Learn about sake & shochu
KIKI's Learn section is a free guide to how sake, shochu and awamori are made, their types, regions, history, how to drink them and the seasonal releases: 22 articles and a glossary of 90 terms.
The same guides as in the app.
Sake
- How sake is madeRice, water, koji and yeast, in ten steps from polishing to bottling.
- Types of sakeJunmai, ginjo, honjozo, and styles like nama, genshu and nigori.
- How to read a sake labelGrade, polishing ratio, ingredients, SMV and acidity, nama and genshu, bottling date.
- Sweet or dry? Reading SMV and acidityHow to read the sake meter value and acidity, and why numbers aren't everything.
- Sake regions and breweriesHow water, rice, climate and brewmasters make sake taste of its place.
- A short history of sakeBorn with rice farming, shaped by temples, Edo and science.
Shochu & awamori
- How honkaku shochu is madeKoji first, then sweet potato or barley, and a single distillation.
- How awamori is madeThai rice, black koji only, one mash, and kusu that grows with age.
- Types of shochu and awamoriSweet potato, barley, rice, brown sugar and buckwheat, plus koji and still.
- How does awamori differ from shochu?Thai rice, black koji only, one single mash, plus where awamori sits in the law and its story.
- Kusu (aged awamori) and shitsugiOnly awamori aged three years or more (all of it) is kusu. Age statements, pots and bottles, and shitsugi at home.
- Shochu and awamori regionsKyushu and Okinawa, where every island and prefecture has its own ingredient.
- Where awamori is madeThe "Ryukyu" GI and some 45 distilleries, from the main island to Miyako, Yaeyama and Yonaguni.
- A short history of shochu and awamoriDistilling arrived from the southern seas, reaching Ryukyu, Satsuma, then all Japan.
- How to drink awamoriIn Okinawa it's mostly with water; on the rocks, hot, and kusu neat. The karakara and the chibugwā.
- Awamori guideHow it differs from shochu, kusu, how to drink it, Okinawa's distilleries and our awamori data on one page.
Enjoying it
- Temperature and how to drinkFrom snow-chilled to piping hot, and how to mix shochu.
- How long sake keeps and how to store itWhy there is no best-before date, how long bottles keep, fridge or shelf.
- How to warm sakeHot-water bath or microwave, the temperatures, and which sake to warm.
- How to mix shochuRatios and strength for shochu on the rocks, with water, hot water or soda, and maewari.
- Matching sake with foodMatch the weight, lean on salt and umami, mind the aroma and temperature.
- Calories and sugar in sake and shochuPer glass, why shochu has no sugar, and how to work out pure alcohol.
- Sake through the seasonsA year of releases, from shiboritate, summer sake and hiyaoroshi to new shochu.
Glossary
Grades
Styles
Making
Taste & numbers
Shochu & awamori
- Kusu
- Honkaku shochu
- Imo shochu
- Mugi shochu
- Kome shochu
- Kokutō shochu
- Soba shochu
- Kasutori shochu
- Black koji
- White koji
- Yellow koji
- Atmospheric distillation
- Vacuum distillation
- Awamori
- Maewari
- Kōrui shochu
- Oyuwari (with hot water)
- Mizuwari (with water)
- On the rocks
- Kurojoka
- Shitsugi
- Zen-kōji (all-koji mash)
- Ryukyu awamori (GI Ryukyu)
- Ippanshu (regular awamori)
- Oyazake (parent pot)
- Hanazake
- Karakara
- Chibugwā
- Soda-wari (with soda)