By Johnnie Stroud, owner of Saké Nomi

Many people’s first exposure to sake in the US is the piping hot concoction served in Japanese restaurants or sushi bars. It is easy to understand why that tends to leave a bad taste in their mouth. As a visiting brewer from Japan recently observed (with a cringe), most Japanese restaurants in the US heat their sake hotter than their miso soup!

The custom of heating sake in Japan actually originated in China and was tied to the belief that it was healthier to consume warm food and drink. Long ago, before technological advances allowed highgrade sake production, a lot of strange, musty flavors and earthy odors were probably very common in sake. It must have been a happy discovery by early sake brewers and drinkers that heating the brew could eliminate many of these flaws.

Fast forward to today’s premium sake: To make high-quality sake, brewers have taken tremendous care, fermenting long and slow at the lowest possible temperature, to create distinct flavors and aromas. To then heat up the result of their labors – during which the painstakingly cultivated bouquet evaporates – would be an affront to their craft and a terrible waste.

Sake lovers generally drink their beverage chilled to better appreciate the beautiful flavors and aromas.

One of the great pleasures of sake drinking can be savoring the subtle changes in flavor as the liquid warms (or cools) in the glass, searching for the sublime moment when a particular sake is at its best. Another wonderful aspect of sake appreciation is realizing that no two brews display identical characteristics at the same temperature. In fact, many premium sake undergo amazing transformations within just a few degrees of temperature difference.

Don’t get me wrong: Lightly or gently warming sake brings out the best in many types and can be a fantastic way to enjoy the brew during autumn and winter’s chill. The key terms here are lightly and gently. Sake is a living thing, and its fragility should always be kept in mind. When warming sake, I generally find the range between hitohada (“a person’s skin temperature”) and nurukan (“lukewarm”) is best – no warmer than 100˚ F. So, by all means, drink your sake at the temperature you find most appealing, but please don’t overheat!