Preparation

Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine 4 cups of the flour and the cubed butter. Using your hands, incorporate the butter into the flour, working the dough between your thumb and middle and pointer fingers to “snap” the dough together until the mixture resembles cottage cheese. It will be chunky with some loose flour. Mix in the sage.

Make a well in the center of the mixture. Pour in the buttermilk, a little bit at a time, using your hands to mix the flour into the buttermilk until the texture is tacky and sticky. You may not need all of the buttermilk, or you may need a little more. The dough should be wet and messy, but not sloppy.

Sprinkle flour on top of the dough. Run a rubber spatula around the inside of the bowl, creating a separation between the dough and the bowl. Sprinkle a bit more flour into this crease.

Flour a work surface well. With force, dump the dough from the bowl onto the surface. Flour the top of the dough and the rolling pin. Roll out the dough into an oval 2 inches thick. No kneading is necessary—the less you mess with the dough, the better.

Flour a 2-inch biscuit cutter. Start from the edge of the rolled-out dough, and cut straight through the dough with the cutter, trying to maximize the number of biscuits cut from this first roll-out.

Re-roll the excess dough, and cut more biscuits. As long as the dough stays wet inside, you can use as much flour on the outside as you need to handle the dough.

Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper (the biscuits should be touching).

Brush the tops with melted butter. Bake until the tops are golden brown, 16 to 18 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.