ARTICLE OF THE DAY

‌Japanese Sake‌ or ‌saké‌ (/ˈsɑːkeɪ/, "sah-keh") is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin that is made from fermented rice. Sake is sometimes called "rice wine" but the brewing process is more akin to beer, converting starch to sugar for the fermentation process.In the Japanese language, the word "‌sake‌" (酒, "liquor", also pronounced shu) generally refers to any alcoholic drink, while the beverage called "sake" in English is usually termed ‌nihonshu‌ (日本酒, "Japanese liquor"). Under Japanese liquor laws, sake is labelled with the word "seishu" (清酒, "clear liquor"), a synonym less commonly used colloquially.
Sake is sometimes referred to in English-speaking countries as rice wine. However, unlike wine, in which alcohol is produced by fermenting sugar that is naturally present in grapes and other fruits, sake is produced by means of a brewing process more like that of beer. To make beer or sake, the sugar needed to produce alcohol must first be converted from starch.The brewing process for sake differs from the process for beer, in that for beer, the conversion from starch to sugar and from sugar to alcohol occurs in two discrete steps. But when sake is brewed, these conversions occur simultaneously. Furthermore, the alcohol content differs between sake, wine, and beer. Wine generally contains 9%–16% ABV, while most beer contains 3%–9%, and undiluted sake contains 18%–20% (although this is often lowered to about 15% by diluting with water prior to bottling).