Kanzake — Warmed Sake and Its Temperatures

Kanzake, the warming of sake, belongs to the long Japanese habit of drinking rice wine at table rather than apart from the meal. Shizuo Tsuji treats tea and sake together as the drinks that accompany the Japanese meal, and the warming of sake is part of that service. The practice is carried by the home, the izakaya and the kaiseki table alike, each warming the wine in a small flask and serving it in small cups.

Kanzake is sake, the brewed wine of rice made with the koji mould Aspergillus oryzae, heated gently in a ceramic or metal flask called a tokkuri, standing in hot water, until it reaches the temperature the drinker wants. The Japanese distinguish the degrees by name and by feel, from a barely warmed nurukan to a pronounced atsukan. It is served in the tokkuri and poured into small cups, so that each pouring is brief and the wine in the flask keeps its heat.

Warmed sake is drunk with the dishes of the Japanese meal, including simmered foods, grilled fish, tofu cooked in a pot and seasoned dishes of soy sauce and sake. The structural reason is that warmth softens the wine's edges and lets it sit alongside salty, savoury and lightly fatty food without competing with it. Tsuji presents sake and tea as the two companions of the table, each serving to refresh the palate between dishes.