Beverage
Honjozo
A tier
Honjozo is sake with a small, legal addition of distilled alcohol after fermentation, not to cheapen it (that is a different, heavier addition) but to lighten texture and lift aroma. The rice is polished to at least 70 percent remaining. A good honjozo is clean, dry, and easy to drink warm or cool; it is often the workhorse pint of a kura. It cooks well enough, though junmai has more rice body in a broth. Do not confuse honjozo with salted cooking sake. The added alcohol here is a style choice, not a tax dodge in a decent bottle.
Track this ingredient
Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
History
Alcohol addition became common in wartime rice shortages and later a defined style.
Honjozo was labelled as the modest, legal alcohol-addition grade distinct from cheap futsushu bulk.
Honjozo remained the warmed-sake default in many Japanese pubs.
Junmai fashion pushed honjozo into a quieter, still useful role.