Tasting

Table of contents

There are no hard and fast rules as to how we should taste saké. But you can follow a simple guideline that professional sommeliers use when evaluating saké. It will help you gain a better insight into the type of saké you are drinking and what it has to offer in terms of your sensory experience. The following are the basic guidelines and steps that one can use when evaluating a saké:

APPEARANCE

Clear water-like or colourless - The majority of the saké in the market goes through the process of charcoal fining to remove the colour. This is why most saké are light in colour and almost water-like.

Lemon green in colour - Saké that has just been freshly pressed (the solids are removed) and has not gone through the charcoal fining process.

Light Gold /Straw (pale yellow) colour - Sakés that have gone through some light aging process. This is caused by the reaction between ingredients in saké such as amino acids, sugar and oxygen. Sakés that did not go through the charcoal fining process called Muroka (無濾過) will also tend to have this colour.

Amber/Brown/Gold - Saké that has seen a longer ageing process like koshu 古酒 or jukusei-koshu 熟成古酒, usually but not always aged at the brewery for 3 years or more. A relatively younger aged saké that has gone through only a year of ageing will probably lean towards lighter gold than amber or brown. However, darker shades of gold, brown or amber colour may, but not necessarily indicate a fault in the saké. Normally the smell of the saké will give a better indication of whether a saké is faulty, perhaps due to bad storage conditions or contamination.