I’m going to mix up my column this week and not do a blind taste test. Instead, I want to suggest a few drinks made with sake, a versatile drink that can be served cold, warm or hot, or traditionally in shallow cups (similar to shot glasses).

You may think of sake as rice wine, but the beverage is actually more complex than that. Sake is a Japanese alcohol made of rice that resembles wine in its concentration of alcohol (anywhere from 12 to 25% alcohol) but is produced more like beer. Wine is made from a single fermentation of plant juices, while sake is made from multiple fermentations of rice.

Sake drinking in the United States has led to the creation of several new drinks, beyond the “traditional” sake bomb. A few suggestions:

Saketini: Pour 2 1/2 ounces gin (I prefer vodka), ¼ ounce sake and ice into a shaker or mixing glass. Strain into martini glass and add olive garnish.

Tokyo Rose: Mix one part sake with one part vodka and one part melon liquor with ice in a shaker or mixing glass. Strain into cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry. Sweet with a kick.

Bloody Sake Mary: Mix two ounces sake, three ounces tomato juice, a dash of Tabasco sauce and Worcestershire sauce, one tablespoon lime juice and salt and pepper with a celery stalk in a tall glass with lice.

Sake Punch: Mix six ounces orange juice, 46 ounces fruit punch, 24 ounces sake, ice and sliced fruit in a large bowl. Good for serving people who want drinks with a low alcohol content at a party.

If you do want to make a sake bomb at home, just pour several ounces of Japanese beer into a cup (something unbreakable is best) and fill a shot glass with sake. Either drop the shot directly into the beer or balance the sake shot on top of chopsticks over the beer cup and knock in (either by hitting the table or moving the chopsticks).

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Last week, we drank yummy apple cider and rum. I received the following recipe in response to my column:

Heat cider on the stove with a stick or two of cinnamon. Slice an orange like a grapefruit. Pour some hot cider into a mug with a shot of dark Captain’s. Squeeze a bit of juice from the orange into the cider and place some slices around the lip o f the mug. Stir and enjoy.

According to the re­cipe writer, “The orange seriously adds a lot to the other flavors in the drink.”

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