Hot and steamy drinks

Photography Michael Cogliantry // Styling by Jon Taylor Carter and Sophie Goodwin

Saké: mercury rising

The Japanese rightly call this brewed rice "the drink of the gods."

Yoshinogawa Gensen Karakuchi Saké, $20 for a 750-ml bottle. Four ceramic saké cups with pitcher by Terry Inokuma of Philomath, $60. All available in the SakéOne tasting room.

If you’re accustomed to drinking saké at the same temperature as drip coffee, most likely you've been drinking lower-grade versions of the ubiquitous Japanese fermented rice beverage. That’s because heat helps mask sharp flavors in lower-quality sakés. But in the past few years, some saké brewers have started making premium sakés designed to be served warm, says Dewey Weddington, vice president of marketing at SakéOne in Forest Grove (one of about 10 saké breweries in the U.S.).

He points out the dry Gensen Karakuchi saké from the Yoshinogawa Brewery. “When the brewer was here, he actually asked for this saké to be warmed for him,” Weddington says.

Ask a knowledgeable saké purveyor for a recommendation, and plan to serve whatever variety you choose between 102 and 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Too much heat will destroy these delicate beverages. One way to ensure you don’t scorch the saké is to place a ceramic saké pitcher, or tokkuri, filled with saké in a bowl of hot water before pouring the drink into the small matching cups.

Take your time. “A lot of Westerners look at these cups as shot glasses, but saké isn't vodka,” Weddington says. “It’s a brewed beverage. You should be sipping saké as you would beer or wine.

"These days, many aficionados are drinking saké out of white wine glasses (Riedel makes saké-specific glassware with and without stems), which make it easier to see color and cloudiness, and smell the nuances of the drink.