Doburoku Vs Sake: What's The Difference

If you haven't yet experienced the unique joy of sake, now's the time to take a sip. Known as Japan's national drink, this fermented rice beverage offers a range of flavor profiles and can be enjoyed chilled, warm, or at room temperature. Its versatility also shines in cooking, famously enhancing dishes like Nobu's legendary miso black cod. While most sakes in the U.S. appear clear, there are many types, each with distinct flavors, looks, and brewing methods. In Japan, "sake" refers to any alcohol, but outside Japan, it commonly means nihonshu (日本酒), a traditional rice-based drink protected as a Geographical Indication (GI). Within nihonshu, seishu (清酒) is the legal term for sake meeting Japanese standards, including mandatory filtration for clarity. This distinguishes it from unfiltered varieties like doburoku (濁酒), a traditional Japanese fermented rice beverage with a cloudy, lumpy appearance.

Doburoku, a lesser-known unfiltered Japanese alcohol and considered the "mother of sake." The history of this thick, cloudy, and sweet ancient rice beverage traces back 3,000 years. Traditionally, it was a rustic homebrew made by farmers in Japan without filtration or refinement, and it also holds ceremonial significance as an offering to the gods for a prosperous harvest. However, in Japan, doburoku can't legally be labeled as sake because it follows a different brewing process and omits the required filtration for the sake classification.

Aside from appearance, the brewing process of doburoku differs significantly from regular sake, though both use the same basic ingredients: steamed rice, koji, and water. In traditional sake production, ingredients are added to the yeast starter, or shubo, in stages over several days to carefully control fermentation in a monitored environment to allow the steady production of alcohol. Doburoku, however, is made by adding all ingredients at once, leading to lower alcohol content of around 12% and higher sugar levels, often with a bit of natural CO2. This rush of sugar overwhelms the yeast which causes it to die off early and halt fermentation sooner.

Meanwhile, all sakes go through a press and filtration process once the fermentation is done, enforced by law in Japan while doburoku does not go through any filtration process at all, giving it its unique rice porridge like texture and taste but also makes it illegal for it to be labeled as sake in Japan due to taxation issues. At the same time, most sakes are pasteurized while doburoku remains unpasteurized. Doburoku's unique raw qualities make it more susceptible to spoilage compared to sake, which has a longer shelf life and can be stored even after opening.

Though people may find doburoku and nigori share a resemblance in their cloudy, white appearance, they belong to distinct categories. Nigori is still classified as sake and undergoes filtration, albeit through a more permeable cloth, which sets it apart from the unfiltered doburoku.

Once common in Japanese households and on farms, doburoku was made illegal for home brewing with the introduction of liquor taxation laws during the Meiji Period (1868–1912). These laws were designed to support the brewing industry through tax increases needed to fund wartime expenses.

Today, however, this historic drink is experiencing a resurgence. Special licenses now permit small-scale brewing at select locations, including Shinto shrines, certain inns, and restaurants, where production is capped at 6 kiloliters per year. According to CNN, around 193 establishments across the country were authorized to sell this once-outlawed drink in 2021, reviving a tradition long restricted by law. And what is the tasting experience like? Forget all the tasting rules, flavor matrix, and food pairings that apply to regular sakes: attempting to categorize doburoku's flavor profile is futile. As Chikako Ohkoshi, a sake educator and founder of the Doburoku Lovers Association, explained to Punch, "Open a bottle, and large bubbles will escape from the top. It's still alive, fermenting, and constantly evolving."