Sake in September: a stellar sip to celebrate National Rice Month
“I’m 87 percent sure there’s no spit in this,” jokes Benjamin Coutts, as 10 guests smell, sip and savor the pour he has chosen.
Most of us, 10 in all, are amused. No one balks at the selection, which is the fourth of the evening. But one or two of the guests did appear a tad shook as Coutts explained the process of making kuchikamizake, one of Japan’s earliest alcoholic beverages.
“Young Japanese women would chew on the rice,” he reiterates in a later conversation. “The enzymes and bacteria in their saliva would break it down and help the conversion. Then they would spit that into a vessel where the drink would ultimately ferment, and you’d have this rudimentary rice beverage.”
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There was nothing rudimentary about my experience with Furosen Wataribune, Uehara’s Yamahai Ginjo from Japan’s Shiga prefecture, which was redolent of things I’d never before detected in a sake.
“Soy sauce?” I offer tentatively.
“Chili crisp?”
Coutts nods.
“High-end ramen packet?”
We laugh. But I’m not really joking. For me, this sake is a revelation, savory and rich with funk and umami. I feel as if my pupils have dilated, as though I have partaken of the paddy of knowledge. I feel forever changed.
“That looked like a light-bulb moment,” Coutts offers, and he’s dead on.
Wataribune is an heirloom rice strain that was nearly lost to the ages. Modern-day toji (sake brewmasters) have helped revive some of them. I am grateful for this, and for the class that has enlightened me about a beverage I have long enjoyed but didn’t know much about.
The $300 price tag might seem steep for a two-or-so-hour deep dive (even with generous tastings of sake varieties you can’t just grab off a shelf at Total Wine), but this one, offered monthly at Michelin-starred Soseki Modern Omakase (955 W. Fairbanks Ave. in Winter Park), comes with a singular multicourse dinner that is custom crafted to the night’s pours.
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The sips are curated by the Michelin Guide’s 2023 pick for Florida Sommelier of the Year, Soseki’s beverage director, Benjamin Coutts. Coutts’ knowledge is formidable, but his classroom delivery is light. It doesn’t hurt that the lessons come with exquisite cuts of otoro and a playlist your future spouse might reference as an early indicator that you were “the one.”
(It’s available on Spotify, by the way: Soseki Experiment.)
This story began as a way to celebrate National Rice Month — a choice I stand by despite the grain’s dutiful service as the diet staple of 3.5 billion people worldwide — but quickly turned into one about connection.
Yes, there are a lot of Japanese words that will be difficult to remember if you don’t flex your muscles, but taste any of these selections, with notes and flavors ranging from lychee and peach to salted caramel to nutritional yeast, and you’ll be eager to head to the store for bottles that pair just as well with fried chicken or Indian food as they do top-shelf nigiri.
“Sake is so much more versatile than people think,” says Coutts, who will sometimes serve reds like Burgundy or pinot noir with sushi flights at Soseki, a practice some guests will still question. “A sake with a little bit of residual sweetness, for example, will complement the heat or heavy spice in a given dish. It will go remarkably well.”
Said sweetness is based on the sake’s polishing ratio, which on the label will be noted with the word “seimaibuai.”
Polishing is the literal process of stripping away layers of the individual rice grains. The amount of rice left in the end, relative to where it started, is expressed as a percentage: the seimaibuai.
That life-changing sake, with its subtle and savory mushroom umami, had a seimaibuai of 55 percent.
“Depending on the rice used, a lower polishing ratio leaves a little more residual, unfermentable sugar that adds a richness or sweetness,” Coutts explains. “With higher polishing, technically, you can get more alcohol because fermentation is cleaner and longer.”
Years ago, a friend and mentor of mine stopped me as I began to refill my ochoco (small sake cup) over dinner.
“It’s bad luck,” he told me.
I held onto that ritual, so intimate and interactive, and have since imparted it to others with whom I share sake. Coutts says that is the tradition’s precise design.
“It’s considered rude, in the first couple of rounds, to pour your own sake,” he explains. “And in some instances, yes, bad luck. In pouring for someone else, you are becoming neighbors, building friendships. This interaction is a way to connect.”
Though Coutts serves the sake class pours in aperitif or wine glasses (“you’re missing out on part of the enjoyment of sake if you’re not drinking it in a wine glass,” he says), in regular Soseki dinners, he offers up a range of ochoco and guests select what speaks to them.
I did this at my first Soseki dinner, but in the time since, he has added this connection idea more completely, advising guests to pour for one another.
“I realized that it was only half the experience,” he says. “Because even if your conversation goes elsewhere, at that moment, it has to go back to the sake.”
“You have to be attentive,” I offer.
“Yes. It shows that you are caring. You are engaged. It’s a cool connection.”
Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
Basic Sake Terms
As offered by Benjamin Coutts.
Junmai or Junmai-shu (pure-rice sake): Sake made from only rice, yeast, koji, water).
Junmai ginjo (premium, pure-rice sake): Sake with a seimaibuai of 60%; at least 40% of the brown rice is polished away. No additional alcohol.
Junmai daiginjo (ultra-premium, pure-rice sake): Sake with a seimaibuai of less than 50%. No additional alcohol. If any distilled alcohol is added to sake, the word “junmai” will not appear in its description.
Kimoto:A method of creating a yeast starter, or “moto,” in a traditional manner.
Seimaibuai(degree of polish): The percentage of polished to unpolished rice.
Toji (brewmaster): The person in charge of all sake production.
Futsushu: Table sake, typically of non-premium quality.
Kanpai (empty cup): Cheers! The traditional toast when drinking sake.
Nigori: Unfiltered sake that is typically cloudy.
Yamahai: Like the Kimoto process, to create moto for brewing.
Recommended
The following sakes, available at Total Wine, are Coutts-recommended. Fine local shops such as Digress Wine, Golden Hour Wine and Tim’s Wine Market, however, can order just about anything you might be interested in. Moreover, staffers here will be happy to discuss and recommend, adding to the enjoyment of the experience.
In reading most sake labels, there is an order to the names and terms. Using my favorite of the evening as an example:
Uehara, Yamahai Junmai Gingo, “Furosen Wataribune” — Shiga
Uehara: Producer/Brand
Yamahai: Brewing Technique
Junmai: Pure Sake
Ginjo: Polish ratio
Furosen Wataribne: This is the name the brewers have given this batch
Shiga: The Prefecture where it was made
Recommendations
Soto, Junmai: Niigata, Japan. Bright and refreshing with hints of umami. Tree fruit, black tea and slight steamed rice notes. Available in 720 ml and cans. ($20, $6)
Konteki, Junmai Daiginjo, “Pearls of Simplicity” — Kyoto, Japan. Pretty floral aromas with melon and plum notes. Slight anise balance with crushed minerals and beautiful texture. Available in 720 ml and 300 ml bottles. ($38ish)
Momokawa, Nigori Junmai Ginjo Genshu, “Pearl” — Oregon, USA. Clean, rich and tropical with coconut cream, banana and pineapple flavors. Balanced sweetness that begs for barbeque and spicy dishes. Available in 720 ml. ($16ish)
