Synthetic sake (Gosei seishu)

Gosei seishu (synthetic sake) is a type of alcoholic beverage made from ingredients such as alcohol, shochu, glucose, and rice or barley. It is a liqueur with a flavor similar to sake (seishu). The method is said to have originated in 1925 (Taisho 14), when RIKEN (the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research) tried to create a drink close in quality to sake without using rice, during a time of rice shortages. Under the Liquor Tax Act, synthetic sake is defined as a drink resembling sake, and the weight of rice used must not exceed 5/100 of the weight calculated at an alcohol content of 20 degrees. Unlike ordinary Japanese sake, synthetic sake reproduces a sake-like flavor by adding various seasonings and components, such as sugars, organic acids, and amino acids. It was developed mainly in the wake of the rice price surge and the rice riots that followed World War I. Although the word "sake" (seishu) appears in its name, it belongs to a category entirely different from Japanese sake (nihonshu), which is a true brewed sake.