What is Sake?
Sake; (Japanese; pronounced [sa.kee] is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice. In Japanese, the word sake may also loosely refer to other types of alcoholic beverage. The word nihonshu (literally, "Japan alcoholic beverage") is used to distinguish true sake from other beverages. In English, the word sake never refers to anything other than nihonshu. This article uses the word "sake" as it is used in English.

Sake is also commonly referred to in English as "rice wine", but the characterisation implied is not accurate. Wine is made from the single fermentation of plant juices. Sake is produced by multiple fermentation of rice, which is more similar to how beer is produced. Also, outside Japan there exist other beverages known as "rice wine" that are significantly different from nihonshu.

Sake barrels

History of Sake