The Everyday Sake Japan Actually Drinks

Not every sake is a special-occasion bottle. Hakutsuru Maru is the everyday workhorse, and not a minor one: it is Hakutsuru's best-selling brand and the number-one selling pack sake in Japan, the smooth, round sake that households and izakaya pour by the glass, day in, day out. It is brewed by Hakutsuru, one of Japan's great sake houses, founded in Nada in 1743, from 100% Japanese rice. The 2L pack is built for steady pouring, and the flavour is made to sit with food rather than compete with it. Serve it warm, chilled or at room temperature.

Maru, and what futsushu means

Sake is nihonshu (日本酒), and most of what Japan drinks day to day is futsushu (普通酒), the everyday or table grade, as opposed to the premium ginjo and junmai bottles kept for special occasions. Maru (まる) means circle, or round, a fitting name for a sake built around a soft, rounded umami rather than sharp aromatics. It comes from Hakutsuru (白鶴, white crane), founded in 1743 in Nada, the district of Kobe that has been the heart of Japanese sake brewing for centuries. Hakutsuru sums up its craft as rice, water and people, and Maru is where that everyday craft reaches the most tables: honest, food-friendly, and made to be poured freely. It is the brand Hakutsuru sells more of than any other.

Learn more: Hakutsuru Sake: Everything You Need to Know

What does Hakutsuru Maru taste like?

Soft and round, with a gentle, savoury umami and a clean finish. At SMV +1 it sits close to neutral, neither markedly dry nor sweet, which is what makes it so easy alongside food. There is little of the fruity, floral aromatics you find in a premium ginjo; this is the comfortable, everyday side of sake, smooth and unfussy. Warmed, it grows rounder and fuller, which is the classic way to drink an everyday futsushu; chilled, it reads cleaner and lighter. It is a sake to drink rather than to study, which is the point.

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