Sake On Air

This week we continue our conversation with the multi-generation family of rice (and sake rice!) farmers at Isbell Farms in the heart of Arkansas. For those of you just now joining, we highly recommend you make time to give Part 1 of this conversation a listen before diving in, as it provides a great deal of context for this week’s discussion, is referenced occasionally throughout the show, and mo...

When it comes to producing sake outside of Japan, still one of the most significant hurdles to crafting the sake of a brew-master’s dreams is access to the ideal resources needed in order to realize the vision, and included in those resources are the raw materials. Sake specific rice varieties from Japan are in high demand from sake makers across the globe–and for good reason–but there’s also some...

Despite a rich and storied history spanning millennia, in certain terms, sake has yet to unequivocally prove its ability to stand the test of time. If you’re in some way associated with the sale or service of sake, likely one of the most common questions you get is, “How long can I keep my sake before it starts to go bad?” or, “How long does sake stay good after it’s opened?” As a buyer, these are...

In an ideal world we’d bring you listeners a brand-new episode each and every week. While we can’t see that happening in the immediate future, in the process of creating or preparing for many of our episodes we end up with a lot of fun and insightful conversations that sadly just don’t make it into a final episode. Whether it be interviews conducted in attempt to broaden our perspective and gain f...

There’s a fascinating schism that’s emerged between the domestic and international markets’ relationship with nigori-style sake over that past few decades. With its rather odd positioning landing it someplace between a more “traditional” style and at the same time a relatively “new” product proposition, a few distinct exceptions aside, nigori sake generally makes up an incredibly small portion of...

Just a few episodes back we decided to revisit some of the highlights from Sake Future Summit 2020 . In preparing for and editing that episode there was so much that we wanted to include but couldn’t in the interest of time, we devised a clever solution: we just did it again. As with the previous round, if you have the time to really pick through all of these on the official Sake On Air YouTube ch...

In the past we’ve hosted episodes with a handful of non-Japanese individuals that have dedicated themselves to the work and lifestyle that comes along with being a kurabito (brewer) in Japan. We’ve even had a guest that’s been so deep in the game for so long that he’s approached toji status . This week, however, we sit down for a sort of fireside chat with an inspiring and insightful young woman w...

Umeshu might be one of the most universally pleasing drink categories on the planet. Its characteristic sweet and spunky qualities can be served up any myriad of ways and seem to tickle just about everyone’s taste buds no matter how you spin it. However, while the style may seem relatively straightforward, the category is anything but. The content of this show tends to stick very close to the core...

Since hosting Sake Future Summit 2020 back at the end of November, we’ve since gone and spliced up that nearly 30 hours of dialogue and nearly as many programs into individual videos to help make topics, speakers and conversations easier to find and enjoy. Having been conducted with a visual component, viewing these on the official Sake On Air YouTube channel is arguably the best way to take in a...

Anyone who has heard of a little country by the name of “Japan” has probably heard of “Kyoto”. Anyone who has sat through a formal sake education program has probably heard of “ Fushimi ”, the small region of Kyoto often touted as one of the historically defining regions of the entire category. Nine times out of ten, when referring to Kyoto in the context of sake, that person is probably commentin...

How many of our listeners are familiar with amazake ? Despite having clear progenitor qualities to this show’s favorite beverage, this non-alcoholic, koji-fermented drink hasn’t quite amassed the international mindshare of its intoxicating cousin – yet. Although the core principle and function in preparing and making amazake shares a great deal with the early stages of sake-making , probably one o...

Any of our listeners that tuned into Sake Future Summit 2020 will likely already be familiar with the brilliant work of this week’s guest, Hotel de Crillion Chef Sommelier, Xavier Thuizat . In that session, together with Marco Pelletier (of Vantre), we looked at what it will take to insert sake into the upper echelon of the French dining experience . One crucial topic we didn’t touch upon, however...

An exploration into the various types of drinking vessels and related wares that have for centuries shaped the service and enjoyment of sake is one of the most frequently requested show topics that we get. That’s why this week we’re thrilled to (finally!) welcome Robert Yellin to the show. Owner and curator of Robert Yellin Yakimono Gallery in the heart of Kyoto , over the past 30+ years Robert ha...

