The Very First Sake was Produced by Chewing Rice
The very first sake was produced by chewing rice in the mouth.
Sake was originally a rice-based alcohol produced via the process of using human saliva as a fermentation starter. I know it sounds disgusting when you think about saliva being used to produce the first sakes, but the discovery of the fermentation process without a microscope at the time is pretty amazing. This saliva produced sake is called kuchikamisake which literally means “chewed sake.”
kuchi = mouth
kami = chew
An old Japanese book wrote that sake is made when someone (traditionally a virgin girl), chews uncooked rice and spits the resulting liquid into a container. The resulting mixture is then fermented by the enzymes from the chewer’s saliva which breaks down the carbohydrate in the rice to produce the alcohol. *
Currently, sake is made using malt, yeast, and lactic acid bacteria for the fermentation process; each chosen by the toji of each brewery. The toji is much like the head chef of a restaurant and they are responsible for designing and creating the brewery’s sake every season. Essentially, they are responsible for the type of rice, water, polishing, and the fermentation process which all affects the flavour of sake.
*This information was paraphrased from the Ōsumi Fudoki. I couldn’t find the information or citation on it, but typically each town has a fudoki. The fudoki is basically a manuscript about the region’s geography, historical records, cultures, agriculture, and history of the people.
