Sake Revolution

Episode 64. This week John and Timothy had the great privilege to talk with Miho Fujita, the president of Mioya Shuzo, the makers of Yuho sake.  Fujita-san did not take the usual path to running a sake brewery, which is most often handed down in a family from generation to generation. Coming from a corporate background, she found herself with the chance to step in and help the brewery with marketi...

Episode 63. Today brings another "Sake Spotlight" adventure, focusing in on the sake from a specific prefecture. John and Timothy turn their focus up north - way up north - to Hokkaido, Japan's second largest and northern most island.  Famous for its open plains, abundant dairy and frigid winters, Hokkaido is home to just 13 sake breweries.  The largest of these breweries is Otokoya...

Episode 62. Exploring another "wild rice", this week John and Timothy look at the superstar sakamai of Yamagata Prefecture - Dewasansan.  Registered in 1997 and named after the three sacred "dewa" mountains, sakes made with this rice definitely give a nod to the regions famous fruit flavors.  To explore Dewasansan more deeply, we taste the Phoenix Junmai Daiginjo from Tatenokaw...

Episode 61.  This week John and Timothy go on location again. As more and more businesses are reopening and expanding their hours, we wanted to get out there again and encourage anyone, who can safely, to support their local sake shops and restaurants. For our part, we've gone back underground by returning to the famous NYC Sake Bar Decibel, a dark and funky basement sake bar that can't...

Episode 60.  This week, John and Timothy welcome the talented writer, culinary expert and podcast host Akiko Katayama to the show.  Akiko is a fixture of the Japanese food and beverage scene and is the well known host of the Japan Eats podcast on the Heritage Radio network.  On her show, she explores all things Japanese food and beverage and often introduces sake to her legions of listeners.  She...

Episode 59.  On the final episode of our Shubo miniseries, we explore "Bodaimoto".  Our guide for today's episode is Skurnik Wine's Japan Portfolio manager Jamie Graves.  Jamie has visited the Shorakuji temple, the home of Bodaimoto and he also imports one of the quintessential sakes of this genre, the Takacho "Regal Hawk" Junmai Muroka Genshu Bodaimoto.  The name of...

Episode 58.  Onward with our exploration of all things "shubo" in the third entry in our sake yeast starter mini-series.  This week John and Timothy explore the "yamahai" method of starting sake.  In a language fond of contractions, the Japanese word "yama-hai" has to be one of the most sake friendly linguistic shortcuts you'll find.  Short for "<u>yam...

Episode 57. Our Shubo series continues! Shubo of course is the "fermentation starter" step of sake production.  Whichever the method, we use lactic acid to give the shubo a jump start and allow the sake yeast to live its best life.  This week, we look at the Kimoto method.  Kimoto is the O.G. method that has been the default for centuries.  By definition, it involves the mashing of rice,...

Episode 56. Over the next few weeks, we're going to do a short series on a sake production step called "Shubo" (酒母). Shu =Sake and Bo =Mother.  So consider this step the mother of the sake, and it gets translated in many ways... seed mash, yeast starter, fermentation starter. However you slice it, the shubo step in sake production is where yeast get introduced and where fermentati...

Episode 55. Few sake personalities shine as bright as Mr. Kosuke Kuji, the 5th generation President of the Nanbu Bijin Sake Brewery.  Known as "Mr. Sunshine" of the sake industry, Kuji-san has been a tireless booster of the sake while promoting his Nanbu Bijin brand literally around the world.  We were honored for Mr. Kuji to take time to talk to us. After a bit of introduction to his br...

Episode 54. Continuing our series focusing on the "wild rice" of the sake world, we move next to sake rice royalty.  There is one strain of premium sake rice that is grown in more volume and used in more premium sakes that any other: Yamadanishiki.  Originating out of Hyogo Prefecture as a cross breed of Yamadaho and Kantan Wataribune, the  resulting rice that came to be known as Yamadan...

Episode 53. When we first heard about Hannah Kirshner’s new book “Water, Wood and Wild Things,” we knew we had to get her on the show. Not only does the book outline Hannah’s amazing adventure living the in rural town of Yamanaka in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, but during her stay there, she interns at Engawa, a destination premium sake bar and then also works a season at Matsuura Shuzo, the local...

