Sweet or dry? Reading SMV and acidity

The sake meter value (SMV, 日本酒度) and acidity (酸度) are the two numbers that hint at sweet or dry: a positive SMV leans dry, a negative one sweet. At the same SMV, higher acidity makes a sake taste drier and crisper.

What is the sake meter value?

It measures how heavy the sake is compared with water. At 15 °C, sake exactly as heavy as water at 4 °C scores 0. More sugar makes it heavier and the number goes negative; less sugar and more alcohol make it lighter and push it positive. It's read with a small float, the nihonshu-do-kei.

What the numbers mean

Most sake falls in this range, but dessert-like kijoshu can go far into the minus, and sake sold as "extra dry" can be above +10.

What is acidity?

The amount of acid in the sake, mostly lactic and succinic. Most sake sits between about 1.0 and 2.0. More acid gives weight and a drier impression; less feels softer and sweeter. Kimoto and yamahai, which rely on natural lactic bacteria, tend to have more.

Reading SMV and acidity together

Put the two side by side and the style becomes clearer.

If the label also gives the amino acid level (アミノ酸度), read it as umami: higher means fuller and savoury, lower means lighter and cleaner.

Numbers aren't everything

Other things change how sweet or dry a sake feels:

• Aroma: fruity ginjo aromas make sake seem sweeter.
• Temperature: warming brings out sweetness and umami; chilling brings out dryness and a clean finish.
• Alcohol: strong sake such as genshu tends to show a higher SMV.

Treat the numbers as a map and let your own palate decide. How the grades taste is covered in Types of sake.