much about taste - it goes straight into your head; it's very strong, like vodka - but imagine you are drinking hot vodka (because the sake is served hot).
It is served in japanese restaurants mainly with sushi or sahimi - so i presume it's good with any raw fish?

Answer 7

Sake is very nice served warm with very fresh Sushi.

It tastes gooooooooooooooood

Answer 8

It's an aquired taste...it quite literally blew my head off. But it goes nicely with Asian inspired foods.