US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文

    For the sake of a good drink

    By Dong Fangyu ( China Daily ) Updated: 2015-10-24 08:35:04

    For the sake of a good drink

    A sake tasting event in Beijing. [Photos Provided To China Daily]

    Some home truths about the best and the worst of that fiery little drink from Japan

    If you have come across sake, Japanese rice wine, at all, chances are that you were in a sushi bar when you did so. This warm, fiery drink is served in teacup doses and is a little more bitter than some white wines but is not as aggressive as the Chinese spirit baijiu.

    But then again, there is sake and there is sake, and given that it is such an exotic drink, unless you are Japanese or an aficionado, you are unlikely to know the difference between the exquisitely good and the excruciatingly bad.

    One thing that makes sake rare among alcoholic beverages is that it can be heated and served at the temperature of, say, coffee or soup. However, Taka Yamamoto, 41, a sake expert, says good sake is best served cold.

    With the growing popularity of sushi, sashimi and other Japanese cuisine in China - there are reckoned to be 1,000 dining establishments in Beijing and 2,000 in Shanghai that feature Japanese food - the band of those who can appreciate good sake is beginning to grow.

    Sake experts in Beijing are few and far between, but Yamamoto, from the small city of Matsusaka in southern-central Japan that is famous for its beef, is an International Wine Challenge sake judge and sake master, and has promoted sake culture in China for the past 15 years.

    The earthquake and tsunami that struck the east coast of Japan in March 2011 severely disrupted his export company's operations and it took him more than a year to get it back on its feet, but since then, he says, its sake exports to China have grown about 25 percent each year.

    Still, it is one thing to drink sake and another to be knowledgeable about what you are pouring down your throat. First, Yamamoto says, there are many misconceptions about the drink.

    "There are myriad wine shows, but no sake shows in Beijing where people can do tasting, talk to brewers and learn about sake culture. Knowledge comes with trying and tasting. In that regard, Shanghai is a bit better than Beijing, but a lot more needs to be done."

    Last month a sake carnival that Yamamoto organized in Beijing featured more than 100 kinds of fine sake brought in from Japan, and a group of senior brewers was flown in as well.

    The four-hour show, held at the same time as lectures about sake, drew about 300 attendees. Some of the popular brands at the show were Kitaya Gokujo, Kamenokou 22, Born Wing of Japan, and Horaisen Bi.

    Yamamoto says that 15 years ago, two years after having completed Chinese-language studies in Beijing he returned to the capital as a salesman for a Japanese sake brewery.

    He now owns the boutique sake collection Tojikura, that name being a compound of two words, toji, meaning head sake brewer, and kura, meaning storehouse. He also owns two Japanese restaurants and bars in Beijing: Sake Manzo and Happi Sake.

    In China a premium bottle of sake tends to be more expensive than comparable beer and wine at an entry level. A bottle of sake that costs anything less than 200 yuan ($31.50) is likely to be substandard, Yamamoto says. Prices for his imported sake range from 400 yuan to 6,000 yuan a bottle.

    The high prices in China reflect taxes on imported sake that can amount to as much as 85 percent of the original price in Japan, in addition to the costs of cold-chain transport and distribution, he says.

    Previous Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next Page

    Editor's Picks
    Hot words

    Most Popular
    ...
    日韩成人无码中文字幕| 无码精品国产VA在线观看DVD | 播放亚洲男人永久无码天堂| 天堂网在线最新版www中文网| 99久久国产热无码精品免费久久久久| 亚洲日韩欧美国产中文| 中文无码不卡的岛国片| 国产av无码专区亚洲av桃花庵| 久久久久久国产精品无码下载| 91中文字幕在线观看| 免费无码午夜福利片 | 精品无人区无码乱码大片国产| 国产成人综合日韩精品无码不卡| 久久精品天天中文字幕人妻| 精品人妻少妇嫩草AV无码专区| 99精品人妻无码专区在线视频区| 中文字幕欧美在线| 久久久久成人精品无码中文字幕| 日韩免费a级毛片无码a∨| 国产产无码乱码精品久久鸭| 无码精品国产一区二区三区免费| 夜夜添无码一区二区三区| 高清无码中文字幕在线观看视频| 最近2019年中文字幕6| 天堂√在线中文资源网| 台湾佬中文娱乐中文| 最近中文字幕视频在线资源| 亚洲综合日韩中文字幕v在线| 久久超乳爆乳中文字幕| 亚洲中文字幕无码一久久区| 无码AV中文字幕久久专区| 欧美巨大xxxx做受中文字幕| 一本色道无码道在线| 中文字幕 qvod| 熟妇人妻VA精品中文字幕| 亚洲VA中文字幕无码一二三区| 日本aⅴ精品中文字幕| 久久精品?ⅴ无码中文字幕| 色综合久久精品中文字幕首页| 婷婷中文娱乐网开心| 日韩综合无码一区二区|