Japanese

[Kcwhippet]

OK, here's the story on sake. Premium sakes should always be served at room temp or lower, preferably chilled. You will have a really tough time finding warm sake in Japan. After the war, most of Japanese industry of all sorts was in disarray, as might be expected. More specifically, the sake makers had trouble finding good materials to make premium (and ultra-premium) sakes. They had to make do with what they could get readily, so they did and the end product wasn't all that great. It tasted more palatable when it was warmed up, so they did. When our servicemen came back home, they were used to warm sake and that's what they asked for - and unfortunately got. Since they wanted warm sake, there was no point in using premium so most of what's been available in this country until recently has been what the Japanese would consider inferior grades of sake. Now you can get very, very good premium imported sakes in many shops. We carry about twenty different sakes from Japan and two from SakeOne in Oregon - the Momokawa Silver and Pearl. So, Georgie, make sure they give you (or you take) well chilled premium sake.

[This message has been edited by Kcwhippet (edited 12-13-2003).]