As we head deeper into winter, I find myself craving hot sake on a frequent basis.
The temperature inside my drafty Tokyo apartment, which feels like it lacks any kind of insulation, is often bone-chillingly low. When merely stepping into your kitchen feels akin to taking a trip to the Arctic, the soothing warmth of hot sake is a great boon — comfort and coziness in liquid form.
Kanzake (warmed sake) has long been a part of Japanese drinking culture. As Brian Ashcraft points out in his newest book, “The Japanese Sake Bible,” references to heated sake have appeared in Japanese texts for centuries, and the practice of heating sake became prevalent around the middle of the Edo Period (1603-1868).
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