How I Score Approachability
Every sake review on this site carries a single number: Approachability, scored out of 5.
It answers one question. If you have had sake only a few times, how much will this bottle ask of you?
Why this scale exists
When I first became old enough to drink, I knew almost nothing about sake. What I drank was neither high in quality nor easy to like, and I drank more of it than I should have. For a long time afterwards, I simply disliked sake. Read more in my Age & Responsible Drinking notice.
Then, entirely by chance, I met Nabeshima Junmai Daiginjo — read the full story. It changed the way I thought about sake almost immediately. That bottle became the reference point for what an approachable sake could be.
Not every sake I write about here is easy for a newcomer. That does not make any of them bad sake. This score is entirely my own judgment, and I will not pretend otherwise. But because I genuinely disliked sake once, I think I can picture what someone who is not used to it will feel on the first sip. That is the vantage point this scale is written from, and I hope it helps you choose.
Who this score is written for
I picture one reader: someone who normally drinks wine or beer, and has had sake maybe two or three times.
If you have been drinking sake for years, this number will be close to useless to you. Read the tasting notes instead. The score is not aimed at you, and a low number is not a warning.
What the score is not
It is not a quality rating. Some of the best bottles I have opened score low here. A demanding sake is not a bad sake. It is a sake that expects you to already know what you are looking for.
It is not the Sake Meter Value (SMV, 日本酒度). SMV is an objective value derived from a sake's specific gravity and is often provided by the brewery. Approachability is my own judgment and appears on no label anywhere. The two are unrelated, and a bottle can be bone dry and still easy to like. Here is what Sake Meter Value actually means.
It is not a consensus. It is one palate, in Kyushu, writing down what I think would happen if I handed you the bottle.
What I am actually judging
The number is a summary of five things I pay attention to while drinking:
- Aroma — inviting and clear, or heavy and unfamiliar?
- Sweetness as it is perceived — not the technical figure, but whether it reads as soft or austere.
- Alcohol — does it arrive smoothly, or with heat?
- Weight — light and clean, or dense with rice and savoury depth?
- Finish — short and clean, or long and demanding of attention?
None of these is good or bad on its own. Heat, weight and a long finish are exactly what many people come to love about sake. They are simply harder to meet on day one.
The scale
Scored from 1 to 5, in half steps.
| Score | What it means |
|---|---|
| 5 | Exceptionally approachable, even with very little sake experience. |
| 4 | Easy to enjoy, with little that needs explaining. |
| 3 | Approachable, but some context helps. |
| 2 | More demanding; rewarding if you already know what you enjoy in sake. |
| 1 | Highly demanding for a newcomer. Not where I would begin, regardless of quality. |
Every sake I review can receive an Approachability score. A low score reflects difficulty for a newcomer, not quality.
The bottom of the scale is deliberately empty for now. I expect to meet a bottle one day that asks more of a newcomer than anything here does, and I would rather leave room for it than compress everything upward and have to rebuild the scale later.
Reference bottles
These are my current reference points. Every other score is judged in relation to these bottles and to the wider set of sake I have reviewed.
| Bottle | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Nabeshima Junmai Daiginjo | 5 | I came to it convinced that sake was not for me, and it overturned that almost immediately. Elegant, refined, and it simply glides. |
| Kagura KAGURA Ruri | 4.5 | Bright fruit, gentle sparkle and an easy flow. Its nama character carries a little more intensity than Nabeshima, which is the only reason I place it just below. |
| Amabuki Junmai Omachi Hiyaoroshi | 2.5 | Quiet on the nose, dry and firm, with a steady bitterness. It rounds out as it warms or in the right cup, but it does not offer a newcomer much to hold on to at first. |
| Miinokotobuki +14 | 2 | Dry, sharp and built for food. Excellent, and it does not meet a newcomer halfway. |
The scale is relative, and it can move
These scores are not absolute measurements. Each one is set by comparison to the reference bottles above and to everything else I have reviewed, which means the scale only really works when you read it as a whole rather than one number at a time.
It follows that scores can change. If I open something that sits further out at either end, the bottles in between may need adjusting. If my own palate shifts, or if I taste a bottle again and find I was wrong, I will revise the number.
When that happens I change it in the review and say so. I would rather correct a score in public than quietly leave a wrong one in place.
How I keep it consistent
I re-taste the reference bottles periodically and check my earlier scores against them. Palates move, and mine has moved a great deal since that first bad experience.
The honest limitation
This is subjective, and I am not going to pretend otherwise.
What I can offer instead is transparency: you know who I am scoring for, what I am measuring, which bottles anchor the scale, and that every bottle scored here is one I actually bought, opened and drank. Whether my palate is a useful guide to yours is something you will work out after a few reviews. That seems fairer than a number with no method behind it.
Please drink at your own pace, and only as much as suits you. See my Age & Responsible Drinking notice.
Last calibrated: September 7, 2026