It's all about the polish...

So I was able to attend the annual "Joy of Sake" tasting held at the Puck Center in NYC. They had 399 sakes available for tasting!!! They had a whole floor of sakes yet to be released in the U.S. and another floor dedicated to the ones that we can buy here. They also had many top restaurants providing incredibly delicious appetizers. But back to the point. I was able to take these pictures of rice grains used to make sake at one of the booths there. Here you can clearly see how much smaller 35% "seimaibuai" is compared to a regular rice grain. Meaning with the rice grains used to make a particular sake, they polish away the hard outer surface of the rice grain so that only 35% of the actual grain remains. This is the center of the grain which is the most flavorful part. That's why you get those incredible aromas and flavors from the Dai Ginjo's we all love. Dai Ginjo's have to have a seimaibuai of at least 50% and as much as 35%. This is also why Ginjo's and Dai Ginjo's tend to cost more. You not only have to polish the rice grains, but you have to use a lot more rice to make the same amount of sake. Almost 3 times as much for certain Dai Ginjos. Pictured is the largest brown rice grains from the top. It's amazing how much work and effort they put into making beverage. But I have to say, it is definitely worth it!