Do you know what yawaragimizu is? Yawaragimizu is water that is served with sake when drinking sake. The water and other drinks that accompany high-alcohol drinks such as whisky and spirits are called 'chasers', and this is the sake version of the same thing.
What good is drinking water with alcohol? Isn't it boring because you can't get drunk? If so! To enjoy sake even more, it's important to know the various roles of temperate water.
Drunkenness comes from the brain! Prevent over- and deep drunkenness!
Sake makes you drunk!" This image may be created by the fact that sake has a higher alcohol content than the beer and cocktails people are used to drinking nowadays. Beer has an alcohol content of around 5 degrees Celsius, while sake has an alcohol content of around 15 degrees Celsius - three times as much! It's no wonder that if you drink it at the same pace as beer, you'll get too drunk.
'Drunkenness' is a state in which alcohol paralyses nerve cells in the brain. High alcohol content rapidly increases the blood alcohol concentration and paralyses the brain's nerves. This is prevented by the tempering water. Drinking water between drinks helps to reduce the alcohol concentration in the body.
Generally, it is recommended to drink sake and Japanese rice wine at a ratio of 1:1, but those who make the mistake of drinking sake as if it were beer may want to drink more Japanese rice wine to get the same alcohol content as beer.
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Hangovers are 'liver'! Prevent hangovers with metabolic assistance.
Hangovers are caused by acetaldehyde, a substance formed when alcohol is broken down in the liver. If you drink too much, the liver cannot process this acetaldehyde, causing hangover symptoms such as lethargy, heartburn, nausea and headache.
Waragi water lowers the concentration of alcohol in the body and assists the liver's metabolism! It also improves dehydration, so your body will be in a different condition the day after a drinking session when you have effectively drunk the warm water.
It's not just about preventing bad drinks! Waraizu makes food and your next drink taste even better!
The benefits of Waragamizu are not only limited to preventing bad effects. Sake is a drink that leaves a strong stimulus and aroma in the mouth when it is sipped. This can make it difficult to taste the next sip. It is also difficult to appreciate the delicate flavours of sake if you drink it after eating a meal with strong flavours, for example.
At times like these, you can make sake and food taste even better by resetting your palate with some warm water! If you want to taste both the sake and the food, then you need to have some warm water in between!
まとめ
いかがでしたか？
It is only water, but it is water, and it may come as a surprise to you to find out that the tempering water was an important item for enjoying sake.
It is important to note that cold water, such as iced water, is too stimulating and may cause the body to strain when drinking it as Wakarimizu! Therefore, please be careful about the temperature of the water, for example, use room temperature water or white water.
Incidentally...
I'd like to try sake, but it's too strong...
Those who say!
Sake doesn't have to be drunk straight! It can be mixed with water or soda, on the rocks, with tea, with calpis, with fruit... in fact, it can be enjoyed in many different ways.
The Ponchuglia Blog introduces such sake arrangements, so if you are interested, please check it out.
Look out for Ponshu Guria, which expands the way people enjoy sake!
Cocktails can be easily made by simply pouring in sake.
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