A sake set is a generic term for the flask and cups used to serve sake, the traditional Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese alcoholic beverage

Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

 made from rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

. Sake sets are commonly ceramic

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

, but may be glass

Glass

Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...

 or lacquer

Lacquer

In a general sense, lacquer is a somewhat imprecise term for a clear or coloured varnish that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard, durable finish, in any sheen level from ultra matte to high gloss and that can be further polished as required...

ed plastic. The flask and cups may be sold individually instead or as a set.

Server

The server of a sake set is a flask called tokkuri (:ja:徳利). Tokkuri is generally bulbous with a narrow neck, but may have a variety of other shapes, including spouted serving bowls (katakuchi). Traditionally, heated sake is often warmed by placing the sake-filled tokkuri in a pan of hot water, and thus the narrowed neck would prevent the heat from escaping. In more authentic places such as oden

Oden

Oden is a Japanese winter dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon radish, konnyaku, and processed fish cakes stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth. Ingredients vary according to region and between each household...

bars and ryōtei

Ryotei

A is a type of luxurious traditional Japanese restaurant. Traditionally they only accept new customers by referral and feature entertainment by geisha, but in modern times this is not always the case. Ryōtei are typically a place where high-level business or political meetings can take place...

in Japan, sake is sometimes warmed and served in metal containers known as chirori (ja:ちろり, kanji:銚釐) or tanpo (ja:たんぽ, kanji:湯婆). Recently, glass chirori is also used to chill sake.

Drinking cups

Formerly, sake was sold by measure in a wooden box measuring cup, known as masu

Masu (Japanese)

A was originally a square wooden box used to measure rice in Japan during the feudal period. Masu existed in many sizes, typically covering the range from one to to five gō...

which has a volume of 180 ml (1 gou, 6 fl oz) then was also used as drinkware. In the past, the wooden box was said to complement the traditionally brewed sake, as it is brewed in a wooden cask

CASK

Peripheral plasma membrane protein CASK is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CASK gene. This gene is also known by several other names: CMG 2 , calcium/calmodulin-dependent serine protein kinase 3 and membrane-associated guanylate kinase 2.-Genomics:This gene is located on the short arm of...

 (:ja:樽), but in modern times, the masu is shunned by sake purists because the wood affects the flavor of the sake. Furthermore, tradition requires the masu be filled to the rim as a sign of prosperity. It is now common to make masu as lacquerware

Lacquerware

Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. The lacquer is sometimes inlaid or carved. Lacquerware includes boxes, tableware, buttons and even coffins painted with lacquer in cultures mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere.-History:...

 or even out of ABS plastic

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is a common thermoplastic. Its melting point is approximately 105 °C ....

. As the traditional sake-serving cup and a symbol of prosperity due to the same pronunciation as increase/proliferate in Japanese (:wiktionary:増す), the masu still has a place in modern times and is still used for the purpose of ceremony or to show generosity. In some Japanese restaurants, the server may put a glass inside the masu (or put the masu inside a saucer) and pour until the sake overflows and spills into the secondary container to create a wealthy atmosphere.
Nowadays, the sake is typically served in ceramic cups. The cups used for drinking sake are generally small cylindrical vessels called ochoko or choko (:ja:猪口, o- is an honorific prefix in Japanese used such as osake and omakase

Omakase

is a Japanese phrase that means "I'll leave it to you" .The expression is used at sushi restaurants to leave the selection to the chef. It differs from ordering à la carte. The chef will generally present a series of plates, beginning with the lightest fare and proceeding to heaviest, richest dishes...

), but may also include flatter shapes such as wide-mouthed bowls. Sakazuki are more ceremonial cups used most commonly at weddings and other special occasions such as tea ceremonies

Japanese tea ceremony

The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called . The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called...

, but larger versions of sakazuki also exist.

While not a traditional serving utensil, a shot glass

Shot glass

A shot glass is a small glass designed to hold or measure spirits or liquor, which is either drunk straight from the glass or poured into a mixed drink....

 is also used. In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, it is used as a substitute for ochoko, while in Japan it is used in conjunction with masu. Sake stemware

Stemware

Stemware is drinkware that stands on stems above a base. It is usually made from glass, but may be made from ceramics or metals.Stemware includes:* Wine glasses* Champagne flutes* Chalices and goblets...

 is also used, which is essentially a glass sake cup elevated above a wide base. Sake stemware, as well as glass tokkuri, is now commonly used to serve chilled sake.

External links

• Sake Flask Shapes Guide
• Tokkuri- Sake Flask Shapes
• Sake traditions
• Learn About Sake Set
• Yoshio Tsuchiya, Masaru Yamamoto (food styling), Eiji Kori (photography), Juliet Winters Carpenter
  Juliet Winters Carpenter
  Juliet Winters Carpenter is an American translator of modern Japanese literature. Born in the American Midwest, she studied Japanese literature at the University of Michigan and the Inter-University Centre for Japanese Language Studies in Tokyo...
  
   (translation) "Saké servers", The fine art of Japanese food arrangement, Kodansha International (Tokyo), 2002, p. 70. ISBN 9784770029300