How to Get the Full Sake Experience in Tokyo Japan

In Japan, not only is sake the national drink (with its own holiday on October 1), it is an essential symbol of Japanese culture and a meaningful part of Japanese tradition. Here’s how it is made: washed rice is steamed and spread on a table. Koji, often called the national fungi of Japan, is added to the wet rice, and the whole mixture is added to a barrel of water to ferment for around 21 days.

Sake resembles white wine in appearance. The color ranges from transparent to slightly yellow. Sake is bottled with an alcohol content of 13%–17%, slightly higher than wine. Sake has a mild, sweet taste with slight acidity and a trace of bitterness or astringency to balance the flavor profile.

Types of Sake

There are five main types of sake: Junmai-shu, Ginjo-shu, Daiginjo-shu, Namazake, and Honjozo-shu. The main difference between the types of sake is the percentage of milled rice versus the percentage of rice at its original size.  Each style of sake carries a unique taste. With all these flavors, it is crucial to approach sake tasting with an open mind.

One of the best ways to taste sake in Japan is on a guided sake tour. A guide can not only help you read the labels and understand the technicalities of the different kinds of sake, they will also help you calibrate your palate to the nuances of sake tasting so that you can gain a greater appreciation for this Japanese staple. More importantly, they will enhance the drink with meaning by connecting it to stories about Japanese culture and sake tradition.

Choosing a Sake Brewery

If you want to experience both the craft and culture of sake, you can visit one of Tokyo’s sake breweries. Established in 1702, Ozawa Brewery is the oldest sake brewery in Tokyo. The brewery is famous for its brand “Sawanoi.”

Another brewery to visit on your trip to Tokyo is Ishikawa Brewery, a 120-year-old sake and beer brewery that produces “Tamajiman” sake and craft beers. The brewery is located on the west side of Tokyo, around fifty minutes away from JR Shinjuku station by train. The brewery complex consists of a historical beer museum, a sake shop, an Italian restaurant, and an onigiri (rice ball) restaurant. The area retains a sophisticated and traditional atmosphere, as the old Japanese warehouses and classic sake cellar are still in use.

Selecting Sake for Beginners

Like two bottles of wine, two bottles of sake can be dramatically different in price. You can get a drinkable bottle for less than $10 USD, and you can spend up to $300 USD on a premium bottle. The variety in style and the dramatic difference in price range emphasize the importance of trying several types of sake. To find the sake you like the most, you need to be intentional about trying different styles and various price points.

Tasting sake is a full sensory experience. The first step (aside from selecting a sake and pouring it into a glass) of tasting sake is looking at the sake’s color and consistency. Next, smell the sake – floral, tropical, and earthy aromas are all a good sign, but if you smell burnt and musty notes, that could mean the sake is oxidized and unsuitable for drinking.  Earthiness, smokiness, and rice-centric aromas indicate more rustic styles, while fruity and floral aromas characterize the more refined sakes.

Japanese Sake Vocabulary

The aroma of sake is often broken down into three experiences: the uwadachi-ka, the fukumi-ka, and the modori-ka. The uwadachi-ka, or initial smell, is the fragrance of the sake before tasting. The second part, fukumi-ka, describes the new fragrances that are introduced by breathing through the nose while sake is being tasted. Finally, the modori-ka is reserved for those aromas present in the finish of the sake after you've sipped it. These are often the most subtle aromas.

After appreciating the color and smelling the sake, it is time to take a sip. To best taste sake, you should take a small sip and swirl the sake in your mouth. Make sure you breathe through your nose to experience the fukumi-ka aromas of the sake. You are tasting to see if the aromas are balanced to the taste. A balanced sake will feel cohesive through both the smell and taste. For example, a floral aroma is matched by a floral flavor. When the flavor is unexpected given the aroma, the sake is not balanced.

Japanese tasters often assess the flavor notes of a particular sake across five flavor categories. These are karami (dryness), nigami, (bitterness), shibumi (astringency or tartness), amami (sweetness), and sanmi (acidity). Although there are countless other flavors to be explored in the world of sakes, this approach provides a manageable number of components to identify across many different sakes. Although taste is ultimately subjective, using these categories helps sake tasters compare and communicate advice about sake.

Sake Tasting in Tokyo

If you want to immerse yourself in the world of sake, book Context’s Evening Sake Tasting Tour.

The tour is your chance to explore the world of Japanese sake with a local expert on a two-hour Tokyo sake tasting experience. You’ll visit an off-the-beaten-path neighborhood of Tokyo, frequented mainly by locals, and learn about the most important aspects of the sake production process, including brewing techniques, current trends, and tasting techniques, while gaining a greater appreciation for this celebrated beverage. Regardless of your level of sake knowledge, you will find this walk both informative and fun.

Your sake tasting experience occurs in a local bar in Shitamachi (Tokyo's old downtown). Away from the bustling city lights and crowds of tourists, you’ll sample some of Japan’s distinctive sake, learning about its history, food pairing, and the high-quality standards maintained by local breweries. The expert will select five types of quality sake for you to sip (the guide will already know, but we highly recommend the delicious cherry blossom sake). Each sake will be paired with small Japanese appetizers called Otsumami.

You will end your experience with a greater knowledge of Japanese sake that you can take home and put to good use when buying or drinking sake anywhere in the world.