My husband's Japanese so I've been indulging for quite some time now Sake is considered a wine; a rice wine. There are countless grades and methods of distillation. Some are meant to be served as aperitiffs, some to be served with food, some as an after dinner drink and others meant for simply sipping. Depending on the type, it may be more or less suitable to be served cold or warmed and some are good served both ways. I recently tried one called "Pearl" which is milky white and very sweet and tasted much like coconut!