Season 1. Episode 52.  Of Japan's 47 Prefectures, the third largest is Fukushima. This region is a sake powerhouse with a number of famous sake breweries and more than their share of gold medals in all kinds of sake competitions.   Today John and Timothy look into a couple of Fukushima sakes and dive a bit deeper into the unexpected flavors of this region.  Look for deep, developed flavors on...

Season 1. Episode 51. This week we meet up with another U.S. sake brewer - Shinobu Kato.  Shinobu was born in Tokyo, Japan and came to the States for school and stayed on for work.  After discovering a passion for sake brewing, he left corporate America to make a go at working full-time in fermentation and opened up Kato Sake Works in March 2020.  Just as Shinobu was getting his Bushwick, Brooklyn...

Season 1. Episode 50. Well it's been 50 episodes since Sake Revolution launched in 2020.  The year turned out very differently than we expected... as did our little sake podcast.  This week John and Timothy flip the script on its head and start the episode with a "kanpai".  John starts by asking Timothy what the heck is a Sake Samurai anyway? Has anyone else ever had a crazier first...

Season 1. Episode 49. While we've done a fair number of interviews on Sake Revolution, today marks the start of something special as we challenge ourself to reach out in a new direction. To start off, it's important to know that the word "kuramoto" means "Japanese Sake Brewery President." We're beginning our first in a series of sit down talks with Kuramoto in Ja...

Season 1. Episode 48.  Genshu is known commonly as the heavy hitter in the world of sake.  Sometimes called "cask strength" or "high alcohol sake", what we are really talking about here is sake that is undiluted with water.  Usually, this gives us a sake clocking in at around 18-20% alcohol.  Most sake is brewed to this level and then water is added at the time of bottling to b...

Season 1. Episode 47.  Today we focus on another "Sake Spotlight" - this time we travel to the smallest of Japan's main islands - Shikoku - as we visit Kochi prefecture. Kochi is an interesting place for sake.  While it doesn't have a huge amount of sake breweries - just 18 at last count - it does have an oversized amount of local sake culture.  The breweries are known to favor...

Season 1. Episode 46. Today we start a new series focusing on what could be considered the real star of the show: sake rice! Let’s call it “Wild Rice”, because, why not. One of the wildest of the wild sake rices is the elder statesman, the real OG, the been-there-done-that sake rice: Of course we are talking about OMACHI. Omachi is often called the “grandfather” of sake rice because it is not a hy...

Season 1. Episode 45. Another in our series of U.S. Sake Brewer interviews takes us to Virginia to talk to Andrew Centofante, Toji and Master Brewer of North American Sake Brewery. Andrew told us about his discovery of premium sake in Japan and then, following his home brewing instincts, he soon found himself propagating koji in his attic and fermenting sake mash low and slow in the basement. By 2...

Season 1. Episode 44. Last week was an exploration of bargain brews, so this week it only seems natural to dip our toes into the world of "bougie brews" - and by that we mean sakes that cost over $80 per bottle.  Now this is an area that is reserved usually for special occasion or holiday sake.  But for us this week, we are discussing the virtues of paying more for that premium sake expe...

Season 1. Episode 43. When buying sake, price is always a consideration, and compared to wine, imported premium sake usually comes at, well, a premium price. What makes a sake expensive?  The first factor is often the "seimaibuai" or rice milling rate.  The smaller the rice is milled, the more expensive the sake will be. Transportation costs also add to the cost of sake. But are there af...

Season 1. Episode 42. Sake Industry insider Monica Samuels had us at “Cheez-its.” When discussing the latest trends in sake and food pairing, Monica blew our minds suggesting we look into sake and junk food. Believe us, we will. Genius! Getting her start at Sushi Samba in it’s Sex-and-the-City heyday and quickly rising to manage a list of over 100 sakes at a time when most New Yorkers had never ev...

Season 1. Episode 41. The word “futsu” in Japanese means regular or ordinary. In the sake industry, Futsushu is the word we use to refer to NON-premium sake. That is regular, ordinary or what some might call “table” sake. However, Futsushu is not one size fits all. What makes ordinary sake ordinary? Often it comes down to the rules and regulations for how premium sake is defined in Japan. With the...

Season 1. Episode 40.  Today we focus on another "Sake Spotlight" - this time it is the far north prefecture of Iwate.  This is a rural and and sparsely populated part of the country with a total of approximately 20 sake breweries total.  Lots of snow and agriculture, too. Despite it's remote location, sakes from Iwate have made their way around the world and Tim and John will taste...