We’re somewhat at a loss for words.When we first began Sake On Air back in October of 2018 it was by no means a given that we would wind up putting 100 episodes about sake and shochu out into the world.Ambition, intertwined with ongoing effort to make a sake-centric podcast a reality was actually years in the making prior to this thing ever getting started. There was a feeling that something of this nature ought to exist, but with no real sake-specific precedent for reference, we had no idea as ...
Mar 22, 2023•31 min
Last week we brought you the first session from Sake Future Summit 2022 in a nice, easy-to-digest podcast package. (Videos from across the two weekends are, of course, still available for your viewing pleasure). This week we’re continuing that trend and bringing you another very special session that specifically examined the current and possible future state of the U.S. sake market, titled appropriately, Bringing Sake to the American Mainstream.This particular roundtable was hosted by Weston Kon...
Mar 10, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Back in January across two weekends, the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association hosted the second iteration of the Sake Future Summit. (The first was held back in 2020). For those that missed it, now is as good of a time as ever to catch up!There were a handful of sessions conducted in Japanese (with English subtitles) that will require you to set aside a bit of time to read along. These include programs on, “Cutting Edge Sake & Food Pairing” with Marie Chiba (EUREKA!) and Hitoshi Utsunomi...
Feb 28, 2023•1 hr 23 min
In last week’s episode I interviewed Elliot Faber of Sake Central in Hong Kong If you missed that conversation, I encourage you to hit pause, go back, and check that out.We had a very lengthy conversation, some of which wound up on the cutting room floor.There was one topic, however, that after cutting it from the initial interview, after going back, I started thinking that maybe we ought to put out into the world.Being a newly minted father himself, our conversation naturally shifted to the top...
Feb 16, 2023•17 min
Summarizing the work of Elliot Faber is a challenge. Often simply introduced as “Sake Samurai”, a title bestowed in 2016, which added him to the ranks of the select and deserving few to carry the title, ever since he catapulted onto the global sake scene as beverage director spearheading an inspiring sake program at Hong Kong’s now renowned Yardbird in 2011, Elliot has gone on to position and re-position himself in every crack and crevice of the sake industry where he found room for meaningful c...
Feb 11, 2023•1 hr 18 min
Sparkling sake is on the rise. A style that was often served and enjoyed as an exciting and curious anomaly only a few years ago has become a staple in the lineup of sake breweries all across Japan. While more and more breweries enter new products into the increasingly crowded market every year, a handful of breweries have committed a massive amount of energy and resources to doubling down on their commitment to quality and their position as leaders in this ever-more popular style.The logistical...
Jan 25, 2023•1 hr 4 min
It is not so uncommon these days to come across non-Japanese sake brewers, indeed we have featured many on this show, but in the case of this week’s guest, sake is quite literally in his family’s DNA. Having been raised in the US, George Briant Inoue Parsons is now preparing to take over from his uncle to run Inoue Shuzo, makers of Hakoneyama brand sake, a 100 year old sake brewery in Kanagawa. It’s a role George never expected would fall to him, and he needed some persuasion to take up the fami...
Dec 22, 2022•39 min
For Paul Willenberg – aka “Namazake Paul”– namazake is a unique exploration into the seasonality of sake.Based in Portland, Oregon, Paul has been lovingly cultivating what’s become arguably the most prolific source for unpasteurized sake (namazake) in the U.S. Due to namazake being primarily available only as seasonal, limited releases, along with the logistical challenges (and costs) associated with bringing this special sub-category of sake to a market that’s still very much in its early stage...
Dec 02, 2022•53 min
“My life in Kyoto is my life in sake.”Those few words from this week’s guest, Sake Concierge Takashi “Umio” Eguchi, rather appropriately and succinctly sum up why it is we were so excited to have him join us to explore such an iconic sake region.Author of the excellent tasting notes for The Japanese Sake Bible, host of his insightful YouTube tasting series and the accompanying Sake Concierge website, as well as hosting a wide range of tasting events and tours throughout Kyoto and the surrounding...
