Know Your Sake Rice 酒米

Sake labels can be beautiful.

They can also tell you a lot about what has gone into the beverage you are about to enjoy. The downside is that, in most cases, you'll need to be literate in Japanese to get any details beyond the basics. I'm not literate in Japanese, but I'm working on it. 

To that end, I've gone to the trouble of creating the list below because I have been unable to find anything like it in my years of learning about sake. A list of sake rice, or 酒米 (sakamai) in English AND kanji.  Why bother?

I didn't think much about the kind of rice a sake was brewed with until fairly recently, after taking John Gauntner's SPC. His insightful lecture on sake rice was followed by an awesome tasting of sake he had chosen to be representative of each rice variety. It was a real eye opener.  I now try to glean the rice variety from the bottle because, although the flavor differences are often subtle, I find if I know whats in there, I can, at the very least, kind of prime my senses for what kind of flavors to expect.

You might prefer to just dive on in not knowing, but to each, his or her own. 

So, I am presenting for you a list, based on John Gauntner's list of sakamai here, with the kanji added. 

There is no particular order to the list, though some are massively more popular than others. 

One thing to consider: Brewer's are not required to name the sake rice variety on the label. Don't be alarmed if you can't locate this information on the label.

Many premium sake, however, are labelled thus. Premium sake rice being in high demand, however, many kura are proud to show you what's inside. 

Here's the list...Enjoy!

 秋田酒こまち             Akita sake komachi

山田錦                       Yamadanishiki   

五百万石                   Gohyakumangoku

美山錦                       Miyama Nishiki 

雄町                          Omachi 

八反錦                       Hattan NIshiki 

八反                           Hattan 

佐香錦                       Sakanishiki

 

日本晴                       Nihonbare 

 越淡麗                      Koshi tanrei 

吟ぎんが                    Gin Ginga 

ぎんおとめ                 Gin Otome 

蔵の華                       Kura no Hana 

愛山                           Aiyama 

華吹雪                       Hanafubuki 

吟風                          Ginpu

亀の尾                       Kame no O

夢の香り                     Yume no Kaori

ぎん おとめ                Ginotome 

強力                          Goriki 

玉栄                          Tamazakae 

祝                              Iwai 

神の舞                       Kan no mai

 蔵の華                      Kura no Hana

出羽燦々 /  出羽 33    Dewasansan /Dewa 33

 出羽の里                   Dewa no sato

亀粋                           Kissui 

 夢錦                          Yumenishiki

 愛山                          Aiyama

渡船                           Wataribune

北錦                           Kita nishiki 

ひとごこち                   Hitogo kochi 

千本錦                       Senbon nishiki  

*The kanji might not be 100% accurate, and for a couple of varieties, the best I could do was hiragana. I am only a beginner student of Japanese, so corrections are welcome openly. 

Feel free to share your favorite sake brewed with each variety!