SAKE COLD OR WARM

Sake has been traditionally served warm for many centuries. Sake is one of the very few alcoholic beverages to be served warm except for rare servings of warm wine or beer. Drinking sake warm may be more comfortable particularly in the winter or in cold environments. A concern of warm sake is to dissipate highly volatile delicate aroma compounds. Warm sake may be good with plain tasting food due to more subtle flavor contrast. It is also said to give less of an oily sensation.

A small copper vase with tin coating has been used mainly for warming sake in Japan for many years. When the vase with sake is immersed in hot water, sake is rapidly heated due to the high conductivity of copper. Do not warm up sake in a glass or non-metal container in the microwave oven. Microwave oven heating destroys sake's complex flavor profile.

There are many aromatic, premium sakes that are good for serving cold. Like white wine, it is chilled in a cooler or refrigerator. To enjoy sake cold, we recommend that you use a white wine glass or goblet to retain the aroma in the void portion of the glass. The white wine glass gives more pleasant aroma than a short glass or a cut glass cup or an earthenware "choko" cup. A glass sake cooler may be used for cooling by a hollow part filled with ice that won't melt into the sake. Our Snow-Aged Rice Wine should be served chilled preferably in a white wine glass or something very similar. There is a noticeable difference in the flavor of the Rice Wine when it is served in a small "choko" cup.