Nov 19, 2022•48 min
As much as this week’s episode is informative, it’s also a bit of a celebration.Simone Maynard (aka: Sake Mistress) has been a dedicated, hard-working evangelist spreading the good word of sake in her native home of Australia for years. That was until the spring of 2020 sent any and all opportunity to congregate around a bottle of nihonshu to a screeching halt. Unable to sit idly by while Japan’s breweries’ sales slumped and sake-inspired communities seemed to gradually dissolve, she launched Ta...
Nov 03, 2022•58 min
We’re continuing on our Sake Travel series this week with a visit to the city of Niigata. While the entire prefecture of Niigata is littered with fantastic sake destinations, we’ve decided to narrow the scope just a bit and save our explorations into the greater region for another day. That being said, we’ve dabbled in Nagaoka and Sado Island as part of our previous episodes, which are you can tune into now if you’re seeking a deeper exploration into the larger region right this minute.In order ...
Oct 19, 2022•1 hr 3 min
For this third installment of our Sake Travel Series, we’re heading north – way north!More commonly associated with some of the best skiing and snowboarding on the planet, extravagant snow festivals, expansive landscapes unlike anywhere else in Japan, and a wholly unique and celebrated culture rooted in the livelihood of the Ainu people spanning centuries, it’s fair to say that Hokkaido was really only added to the sake map relatively recently.But what an incredible trajectory Hokkaido sake is o...
Oct 05, 2022•54 min
In August we gave you a taste of our new Sake Travel series, which we’ll be returning to again here shortly.This week, however, we’ve got the first in what will be another new ongoing series: Unfiltered.New things are happening all the time in and around the sake and shochu industries that are noteworthy and impactful. As individuals living-with-sake, we’re also constantly having a range of new experiences that are being impacted by the constantly evolving worlds of sake and shochu.We wanted a g...
Sep 22, 2022•1 hr 15 min
In case you missed it, last week we kicked off a new mini-series in Osaka. This week, together with hosts John Gauntner, Rebekah Wilson-Lye, and Chris Hughes, we’re off to Nagano!Despite being Japan’s only entirely landlocked prefecture, sharing a border with 8 different prefectures gives the region with 2nd most breweries in Japan some wild diversity. Being a rather short and easy trip from Tokyo gives it some great accessibility. Together, the newly-minted Geographical Indication of Nagano mak...
Aug 31, 2022•1 hr 2 min
We’re kicking off a new semi-ongoing series this week!Over the course of the past couple of years, in a world where international visitors have been largely restricted from entering Japan, we’ve been repeatedly getting a specific type of show topic request: sake travel.For those that have been used to visiting Japan on relatively frequent occasion but have had their regular visits rudely interrupted, many are keen to make the most of their long-awaited return once they are finally permitted to m...
Aug 24, 2022•47 min
Back on Air LivestreamWe can’t believe it has been nearly 4 months since our last “official” show release. Even though it was part of the plan, we’re now getting a bit stir-crazy. It’s time to get back on air.For those that missed it, we got most of the gang together at the JSS Information Center for a livestream back on July 29th. For those of you that missed it, we’ve cleaned up the audio and made it buttery smooth for your podcast-listening pleasure this week. If, however, you’re keen to take...
Aug 17, 2022•1 hr 26 min
Back in October of 2018 when we released the very first episode of Sake On Air, none of us had recorded or produced a podcast before, and there was no precedent for what a podcast about sake and shochu could or should be. At the time, the number resources with quality information about what sake is were both growing and improving – which was fantastic! So instead of retreading that same material, we set out with the goal of “expanding the dialogue around sake and shochu.”Having a basic understan...
May 12, 2022•7 min
We’ve welcomed more than an a few non-Japanese kurabito to the show in the past that have made sake brewing here in Japan their chosen path for a day or a lifetime. As the number of breweries integrating more diverse members into their workforce increases, it’s becoming difficult to keep track of the range of characters immersing themselves sake-driven careers here in the land of the rising sun.This week’s guest, however, has been on our radar for some time. Having spent roughly a decade brewing...
