This is maybe a joke among the heavy drinkers, but it is the rational way as well. How come? Let’s talk about it from factors that affect the quality of sake, such as the lights, temperature, and the air.
Killed by the Sunlight Immediately
Sake is just similar to the skin of girls which is unable to endure the ultraviolet ray. Being exposed to the sunlight, sake is easily spoiled: the color turns to yellow and brown and has burnt smell. That’s why most of the sake usually is bottled in the black, brown and green bottles; some of them are even packed with see-through anti-UV plastic bags or covered with the bottle in order to avoid the degradation of its quality. Not just like a sunlight, but the fluorescent light is not good for sake too.
Being Delicate to The Change of Temperature
If we leave sake in a high-temperature environment for a long time, the chemical reaction (such as the chemical combination, decomposition, and acidification) is accelerated. This makes the sake color turns to dark yellow or even brown, then the aroma becomes stronger and undesirable spoiled one. For avoiding to be spoiled, the best temperature to keep sake should be -5 to 5℃, and it’d better not to be over 15℃.
Some people try to keep sake in the room temperature and mature them. It’s very fun and feeling like growing sake by myself. Of course, this challenge is possibly failed but it’s worth to try. To do this, what you have to keep is storing in the dark and chiller place.
Being Oxidised Easily
The aroma becomes more and more slighter after opening the bottle, and also its taste is changing due to the effect of oxidization. This is why it’s important to finish sake as soon as possible to enjoy the aroma and taste which brewers aim to. It’s also true that some people enjoy the change of taste and aroma through 1 month after opening the bottle.
After utilizing all tips above, I wrap sake with some newspapers before refrigerating it. The refrigerator has lights and sometimes sunlight comes in due to its open and close. Also, please remember to put it upright in order to avoid the leak. And it’s bit troublesome but it’s better to pour remaining sake to the smaller bottle to minimize the effect of oxidization.
So, is storing sake in the refrigerator the best? Not actually. If you always keep the door of refrigerator close, it’s nicer. But it’s impossible. So it doesn’t fit to store the fragile sake for a long time?
The answer is drinking it straight away. It does make sense, doesn’t it? Or SAKEMARU’s snow dorm must meet all the requirements.