Sake

Sake is a clear to pale-straw Japanese rice wine made by fermenting polished rice. It tastes clean and softly fruity with gentle umami warmth, typically around 15% ABV; it works for sipping chilled or warm and for cooking to deglaze, marinate, and round sauces; common retail styles include junmai, honjozo, ginjo, and daiginjo. It is sold as standard drinking sake and salt-added cooking sake.\n\nDeveloped in Japan over centuries, sake evolved with koji-driven fermentation and advances in rice polishing. It anchors Japanese cuisine and is now brewed worldwide, with regional producers interpreting classic styles.