As we head deeper into winter, I find myself craving hot sake on a frequent basis.
The temperature inside my drafty Tokyo apartment, which feels like it lacks any kind of insulation, is often bone-chillingly low. When merely stepping into your kitchen feels akin to taking a trip to the Arctic, the soothing warmth of hot sake is a great boon ¡ª comfort and coziness in liquid form.
Kanzake (warmed sake) has long been a part of Japanese drinking culture. As Brian Ashcraft points out in his newest book, ¡°The Japanese Sake Bible,¡± references to heated sake have appeared in Japanese texts for centuries, and the practice of heating sake became prevalent around the middle of the Edo Period (1603-1868).
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