At our weekly meeting we were honored to have with us Jon Rugg. A brief bio on Jon is that he is an entrepreneur, financial consultant (CFA) and co-founder of Sawtelle Sake Company (www.sawtellesake.com). He came to us not to talk about his financial background or financial investing but to give an interesting take on Sake. Yes, Sake. The drink that most people know as the Japanese Rice Wine. Most individuals do not understand what Sake is. They just know that it goes well with your traditional Japanese dish at a Japanese restaurant. What people don’t know is that there is a wide range of Sake on the market, from light and sweet to heavy and rich. To determine what goes well with Sake may depend on one’s taste buds. Many have Sake with Sushi, Ramen or anything with mushrooms. Yet Sake has found a home with dishes like deep dish pizza, bar-b-que dishes, hot wings and even chocolate.

Jon began his presentation by stating that their goal at Sawtelle Sake was to make Sake more mainstream. When one thinks of Sake there is really no brand recognition with this alcoholic beverage like that of beer or whiskey. His presentation was to actually help those of us listening to understand what is and how Sake is made. Sake 101.

As we know, sake’s primary ingredient is rice. The quality of the sake is based on what is called the polishing ratio of the rice. The rice is run through a machine to remove the outer layers to get to the center of the kernel. The higher the polishing ratio the higher the quality of the sake. There are only four ingredients in Sake, water, rice, yeast and koji. We know three of the four ingredients, but the question is or should be, “What is koji?” Koji is a filamentous fungus used to saccharify rice and barley in making alcoholic beverages like Sake. This product may also be used to ferment soybeans for making soy sauce and miso. Sorry, where was I, oh yea Sake. At Sawtelle Sake they make their own koji to inoculate the rice. They next add the yeast and let it sit for four days and then they let it ferment for 20 to 30 days. When all of this is done, then the mixture is pressed (hand pressed). Once pressed the results can be pasteurized, filtered or non-filtered. This process produces a Sake that has a alcoholic content of up to 18%. So the Sake is then diluted to bring down the alcohol content to about 13%.

The completed product is then canned and sealed to be placed in a 4 can container to be shipped to a small list of retailers and restaurants. The Sawtelle Sake is also available on line via their website www.sawtellesake.com.

At the beginning of Jon’s presentation he asked those listening who like Sake? With most indicating yes, it was our own Francine Chiu who stated that she was celebrating her birthday by having a glass of wine. Jon stated that his goal was to change Francine’s mind to have a glass of Sake instead of the glass of wine. So when you see Francine, ask her “How was the Sake?”

Don’t forget to always drink responsibly.

David Muse