Why Sake is Served Hot: A Short History

The catch-all term for hot and warm sake is known as kanzake (燗酒). The second character is sake, and the first character is a special character that is quite literally only used to refer to heating sake. If you’re referring to truly hot sake, the specific term is atsukan (熱燗).

The goal of today’s short blurb is to give you a bit of background about hot sake and its history. We’re by no means trying to be all-encompassing here, but we hope you gain some knowledge you can use when talking about sake!

Why Hot Sake?

Warming the sake boosts umami so that its front-and-center, increases the perception of sweetness, and provides some comfort during colder seasons. Whereas chilling sake tends to bring out fruitier notes, warm sake can bring out nutty or even caramel-like tones and can greatly improve the drinking experience of sake that’s on the drier side.

All that said, we encourage you to heat whatever sake you like! There’s no reason you can’t enjoy a hot sake of any flavor profile.

Early Sake Heating to Modern Sake Heating

Sake brewing in Japan was formalized during the Nara period in the eighth century, but early sake was often unfiltered and is thought to have been consumed mostly at room temperature.

Moving into the Heian Period, which was primarily the 9th through 12th centuries, court documents describe sake as an important part of court ceremonies, but it’s still unclear whether it was routinely heated.

During the following Muromachi Period — primarily the 14th through 16th centuries — sake was commonly served warm. A temple diary from Kofukuji temple in Nara recorded sake being heated for consumption during the later years of this era.

The Edo Period was when kanzake really took off. Brewing techniques had improved, and the distinction between warm and cold sake became codified. The neo-confucian belief that drinking cold beverages was unhealthy — as found in popular books of the time like “Yojokun” by Kaibara Ekken — also became more widespread and contributed towards kanzake becoming a standard. This is the period when ceramics became the default sake vessels. As they did so, tokkuri emerged as the preferred vessel for heating sake, replacing the earlier method of warming sake directly in a pot.

While kanzake remained a norm into the Meiji and Taisho eras, modern refrigeration and a growing appreciation for fruitier and more aromatic sake led to a shift in the 20th century. Nowadays, chilled sake is more commonly served, and bars often focus on flavorful styles that have to be refrigerated, like namazake (unpasteurized sake).

Hopefully that serves as a decent primer on hot sake and its history! If you try at least a portion of your next bottle hot — regardless of style — we think you might be pleasantly surprised.

Check the price of tokkuri and ochoko sets for heating sake on Amazon here.

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