Junmai/Honjozo

The sake equivalent of a house wine is futsushu - literally “ordinary sake”. If you’ve had an anonymous sake before, it was likely this class. Like house wine, futsushu can be absolutely fine, even great, especially with meals. But the whole point here is to go beyond the ordinary. 

The Japanese sake classification system is based on ingredients and brewing process. Even if the Japanese terms slip your mind, just look for the magic number that tells you how much of the rice grain was used to make the sake. That will give you most of the same information about its flavour profile.

Futsushu, junmai and honjozo sake are all made with more of the rice grain, which means more protein, more savoury umami and greater depth of flavour. Honjozo must be polished to at least 70%, junmai has no lower limit but is usually similar.

You’ll come across the term junmai a lot, and it’s a tricky one. Strictly speaking, it refers to a brewing process that does not add distilled alcohol at the end of fermentation, a practice developed sometime in or before the 1800s to preserve sake and also pull out alcohol-soluble flavour and aroma compounds from the rice 

Junmai and honjozo sake are made with roughly the same amount of the rice grain and brewed in the same way until a few hours before the ferment finishes and is pressed. For honjozo, the brewer adds a very small amount of high-strength alcohol to stabilise the sake and draw out more flavour and aroma from the remaining rice solids.

Are honjozo and junmai different? Yes, but subtly so. They have a similar savoury and sweet base, but honjozo tends to be a little lighter, clearer and cleaner where junmai tends to be rounder, heavier and broader in flavour.

Is one better than the other? That’s up to you to decide! Try a few and see if you can taste a difference, and if you prefer one brewing style or not. Futsushu, honjozo and junmai are also usually suitable for warming, which brings out their sweet-and-savoury character. 

Masuizumi karakuchi is a high quality futsushu to get started with. For honjozo, see if you prefer Bijofu, or maybe Atago no Matsu. And for junmai there’s Tedorigawa Yoshidagura, Ikekame Turtle Black, and many more. Or pick up the Kikizake Set to keep exploring!