Rice
This post is part The Koji Club’s BINGO. Play the game to win a karaoke party and build your sake chops in the process. Learn more here.
It might be hard to believe that rice, a shelf-stable staple in households around the world, can impart such a wide range of flavors to a single glass of sake. But locked away inside those tiny grains are the building blocks to a truly exceptional brew.
You won’t find rice used for premium sake in a pantry. Instead, premium sake uses sakamai, a family of rice varietals carefully cultivated over the past millennia specifically for sake brewing.
Photo from Japan Rail Pass.
How Sake Rice (Sakamai) Differs from Table Rice
Under a microscope and in the fields, sakamai looks quite different from its culinary counterpart. Sakamai grains are typically 30% larger than table rice but a lot more delicate and harder to grow.
In table rice, the starches, fats and amino acids are all distributed at random throughout the grain.
In sakamai, meanwhile, the starches are concentrated in the center of the grain, with the fats, proteins and amino acids surrounding it. The Japanese have aptly dubbed this starchy center the shinpaku, or “white heart,” which nods to both the visibly opaque center of each grain as well as the importance of starch in sake brewing.
This shinpaku is at the heart (pun intended) of the first step in sake production: polishing the rice.
See the little white hearts? That’s the shinpaku.
Rice polishing
Rice polishing, also known as milling, is when the brown rice husk is milled away, revealing the grain’s pearly white interior. How much is milled away is entirely up to the brewer, however, who will ultimately decide what category of sake they will be making in this very first step. This is because sake is taxed and sold by its polishing rate, though polishing also serves as a blueprint for how the rest of production will go (e.g. what yeast strain is used, how long and at what temperature fermentation occurs, etc.). The three polishing categories for premium sake are Junmai, Ginjo, and Daiginjo.
For an excellent, in-depth explanation of rice milling, check out Urban Sake Founder and former Hakkaisan brewery worker Tim Sullivan’s account of working in Hakkaisan's rice milling room.
Junmai, Ginjo, Daiginjo: Pure Rice Sake Categories
Depending on the category they aim to produce, brewers will mill the rice for hours or days; some breweries take 48 - 72 hours to achieve the desired seimaibuai for their competition-grade Junmai Daiginjos.
Junmai: Once categorized by a seimaibuai of 70% or less, Junmai can now have any percentage of milling as long as there are only four ingredients used in brewing: rice, water, koji, yeast.
Junmai Ginjo: 60% or less of the rice remains after milling.
Junmai Daiginjo: 50% or less of the rice remains after milling.
It’s worth mentioning again that the word “junmai” indicates there are only four ingredients in the sake: rice, water, koji and yeast. When a fifth ingredient – neutral spirit – is added to sake, it is no longer considered “pure rice sake”. No less delicious, sake with neutral spirit added is categorized and sold by the names below below.
Honjozo: Sake + Neutral Spirit
Similar to how a drop or two of water can open up the flavors in a glass of whisky, brewers use a neutral spirit to preserve the flavor of the sake while adding balance to the body and aromas. When alcohol is added, the category names change to:
Honjozo: Any percentage of milling with five ingredients used (rice, water, koji, yeast, neutral spirit). The equivalent to Junmai.
Ginjo: 60% or less of the rice remains after milling, with a bit of neutral spirit added. The equivalent to Junmai Ginjo.
Daiginjo: 50% or less of the rice remains after milling, with a bit of neutral spirit added. The equivalent to Junmai Daiginjo.
The amount of neutral spirit is quite small so alcohol levels are not affected; no more than 10% of the weight of the sake rice used in brewing is added.
Consider the addition of alcohol just one of the many tools brewers use to coax underdeveloped aromas out of hiding, balance the body, or extend the finish to a sip. For this reason, both categories serve as delightful explorations to what role rice plays in the sake brewing process.
More Rice, More Flavor
Since rice and the degree to which it is milled are the biggest factors to flavor, many brewers will stick with just one or two rice varietals to allow for the rice’s flavor to shine. But how do you know what role rice is actually playing in your glass of sake?
That’s where it gets tricky.
From rice paddy to final pasteurization, there are thousands of variables impacting how the sake will taste. But a easy rule of thumb for those looking to explore rice varietals is to start with the highest semaibuai category. That is, junmai or honjozo.
“When you mill less, more of the rice’s specific qualities are showcased,” says James Mark, owner of Big King in Providence, Rhode Island. “Higher seimaibuai inherently allows the rice to play a bigger role in the glass.”
Top Sake Rice Varietals
Of course, the type of sake rice impacts flavor, too. The market is dominated by a handful of varietals, though some of today’s artisanal sake brewers have been working hard to revive nearly extinct varietals of sakamai. Heirloom sake rice can impart a wide range of flavors so the best way to understand these ancient grains is to...you guessed it…DRINK THEM!
Most Popular Sakamai Varietals
Yamada Nishiki: frequently referred to as the “King of sake rice”, this varietal is famous for producing delicate, fragrant and complex-tasting ginjos and daiginjos.
Gohyakumangoku: is the second-most widely used sake rice in Japan and yields light-bodied sake with a fresh, clean taste, but the giant core prevents a high level of polishing.
Omachi: one of the oldest “pure” sake rice strains, Omachi has been used to cultivate hybrid varietals for centuries. More challenging to work with than Yamada Nishiki or Gohyakumangoku, Omachi rewards its brewers with richly herbal, earthy flavors.
Miyamanishiki: Known for producing rich, full bodied sakes, Miyamanishiki is most commonly grown in northern Japan and is often used to create hybrid rice strains for very cold climates. Some examples are Dewasansan in Yamagata, Aki no Sei in Akita, and Yume no Kaori in Fukushima.
EARN YOUR BINGO STICKER
This is a blog post from the The Koji Club Bingo Game. To complete the Bingo square, follow the steps below:
Step 1. Join us at The Koji Club bar for a glass of sake that features any one of the four rice varietals below:
Yamada Nishiki
Gohyakumangoku
Omachi
Heirloom Rice Wildcard! Ask your bartender.
Step 2. Present your BINGO card to the bartender for a sticker.
Step 3. If the square completes Bingo, post a picture of your winning Bingo card on Instagram with the hashtag #DrinkGoodSake and tag @the.koji.club. This is your entry to win a Karaoke Party at The Koji Club! Play as many times as you want entries. Winners will be drawn monthly.
EXTRA CREDIT: Post a picture of your sake with your own tasting notes (the wilder the better!) and the #DrinkGoodSake hashtag. Don’t forget to tag @The.Koji.Club to make sure we see it!
