One Of Robert De Niro's Martini Favorites Includes This Japanese Alcohol

There are few actors in the world quite as iconic as Robert De Niro. Beyond his illustrious career on the silver screen, which has included eating one of the best fictional steaks of all time, he is also known as a massive martini enthusiast. While many know that De Niro has a preference for dry martinis rather than wet ones, the actor's choice to use Japanese sake rather than traditional vodka is a surprising yet brilliant substitution.

De Niro got the chance to enjoy a sake martini alongside Stephen Colbert on a December 2015 episode of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." While the premise of a portion of the interview was to drink the martinis — which featured cucumbers rather than green olives — in silence, we did get some key information on the actor's preference from both De Niro and Colbert. During the interview, not only does Colbert note that De Niro prefers his martinis extra cold when he drinks them, but the uncharacteristically tight-lipped De Niro himself admitted that the "saketini" is among his very favorite versions of the classic cocktail.

For those unacquainted, sake is a type of alcohol made from fermented sakamai rice, and while many expect it to have one distinct taste, different types of sake can have flavors that range from light and sweet to strong and earthy. Further, as is the case for many bottles of high-quality liquor, different providers have different ways of making the highly sought-after alcohol. For Robert De Niro, there are a few of these variations that stand out far above the others.

The "Taxi Driver" star explained in The Hollywood Reporter that, while the first sake he ever tried was from a Japanese restaurant in Sao Paolo, Brazil, the only sake he drinks regularly is called YK 35, which is a daiginjo sake from Hokusetsu. The bottle of sake has been praised by both De Niro and his close friend Nobu Matsuhisa, who is best known for owning Nobu and providing lavish dinner plates at the Golden Globes. Considering the widely respected chef called YK 35 "the best sake" (via The Hollywood Reporter), it's no surprise it goes for $99.99 per bottle and is sold by Nobu himself. Nevertheless, while De Niro prefers drinking this sake "very cold with cucumbers and salt," adding some dry vermouth to make it a proper De Niro martini is well worth trying out.