People all around the World love sake!
Sake is Japanese rice wine. It can be brewed different ways like other types of alcohols, which gives it different appearances and tastes.

Japanese people once called sake Omiki, or “sacred wine,” and have a tradition since ancient times of offering it to the Gods on special occasions. .
Now, people enjoy sake on a regular basis, just like beer or wine are drunk in the West.
Clear water from Mt. Fuji is the key to great sake brewing

Sake is mainly made from the raw ingredients rice and water, and has an alcohol content of somewhere between 10% and 20%. Because its ingredients are simple, great sake cannot be produced with ordinary rice or water. Of these ingredients, water quality is particularly important, and it is said that in Japan, locations with high quality water produce superior sake. There are many sake breweries that brew delicious sake in locations with high quality water.
The area around Mt. Fuji is one of the most suitable locations for brewing sake because it has water with a renowned level of quality originating from Mt. Fuji itself. Sake brewers use Mt. Fuji’s clear groundwater (underground water deriving from rain and snow that has fallen on Mt. Fuji) to brew their different sake blends.
Rice, the other ingredient of sake, contains almost no glucose sugar, which is essential for alcoholic fermentation. Therefore, when making sake, Koji mold (a type of black mold) is used to convert starch to glucose sugar, which is used for yeast to create alcohol. This method, through which Koji and yeast are used together to produce sake, is a traditional Japanese technique that is unique in the World and has gained much attention.
The myriad varieties of sake

There are many different types of sake, but overall sake can be divided broadly by two variables: (1) the ingredients and (2) how much the rice is ground when producing it.
All sake is essentially made from the ingredients rice and water, but certain sake contains artificially brewed alcohol. Sake made from only rice and water is named Junmai, or ‘pure rice’, which is marked on sake bottles for identification.
Furthermore, sake is made of rice whose surface is partially ground. It is normally brewed using rice that is ground approximately 30%. The type of sake that is made of more than 40% ground rice and brewed with special attention and low temperature is called Ginjou, “special brew.” The special sake that is made of more than 50% ground rice is called Daiginjou, or “grand special brew.”

People usually enjoy sake with dinner or snacks in the same way that people enjoy wine.
Sake is drunk hot or cold depending on people’s taste. It is also drunk slowly, not in shots, without being mixed with water or ice.
When warm sake is prepared, it is poured into an Ochoushi, a sake decanter. The Ochoushi is placed in hot water and when it reaches the right temperature it is served in an Ochoko, sake cup, to be drunk little by little. Warm sake is particularly preferred in fall and winter. When cold sake is served, it is kept in a refrigerator in a bottle, and is taken out just before it is to be consumed and served in a glass. People tend to enjoy cold sake in hot weather. Sake can be enjoyed at different temperatures in accordance with the season, but it is also fine if it is drunk hot or cold throughout the year.
Pair sake with different cuisines.
Sake, unlike wine or whiskey, has a fresh after-taste without any particular lingering flavor. This is why sake is compatible with not only Japanese dishes, but also Western-style dishes.
One particularly recommended method of drinking sake is to have it between dishes during a full-course meal. This helps people to appreciate the flavor of the dish they have just finished and to refresh their palate in order to enjoy the authentic taste of the following dish.

All the sake made at Ide Jyozoten is made from groundwater from Mt. Fuji and has a smooth taste. In particular, Yukigeryu, meaning “water flows from melted snow,” is ginjou sake that is made of only melted snow water from Mt. Fuji and local rice, as its name suggests.
Daiginjou is luxury sake made of selected ingredients and all the brewery’s best techniques. It has a fruity taste and is a good match with not only sashimi, but also with French cuisine.
A tour of the brewery offers visitors an insight into sake production methods, as well as the history and culture of the areas around Mt. Fuji.

Ide Jyozoten (Ide Brewery)