Misconceptions About Sake

Series Summary

Sake is produced from the fermentation of rice. Initially, sake was produced by people chewing a combination of chestnuts, millet, acorns and rice and spitting this mixture into a large bowl. Since these ancient origins, sake has become a integral part of the Japanese culture. In fact, sake was consumed in World War II as the final beverage of Kamikaze pilots. The fermentation of this popular alcoholic beverage has advanced significantly, to what is now a sophisticated and scientifically advanced industry which produces many different varieties. The Japanese government opened research institutes in the early 1900s to streamline the sake brewing process. By 1988, Japan had almost 2,500 sake breweries. The drink has also become popular all over the world. In this free video series on the history of sake, a sake sommelier will discuss the fascinating history of this drink, from the roots in the Yangtze River valley, to the World War II troops, to the current generation of Japanese businessmen. Find out how sake is used in religious ceremonies as well as to transact a business call. Learn why sake is not as popular in Japan as it used to be. Discover how sake made in the United States differs from the sake made in Japan.

Video Transcript

"Greetings. I'm Beua Timken and I'm a master sake sommelier. I'd like to speak to you a little bit about the history of sake, but first let's get to the present date of the misunderstandings and the misconceptions of sake that we have here in the US and the world abound. Sake is not a distilled beverage. Many people think that it is. Sake, they think is a hard core booze that one must drink piping hot out of small little cups throwing it back one after another or - God forbid - dropping a warm cup of sake into a beer for the famous sake bombs. This is not sake per se. When we talk about the history of sake I will then describe a little bit about where sake came from, where sake is going, but remember one thing, sake is built like beer, but it drinks like wine and you don't have to drink it hot. There's great temperature zones for sake. You don't have to drink it out of small little cups. Sometimes a wine glass works perfectly and a lot of people think that sake is a fad. What I like to tell people is that sake is about a thousand year old fad. We're just catching up to sake right now. So we'll talk about that in this segment and the history of sake."