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Sparkling sake has a lower alcohol content than regular sake, making it an easier to drink. There are two ways to make sparkling sake: one is to carbonate already fermented sake and the other is to bottle sake in the middle of the fermenting process before adding more yeast for a secondary fermentation.

Junmai sake is brewed using pure rice and rice bran, with no added alcohol. It has the most umami, with a rich rice grain flavor.

Daiginjo sake is the most premium sake because it uses highly polished rice, with a polishing rate of less than 50%. The more polished the rice, the clearer the taste of sake. Daiginjo sake flavor profiles depend on the type of rice and brewing techniques used.

Yamada Nishiki is the king of sake brewing rice. Its distinctive grains are large and white with a glossy center. Sake made from Yamada Nishiki is known to have fruity flavors with fine, mellow notes.

Kimoto is a traditional sake production method that refers to how the yeast starter is prepared and that usually produces a sake that is pleasantly tart, with a very finely grained texture.

Junmai sake is brewed using pure rice and rice bran, with no added alcohol. It has the most umami, with a rich rice grain flavor.

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Escape the Ordinary

A journey of
seafood and sake

To truly discover your sake journey, please use your headphones and click for audio.

How a sake love story began
Pepe Moncayo
Renowned chef Pepe Moncayo explores the intersections of food, sake, and everything beyond and between. He opens up about the first unforgettable sake tasting that busted his culinary boundaries wide open.
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When celebrated chef Pepe Moncayo fell in love with sake, he knew two things for sure. This would be a life-changing affair of the heart, mind and palate - and it would be a lifelong affair filled with inspiration and discovery.

Sake is eclectic and fascinating. It's concerned with balancing flavor and fragrance, rather than just strength; its finish is often short and focused on a clean aftertaste, rather than the kind of length you look for in wine.

A parallel fermentation process lies at sake's heart: polished rice is fermented with koji (the same mold spores used in soy sauce and miso, among others), then fermented again with yeast.

There's a myriad of variables, including the type of rice used and the degree to which grains are polished, whether the sake is pasteurized or fresh, the filtration processes, and whether alcohol is added. It all depends on the sake master presiding at a brewery.

In other words, sakes are as diverse as people, and just as imbued with character and personality.
In this wide, wildly varied world
of sake though, Pepe has stumbled onto a delicious truth:
paired together, seafood and sake are the stuff of gastronomic dreams.

In this wide, wildly varied world of sake though, Pepe has stumbled onto a delicious truth: paired together, seafood and sake are the stuff of gastronomic dreams.

The magic
of umami
A gastro pairing often sees elements complementing each other, but still removed and separate. But pair your food with sake, and your palate is in for a culinary experience much more than the sum of its parts. This is due to sake's complex interplay of a low, palate-rinsing acidity and the uniqueness of umami, achieved by rice amino acids released during fermentation.

Umami is the magic that happens when glutamate-rich foods, such as seafood, release glutamic acids, which join forces with the tongue's taste receptors to cause flavor to be heightened, deepened, multiplied.

Here are some ideas on how to pair sakes with seafood for a new flavor experience.

Most closely understood outside of Japan as a sense of savoriness or "meatiness", umami encompasses depth, complexity and irresistible appeal. You'll find it in tomatoes, meat, cheese and - spectacularly so - seafood. It's the main point of departure between sake and a regular bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

Sparkling
sake

Rice polishing rate - 5%
Sparkling sake with a well-balanced and smooth body
pairs well with the savory flavors of
Torta de Camarones
Sparkling sake with a well-balanced and smooth body pairs well with the savory flavors of
Torta de Camarones
"The acidity in any sort of wine will rinse your palate, mid-meal, and prepare it for the next bite. But the umami aspect of sake changes the pairing experiences and intensifies and enhances the flavors of a dish even more than wine does."

Junmai Daiginjo
Yamada Nishiki

Rice polishing rate - 50%
Sake with light, fruity flavor and aroma
pairs well with the sweet flavors in
Langoustine
Sake with light, fruity flavor and aroma pairs well with the sweet flavors in
Langoustine
“Sake is just as valuable for cooking - imagine preparing a lobster simply with a touch of sherry vinegar and sake, some acidity to balance and complement the natural sweetness of the seafood, and of course, the sake will bring out the umami."

Kimoto
Junmai

Rice polishing rate - 60%
Sake with rich, fruity flavor and aroma
pairs well with the creamy flavors in
Toretama Egg with Ikura
Sake with rich, fruity flavor and aroma pairs well with the creamy flavors in
Toretama Egg with Ikura

There's also a bonus to pairing sake and seafood: the lack of iron and sulfur dioxide in sake neutralize undesirable, overly "fishy" flavors. Wine, on the other hand, intensifies these flavors and odors as these compounds cause the degradation of unsaturated fatty acids in seafood.

Sake also easily insinuates itself into the cooking process itself.

Italian-Japanese pairings, though unconventional, are delicious. Baccalau, or salted cod, is fantastic with a sake with higher acidity, while a fritto misto (fried seafood and vegetables) goes wonderfully with a clean, smooth sake that will cleanse the palate.

Sparkling
Sake

Junmai Daiginjo
Yamada Nishiki

Kimoto
Junmai

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Rules were made to be broken
The Catalan knew right from that first moment at Katsuyama, that he didn't just want to pair his food with sake; he wanted to use it as an ingredient in his cooking - in his sauces, vinaigrettes and marinades.

When Pepe opened his popular restaurant, Bam! in Tras Street, Singapore, sake became a central pillar of its culinary philosophy; today, its cellar has over 80 labels from across Japan.

"Modern Shudo" is the concept at play, referring to a contemporary way of enjoying sake. It's about celebrating the versatile spirit of sake in a relaxed and open manner, even as diners appreciate its long history and tradition.

Ultimately, Pepe doesn't believe in following rules too closely – In his pairings, he may match lighter sakes with lighter dishes, and richer ones with heavier dishes, but that's as constrained as he'll allow himself to be.

In his pairings, he may match lighter sakes with lighter dishes, and richer ones with heavier dishes.

Scallop
Tartare Toretama Egg
Baby Sonso
Tempura Jerusalem
Artichoke Caviar Botan Ebi and Uni
with Ponzu Jelly Yellow Zucchini
Rice with Prawn

These days, Pepe finds his glasses topped up with sparkling sake more than any other. "I am in love with my sparkling sake, it is one of my obsessions!" he says. Effervescent, low in alcohol and easy to enjoy, sparkling sakes undergo a secondary bottle or tank fermentation or carbonation. They make a great gateway drink for sake novices. Odds are, a few labels will find their way to the sake list of Cranes, Pepe's new restaurant and sake lounge in Washington DC.

The best way to respect tradition is to challenge it, as everything is evolving all the time. Tradition is not something fixed, meant to hold you back. The lines are always moving. You need to explore - I have been on this sake journey for six years now, and I will never stop exploring and learning."