Warm or Cold Sake?!
Warm or Cold Sake?
is there any difference in drinking warm or cold Sake besides the taste?
Answers:
Short Answer: Most good sake should be enjoyed slightly chilled. Cheaper sake is served warm.
Long Answer: 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.
Wooden (cedar) tanks were used for brewing for centuries, slowly being phased out in the early part of the 20th century. Also, before glass bottles, for centuries sake was then stored in wooden casks (also cedar). As such, they took on a tremendously woody flavor and aroma. While this might have been enjoyable, today's fine fragrances and subtle flavors would be bludgeoned out of existence by such wood (although you can still enjoy such sake today; it is called "taru-zake").
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. Sake like this would be effectively neutered of the very qualities it was brewed to exude, if heated. Today, sake is brewed in stainless steel, ceramic-lined tanks, and stored in bottles. Rice milling technology is immeasurably better than it was even just 30 or 40 years ago. 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? The short answer: like white wine or even a little warmer. Much sake peaks in flavor just below room temperature. The long answer: 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.
Source(s):
Sake and sushi lover. Heck, even my pets are named "Sake, Sushi and Wasabi"....
no!!!
I think it goes down alot better if its warm.
I think the taste the same but I don't really like either. My fiance loves sake and he also asks for it to warm.
My husband likes his warm. I like mine chilled and mixed with chilled plum wine.
Warm Sake is usually filtered whereas Cold Sake is not. I just depends on your personal preference - mine? "C" all of the above! :)
From experience, I drink higher quality sake slightly chilled and generic brands slightly warmed. This allows each product to be enjoyed at it's best.
The warm one will give you a quicker buzz as it is absorbed into the system faster.
But frankly, it depends more on the weather and the occasion than any other factors.