Sake Revolution Sake to "GO"! Measuring Sake from the One Cup to the Koku
Season 1. Episode 21. Travel anywhere in the world and the standard wine bottle will be the same size - 750ml. But in Japan, the standard sake bottles measure 720ml. What gives? Well, wouldn't you know that sake has a unique system of measuring volume - and it's all based off of one "go". What's "go" you ask? A "Go" is equal to 180 milliliters... that's about 6 ounces. All the primary measurements of sake volume are based off this starting point. The next level up is called a "sho" - that would be 1.8 Liters or 10 "go". Next we have a "to" (pronounced toe) measurement. One "to" is equal to 18 Liters. Finally there is the "koku" measurement. One Koku is equal to 1,000 "go", or 100 "to". It's a unique measurement system, but when you break it down, it's pretty easy to understand. In Japan, when visiting a restaurant, sake is often ordered by the "go"... or 180ml serving. One go, two go etc. and a Koku is important for sake breweries to measure their yearly production output. One koku again is 180 liters. Large breweries produce 20, 30 or 40 thousand koku! Small family run breweries might produce a few hundred koku per year. It's a unique measuring system, but go, sho, to and koku are all ways for us to measure our sake!