Oysters and sake share many parallels that I know you'll find fascinating and intuitive. This oyster and sake pairing guide for beginners is a collaboration between Monica Samuels, Vice President of Sake & Spirits at Vine Connections, and me.

Ask me what my favorite oyster pairing is and I would answer with premium Japanese sake. Preferably a chilled, fruit-forward Junmai Ginjo. There are probably a thousand and one wine professionals out there who will insist upon a good Chablis, Sancerre, Muscadet, or Champagne (don't get me wrong, they all can be enjoyable), but I am passionate about championing this less-than-obvious combination.

What is sake?

Sake (pronounced "sah-keh") is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice, water, yeast, and koji. Some refer to sake as Japanese rice wine, but it's technically not a wine at all. If you were to compare it to anything, making sake is the most like brewing beer.

Why do oysters and sake pair well together?

Raw oysters and premium Japanese sake pair beautifully together for reasons that other alcoholic beverages can't quite replicate. From a flavor and textural standpoint, oysters and sake can share many of the same qualities. From brininess to sweetness, creaminess to silkiness, cucumber to mushroom notes, the two are natural companions.

But the real secret to their pairing success has a lot to do with umami.

What's umami?

Umami is the fifth taste that helps to balance out and enhance the other four: salty, sweet, bitter, and sour. The Japanese term is akin to "deliciousness" and "savoriness." On a chemical level, umami represents the taste of specific amino acids and nucleotides, most notably Glutamate, Inosinate and Guanylate.

Many foods are naturally high in umami, such as seafood, ripe tomatoes, meat broths, dry-aged steak, parmesan cheese, mushrooms, seaweed, and soy sauce. Eating umami-rich foods together can also intensify the overall impression—think tinned sardines in tomato sauce or rib eye with mushroom sauce.

Oysters, on average, contain between 40-150 mg/100g of glutamate and 20 mg/100g of inosinate, placing it on the higher end of umami-rich seafood.

So what does this have to do with sake and oysters?

Sake contains exceptionally high levels of glutamic acid compared to wine, beer, or spirits. In some cases, it has 10-20 times more! This characteristic makes sake a far more synergistic pairing to glutamic-rich or umami-rich foods, such as fish and shellfish. If you've ever sipped premium sake with high-quality sushi, you understand.

Where wine may falter, sake shines.

I think it's worth pointing out that I've had my fair share of lousy oyster and wine pairings over the years of experimentation. Still, I've never really had a bad oyster and sake pairing. How can this be?

Let's go back to some of these "classic" oyster pairings. What Chablis, Champagne, and Muscadet all have in common is a racy, lively acidity that can cleanse the palate by washing away any greasy or other unpleasant remains in the food you're enjoying. Think about the magical combination of champagne with french fries or fried chicken, and you get the idea. So let's say that in most instances, a great wine and oyster pairing will wash away the oyster and reset your palate for the next bite. Many people interpret this contrast-and-clean dynamic as a good pairing but are not very synergistic. The umami in oysters also makes the palate much more sensitive to bitterness in wines, so much that the combination can actually create a metallic sensation.

The late Jon Rowley, an authority on oyster wines and other gastronomic subjects, reveals the same pairing principles in the article, “How to Pair Oysters with Wine” by Paul Greenberg for Edible Manhattan. He says:

"Great oyster wines are not great wines. They are great oyster wines. With oysters, it's not about the wine; it's about the oysters. If the wine asserts itself, it doesn't go well. If you were to have the wine by itself, it would be completely different than if you have it with oysters. If it's the right wine, the oyster changes it, but in a good way. Maybe it's something about putting the acid and the salt together."

How is sake different?

Sake behaves entirely differently in a pairing relationship. In Japan, there's a famous saying: "Sake doesn't get into fights with food." It contains amino acids that help neutralize fishiness, instead of masking it, allowing all of the subtle, beautiful flavors of the food to come through.

By the way, the versatility of sake stretches far beyond oysters and seafood. I really enjoy drinking sake with foods that are often difficult to pair with wine, including asparagus, mushrooms, pork belly (or anything fatty), and fish tacos.

If you’re a data nerd like me, you might also be interested in a study published by AISSY Inc. that investigated the synergy between pairing food with different alcohols. Results indicated that pairing seafood with sake produces the largest increase in umami—and pairing raw oysters with sake creates an umami increase of 0.41 points, a much larger increase than white wine!

What are some great sakes to pair with oysters?

The good news is that once you've picked out a well-made sake, you're not going to screw it up.

Although I prefer a fruity Junmai Ginjo with most oysters, I've had great success with rich, savory, mushroomy styles; lean, crisp, nearly astringent tones. Even gently warmed sake can be delicious with oysters, notably an oyster pan roast or oyster stew. Some of our favorites include:

Fukucho "Moon on the Water" Junmai Ginjo

The Seto Interisland coast of Hiroshima has the most oyster beds in Japan. It is also blessed with exceedingly soft water for a creaminess on the palate—evocative of sweet, creamy west coast oysters.

Try it with the Hama Hama (WA), Hog Island Sweetwater (CA), or Bonita (WA).

Tensei "Endless Summer" Tokubetsu Junmai

This sake has a briny salinity as well as a juicy melon aroma. It would be the perfect match for an oyster that has medium to high salinity and a sweet finish.

Try it with the Cape May Salt (NJ), Raspberry Point (PEI), or Wellfleet (MA).

Toko "Sun Rise" Junmai Ginjo

The locally grown Dewasansan rice and local yeast used in making this sake result in a grassy, cucumber-tinged brew with an energetically spicy finish. If you're a diehard mignonette fan, this is a much more nuanced way to get that same brightness and spice!

Try it with the Fanny Bay (BC), Skinny Dipper (MD), or Murder Point (AL).

How to optimize your oyster and sake experience:

Chilled sake (approximately 45-50 degrees F) works best to pair with chilled oysters.
If your oysters were harvested very recently (24-48 hours ago), keep them in the refrigerator for another couple of days to amp up its umami.
Match the characteristics of the oyster and sake together (e.g., earthy with earthy, fruity with fruity, mineral with mineral).
The cleaner the oyster, the cleaner the sake.
The saltier the oyster, the higher acid the sake.
Keep in mind that acidity and umami go hand in hand.

Bonus: Eating an oyster and drinking sake is shockingly different when you think "inside the shell." Splashing a little sake into the oyster shell, as you would with a mignonette and consuming both together, is a fantastic and fun way to experience the pairing.

What else makes oysters and sake special?

Besides tasting great together, oysters and sake share the same sense of honesty. Sake and oysters are two of the purest, most unadulterated expressions of food and drink derived from nature. Both are painstakingly handmade with zero shortcuts and excuses. It's impossible to conceal a poor oyster or sake with extra flavor or extra fluff. If you already appreciate the pure, artisanal nature of oyster farming, it would be difficult not to admire the same values for sake brewing.

Sake and oysters are far more dynamic and multifaceted than people realize. Just like how there’s no one-single oyster flavor profile, sake also ranges in complexity and character. The outcome is a direct reflection of natural inputs and producer intent. This offers tremendous opportunity to mix and match different pairings.

Private oyster and sake tastings

Monica and I love to collaborate on oyster and sake pairing events, and we've figured out a way to host them for you virtually! Here’s how it works: Book a date, receive sake and oyster shipments, get a link to a private video call, join in live with the two of us and receive a saved recording to reference later!

If you are interested in hiring us to guide your party or team through an illuminating oyster and sake tasting, drop me a note.