Last January Sebastien and Justin travelled to Shodoshima, the island of kioke, shoyu, and olives, located off the coast of Kagawa Prefecture of Shikoku Island in Western Japan. The purpose? To take part in the Kioke Summit hosted by Yamaroku Shoyu . Why are we visiting a shoyu (soy sauce) maker for an episode of Sake On Air? A quick internet search for any combination of the key words above will...

Thank you. Two years ago Sebastien , Big Chris , Justin , John and Little Chris huddled around some microphones after-hours at the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center and tried to sort out how to approach an episode of Sake On Air. We stumbled our way through a year with all kinds of amazing guests and inspiring events . Along the way, we were incredibly lucky to be able to welcome Rebekah...

The role of the “kurabito” – one who works in a sake brewery – is incredibly varied. While the traditional image is that of a team of brewers hunkered down for a long brewing season of focus and isolation, nowadays the term has come to encompass the diverse range of tasks at the brewery involved in seeing a bottle of sake through from start to finish. That being said, for the most part, having a p...

Drink Sake. Stay Soba. It’s this simple mantra that has made Seattle’s Hannyatou and its neighboring soba destination Kamonegi almost overnight mainstays for the sake-inspired community of the Pacific Northwest. It was almost exactly one year ago that Justin sat down with and renowned soba chef Mutsuko Soma and sake specialist partner-in-crime Russell King at their (then) newly-opened fermented cr...

Lately it feels as though we’re teetering on the verge of shochu’s day in the limelight. Japan’s indigenous spirit with about as much market and mindshare as the beverage more commonly associated with the island nation – sake – has been gradually demanding more and more attention amongst some many of the world’s most prolific bartenders, mixologists and connoisseurs of fine spirits. However, despi...

Thanks for tuning in to Part 2 of our special focusing on the current impact of COVID-19 on the sake and shochu industries. If you haven’t yet listened to Part 1 , where we interview a number of significant individuals with unique perspective on the industry here in Japan, that’s a great place to start . You can find that here. Slightly different from Part 1, this particular recording is more disc...

This week, we’re bringing you a double episode exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the sake industry here in Japan, and how that impact is beginning to reverberate through the international market. The entire nation of Japan, while never undergoing a formal lockdown, was officially placed on State of Emergency status as of April 7 th , a state which continued until May 31 st , with the country gra...

While this summer has certainly been a lot of things for many of our listeners, we hope that one thing which has been a defining mainstay throughout the summer of 2020 has been sake. Summer is gradually winding down a bit at this point, but we thought it was about time we did a (semi-)timely episode that celebrates the sake of the season. For summer, that’s natsuzake. Literally “summer” (natsu) “s...

This week’s episode is precisely what you’d assume it to be: the crew talking shochu. It had been a bit too long since we’d last done a real shochu-centric show, so we decided to drag Christopher Pellegrini into the studio to update us on some of the latest industry happenings and also humor our questions and musings. While we do get down into the nitty-gritty a bit, this week’s show is actually v...

Although we’re all still grounded here in Japan, this week we’re getting off the island for a visit to the great Pacific Northwest to chat with Andrew Neyens , the one-man-band behind Seattle’s Tahoma Fuji Sake . Between stints at some of Toyama’s most exciting and inspiring breweries, including Fumigiku Shuzo (makers of Haneya) and Masuda Shuzo (makers of Masuizumi) , as well as attempts to scrat...

With LINK , Pernod Ricard made their first foray into the world of sake. Bringing together the craftmanship and nuance of Chivas Regal with the pioneering spirit of Toyama’s Masuda Shuzo – makers of Masuizumi – the company in charge of many of the world’s most iconic labels in spirits set out to bring an unprecedented proposal to the world of sake. But why sake? And why now? This week Sebast...

Here it is! The final installment of our “Know Your Hosts” series, introducing our listeners to the minds and motivations behind Sake on Air. For the first half of this week’s show, we have Rebekah Wilson-Lye in the hot seat. Currently the head of international marketing and public relations for Japan Craft Sake Company , we delve into not only the personal journey that led her from New Zealand to...