Most famously, amazake is the lightly alcoholic sake lees leftovers often served warm at fall festivals. The term is also used to refer to the nonalcoholic rice slurry to which brewers add yeast to begin winemaking.
Nothing against warm amazake, but the onset of balmy weather means we’ll be dealing with the latter today.
Amazake is believed to alleviate natsubate (summer heat fatigue), so it seems the perfect addition to a chilled smoothie. Its sweetness means there’s no need for refined sugars, and naturally occurring digestive enzymes, probiotics, amino acids and more lead some to call this beverage the “drinkable IV drip.”