Nigori-zake
Although I am not at all a sake expert, I do enjoy trying different kinds. Recently I had a chance to have nigori-zake ("cloudy sake"), which is unfiltered. It has kind of a pina-colada consistency with bits of rice in it.
According to one sake company, "NIGORI is the way sake first appeared when it was brewed for the Imperial Court in Kyoto as well as for most of its 2,000 year history. It is coarsely-filtered and the sweetest of all our types of sake. It is especially delicious with very spicy foods. The bottle should be shaken each time before pouring due to the high rice content that settles in the bottom of the bottle."
And sure enough, the waitress shook up the bottle before giving it to us. And sure enough, it was quite sweet. It is a cold sake, which implies somewhat higher standards of water purity, or so I was told on one trip to Japan. Hot sake has less stringent requirements for purity since the heat changes the flavor, and so these types of sake tend to be less expensive.
According to one sake company, "NIGORI is the way sake first appeared when it was brewed for the Imperial Court in Kyoto as well as for most of its 2,000 year history. It is coarsely-filtered and the sweetest of all our types of sake. It is especially delicious with very spicy foods. The bottle should be shaken each time before pouring due to the high rice content that settles in the bottom of the bottle."
And sure enough, the waitress shook up the bottle before giving it to us. And sure enough, it was quite sweet. It is a cold sake, which implies somewhat higher standards of water purity, or so I was told on one trip to Japan. Hot sake has less stringent requirements for purity since the heat changes the flavor, and so these types of sake tend to be less expensive.
