Sake Revolution

Episode 114. With the recent heatwave, there was one kind of sake that kept grabbing our attention.  Not just cold sake, but super-chilled "Mizore" sake.  Mizore means sleet in Japanese, and this word describes perfectly the sake slushies we made ourselves for this week's episode.  Sake slushies are made by freezing one cup sake or a small bottle to about 25 degrees F without lettin...

Episode 113.   A-ha moments are not one and done.  This week, John and Timothy explore a sake brand that was a sake "A-ha 2.0" for them both.  Perhaps a bit less well known in Japan compared to some other so-called cult sakes, Kamikokoro is a brand from Okayama that is winning new fans around the world.  Kamikokoro has harnessed the power of their renowned local fruit - Yume Hakuto White...

Episode 112. When it comes to sake controversies, there is one topic that can give "hot sake vs cold sake" a run for its money - and that is "sake cocktails!" Love them or hate them, cocktails made with sake are an up and coming way for new consumers to get their first exposure to sake.  Since this is a somewhat controversial topic, we found the perfect subject matter expert to...

Episode 111. What do you get when extreme sake goes mainstream? Chances are, you're looking at a popular style known as Super Dry sake.  Referred to as "cho-karakuchi" in Japanese, these boozy, ultra-dry sakes pull a full 180 to the super sweet dessert sakes we've tasted before.  Prepare yourself for a sake that puts the alcohol aromas, flavors and finish front and center.  The...

Episode 110. It's not every day that a new sake book hits the market, so we knew we had to sit down and talk with authors Nancy Matsumoto and Michael Tremblay about their fantastic new tome "Exploring the World of Japanese Craft Sake: Rice, Water, Earth."  Nancy and Michael co-authored this book that focuses on the ingredients in sake and well as the microbes and people that magical...

Episode 109. It's not every day that a new sake book hits the market, so we knew we had to sit down and talk with authors Nancy Matsumoto and Michael Tremblay about their fantastic new tome "Exploring the World of Japanese Craft Sake: Rice, Water, Earth."  Nancy and Michael co-authored this book that focuses on the ingredients in sake and well as the microbes and people that magical...

Episode 108. What happens when you bend the rules of sake brewing? You can certainly end up with sake that some would call extreme.  Case in point- there is some traditional thinking around how to treat "nama" or unpasteurized sake.  The often repeated golden rule is to 'keep it chilled' and 'drink it young'!  What happens if you decide to long-term age this kind of s...

Episode 107. While Sake Revolution is currently the only U.S. sake podcast, there are several other podcasters around the world working hard to spread the good word of sake.  We thought it would be fun to connect with our international colleagues for a little sake pod "crosstalk" to network and share the sake love.  We start with Alex, the intrepid voice behind London's "Sugida...

Episode 106.  With his family's sake brewery on the verge of closing for good in 2003, Tadayoshi Onishi, at the age of 27, retooled the type of sake they were making by launching a new brand and a new flavor profile.  Their "Jikon" label soon gained recognition for its zippy and bright texture all while being approachable and easy drinking.  Since then, Jikon has been very much in d...

Episode 105. This week we interview and get to know Wes Konishi the President of the Sake Brewer’s Association of North America. Wes gives us the lowdown on the SBANA and their mission to help with establishing North American sake breweries and advocating for legislative form for the U.S. sake industry. Most of us sake lovers remember a special “A-ha” moment where we discovered the joys of premium...

Episode 104. Week in and week out, our standard gear for tasting and evaluating sake is a simple wine glass. This works really well and almost everybody has one nearby. But in Japan, there are a wide variety of shapes, materials and sizes used to make cups for drinking sake. That got us wondering if we should take some other cups out for a test drive and compare them to our usual stemware. This we...

Episode 103. If you look up "extreme sake" in the dictionary and you may well find a picture of this bottle in there.  We are upping the ante on our quest for extreme sakes this week by introducing a brew with a lot of character... and a lot of fans: Tamagawa Heirloom Yamahai Junmai Genshu from Kinoshita Shuzo out of Kyoto.  The brainchild of UK-born Master Sake Brewer Phillip Harper, th...

Episode 102. Who needs a vacation?! If you’re having visions of swaying palm trees and ocean sunsets, this episode may be just what the doctor ordered! This week, we live vicariously through John’s recent trip to Hawaii and his visit to Islander Sake Brewery, makers of Hawaii’s only local sake. John wouldn’t leave us high and dry, so we also get to taste a fruity and zippy Kitashizuku Junmai Ginjo...

