Nigori Sake (pronounced nee-gor-ee zah-keh) is a rough-filtered sake. In Japanese, Nigori means ‘cloudy’, and this style of sake is thicker and creamier in texture, with a milk-like appearance. The cloudiness comes from the rice sediment which remains in the sake after it has been passed through a special coarse-mesh filter. Sake is a brewed alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice. It starts with rice that is washed, then steam-cooked. This is then mixed with yeast and koji (rice cultivated with a mold known technically as aspergillus oryzae). The whole mix is then allowed to ferment, with more rice, koji, and water added in three batches over four days. This fermentation, which occurs in a large tank, is called shikomi. The quality of the rice, the degree to which the koji mold has propagated, temperature variations, and other factors are different for each shikomi. This mash is allowed to sit from 18 to 32 days, after which it is pressed, filtered and blended.