Sake Brewing Series: [1. Steaming Process]

Hello, this is Migita Honten.
We’re planning to write a series of blog posts about the sake brewing process, breaking it down into several steps.

Stay tuned as we dive into each stage of making our sake!

1.Polishing and Steaming Rice

Sake brewing begins with polishing the brown rice, followed by washing and soaking the rice in water (known as “shin-kei”).

The soaking process is followed by steaming, where the soaked rice is placed in a large steaming basket called a kosiki and quickly steamed with high-temperature steam.

While the rice you eat is cooked by boiling, the rice used in sake brewing undergoes a steaming process, which is essential to prepare it for fermentation. This difference in preparation plays a key role in the unique characteristics of sake.