11/08/2025
Did you know? 🍩
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Students often ask me whether you can gauge a sake’s flavor just from the label, especially whether it’s karakuchi (dry) or amakuchi (sweet). My usual answer is that you can only get a rough idea. For example, ginjo tends to be more fruit-forward, while junmai or honjozo lean toward rice-driven flavors, but none of this is absolute. As for sweetness, besides labels that explicitly say “karakuchi,” we can also refer to the Nihonshudo (which isn’t always shown on the label).
Nihonshudo is a number derived from measuring a sake’s density relative to water, from which we infer sugar content and thus perceived sweetness. Generally, the more negative the value, the higher the density and the sweeter it tastes, conversely, the more positive the value, the lower the density and the drier it tastes. Most everyday sakes fall roughly between −5 ~ +5.
But this number isn’t absolute.
Most notably, Nihonshudo is affected by alcohol content: lower ABV increases density, so the Nihonshudo value drops and the sake reads “sweeter,” and vice versa.
Human taste is also wonderfully nuanced. Even with the same sugar content, differences in temperature, alcohol, and acidity can change our perception. Have you heard Hongkongers say “dead sweet”? That refers to a cloying, one-note sweetness that’s tiring without other elements for support. By contrast, if a food or drink has sufficient acidity as a backbone, even a high level of sweetness can taste appetizing, and we might not even perceive it as “sweet.” This is what we often call “balance” when we talk about sake, and it’s where a brewery’s craft truly shows.
Of course, I’m not denying the usefulness of Nihonshudo. As a reference for the sweet–dry profile (amakara), it’s still a helpful number. But so many other factors shape each person’s perception of sweetness that, in the end, the most effective approach is simply to taste widely.
你知道嗎？
經常會有學生問我，單看酒標，能看到清酒的風味嗎？特別是辛口還是甘口（甜或不甜）？一般我的答案都是只可看個大概，例如吟釀類就會較偏向果味，純米或本釀造類則偏向原料風味，但這並不是絕對。而甜度方面，除了瓶上寫了「辛口」之外，我們還可以參考「日本酒度」（不一定顯示在酒標）。
「日本酒度」是一個通過量度作品的密度與水的重量比例而得出的數字，由此去推斷出作品的含糖量，消費者可以由此得知作品的甜度如何，一般負數的數值越大則密度越大，甜度越高，反之正數的數字越大則密度越少，甜度越少（一般常喝的清酒大約在 -5 ~ +5的範圍）。
但這數字並不是絕對的。
最明顯的是日本酒度會受到作品的酒精濃度影響，酒精度越低則密度上升，所以日本酒度的數字則會下降，變成「較甜」，反而亦然。
此外，人類的味覺亦是十分微妙，就算相同的含糖量，在溫度、酒精度及酸度等等不同的影響下，還是會讓人產生不同的感覺。有聽過香港人常說的「死甜」嗎？死甜就是指沒有了其他味道元素的支持下，那種單調的甜味會讓人感覺受不了。相反，如果食物能有足夠的酸度作支撐，即使甜度再高，我們味覺上也能覺得可口，甚至乎不太覺得「甜」了，這就是我們喝酒是常說的「平衡」了，亦是酒藏的功力所在。
當然，我並不是否定日本酒度的作用，作為參考作品的「甘辛」度，這依然是一個有效的數字，但最終實在有太多其他因素能影響個人對作品甜度的感受，所以，最有效的方法便是多嘗試吧。 🤗
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