Episode 101. This week, we have an enlightening and fun interview. We’re joined by Marcus Consolini, a New York City native who became the first non-Japanese owner and CEO of a sake brewery in Japan. In 2017, Marcus was introduced to Osaka’s Daimon Shuzo and with his background in finance and banking, he began a partnership to help guide the 200 year old brewery into new markets and opportunities....

Episode 100.  This week, we reach a very special milestone - 100 episodes of Sake Revolution!  John and Timothy plan to celebrate with a quiet and heartfelt Kanpai together to reflect on the last two years, but - a few interruptions got in the way.  Our phones were suddenly blowing up with previous guests of Sake Revolution checking in.  You won't believe some of the breaking sake news and up...

Episode 99. Ripening in May each year, Japanese plums have a brief window of being in season.  Brewers take advantage of this delicious fruit to make an ever popular style of sake known as "Ume-shu" a.k.a. plum sake.  We're not talking about sticky and cloyingly sweet chemical plum wine here but rather a lightly sweet, tart and low alcohol elixir that is made by soaking whole plums...

Episode 98. What’s on the menu this week? Well, Menus! Sake Menus, that is. We’ve all been there – Sitting in a restaurant, our server asking what we’d like to drink, staring at a sake menu and wondering what the heck to order. Sake menus come in all shapes and sizes and range from the helpful to the downright perplexing. The goal of any sake menu should be to help a customer easily find a sake th...

Episode 97. Week in and week out, our standard gear for tasting and evaluating sake is a simple wine glass.  This works really well and almost everybody has one nearby.  But in Japan, there are a wide variety of shapes, materials and sizes used to make cups for drinking sake.  That got us wondering if we should take some other cups out for a test drive and compare them to our usual stemware.  Let&...

Episode 96. Listen at SakeRevolution.com.  What's the first thing that pops to mind when you hear the word "Miyagi"?  Well, Daniel-san, if you're our age, it might be Mr. Miyagi's "wax on, wax off".  But we are digging deeper to discover the real Miyagi - Miyagi Prefecture that is! And, by listener request, we'll be exploring some of the brands and sakes tha...

Episode 95. Listen at SakeRevolution.com.  Sitting down with another U.S. sake brewer, this week John and Timothy interview Steve Vuylsteke, CEO of SakeOne sake brewery in Oregon.  Steve has an extensive background in Oregon wine, not only having grown up in a winery and but also having lead several wineries as CEO over the years.  Fate brought Steve to SakeOne in 2009 and since then he's gui...

Episode 94. Listen at SakeRevolution.com.  This week John and Tim try to keep the episode short and sweet... EXTREMELY sweet, that it! Yes, extreme sakes are back! Listen in as we descend the Sake Meter Value (SMV) scale to taste a sake rated at a stunningly low -86!  This super-duper sweet strawberry nigori from Homare Shuzo shatters our expectations on what extremely sweet sake is all about.  Ma...

Episode 93. It is a truth universally acknowledged that, when visiting a foreign country, learning a few words of the local language can go a long way to enhancing your experience. We certainly agree and this is doubly true when visiting a sake bar in Japan.  This week, Tim and John will introduce you to their "Survival Japanese" for navigating the all important conversations around orde...

Episode 92. Listen at SakeRevolution.com. Are you ready to get EXTREME?  In a new series, Timothy and John explore the fringes of what sake can be, taking on the expressions of sake that really push the envelope.  To start things off, we look at a sake that has undergone only a bit of rice polishing - just a scant 10% milled away to leave us with a full 90% seimaibuai remaining.  Most premium sake...

Episode 91. This week we train our sake spotlight on another perennial favorite prefecture: Yamagata.  Quite rightly known as the "Ginjo Kingdom", Yamagata has one of the highest percentages of premium sake production of any prefecture in Japan.  The Yamagata Sake Brewer's Association has united the 50 breweries in the prefecture to focus their production, starting in the 1980s, on...

Episode 90. What better way to kick off a new year on the show than to have a reunion with two ultimate VIPs who are indeed "married to sake".  This time, we get Myshell and Scott, the Sake Revolution Spouses, back for another episode but this time... together!  How did they feel about their previous episodes?  What is it like to be married to a sake-lebrity?  Do they mind being locked a...