Apr 19, 2022•1 hr 11 min
It’s been way too long since we’ve spent an entire episode dialing straight into the world of awamori. That’s why we’re thrilled that your host Christopher Pellegrini’s recent trip to Okinawa brought him together with Maurice Dudley, a man who has been slightly behind the scenes but at the absolute center of the concentrated efforts to bring the glory of awamori to spirits and cocktail connoisseurs throughout his hometown of Okinawa, as well as to regions across the globe.Maurice is a literal ve...
Mar 30, 2022•33 min
We finally have a great excuse to discuss beer this week.Despite a long history of (ongoing) misrepresentation as “rice wine” and the sake industry’s mild obsession with the wine world, we’re finally reaching a point where common sense (and basic science) have started to take hold. The result is a wider realization and acceptance that, when it comes to the act of brewing, sake exists in a place closer to the world of beer than that of wine. (That being said, don’t forget that sake is its own bea...
Mar 23, 2022•1 hr 16 min
In Part 1 of this special two-part series visiting the producers reviving the lost art of kamejikomi, we spoke with Ken Kojima of Kojima Sohonten, makers of Toko sake in Yamagata Prefecture.This week we travel to the town of Gose in Nara Prefecture to chat with Chobei Yamamoto who represents 13 generations of sake-making at Yucho Shuzo, best known for their sake brand, Kaze no Mori. Yamamoto-san has not only reinstated the use of traditional kame earthenware pots into brewing, but he’s restored ...
Mar 11, 2022•31 min
Back in Episode 51 we explored the hard work being invested in restoring kioke, the large-scale traditional wooden tanks that transformed sake brewing in the Edo Period. Thanks to the hard work of many, supply can’t keep up with demand and as more and more breweries are wanting to reintegrate kioke back into their brewing practices and more woodworking craftsman are stepping up to learn the craft.But brewing using kame has been completely abandoned for (probably) at least the past couple hundred...
Mar 09, 2022•32 min
Last week we focused our energy on examining the Niigata region as a whole. This week we’re once again joined by our same guests, Ms. Kaoru Ito and Mr. Hiroshi Nagamoto from the Overseas Business Department of Asahi Shuzo Sake Brewing Company, makers of Kubota, to delve into the ubiquitous brand of sake almost synonymous with the region of Niigata and celebrated not only in its home territory of Nagaoka, but also throughout Japan and by sake lovers and connoisseurs across the globe.Instead of fo...
Mar 03, 2022•48 min
There’s really no such thing as an “inferior” region for sake production in Japan. A particular region may boast more breweries, higher production volume, or more acreage dedicated to a popular rice variety, but you really aren’t going to struggle to find great sake being made just about anywhere on the island. (In fact, there’s a reasonable argument to support the idea that some of the nation’s most exciting sake is born in some of the less-talked-about regions).Despite that, there are a handfu...
Feb 22, 2022•53 min
Ginjo is king.Or at least, that’s kind of been a mantra for several generations of more than a few sake lovers, makers, and advocates. Looking at the numbers in recent years, some have dubbed this the current era to be the era of junmai ginjo. (Straight-up ginjo has been faltering a bit, however).Sake classified in the ginjo stratum today aren’t the same as that of yesteryear, and if the depictions of the style further permeating the market today are any indication, ginjo-classified sake will li...
Feb 18, 2022•59 min
Another year, another chance to set ourselves up for failure with a series of wild predictions!This year the team has independently put together their own lists of predictions and expectations for what the worlds of sake and shochu may have in store for 2022. Intentionally, we haven’t shared or discussed our views with one another in advance in some attempt to produce any “best” answer, so what you hear is a reflection of what each of us is seeing and feeling based upon our own views and experie...
Jan 31, 2022•51 min
This past autumn, something really special came into being that all of our sake and shochu-loving listeners ought to appreciate.A project that has been in-the-making for quite some time behind the scenes at the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association, the Digital Kokushu Museum offers a rather particular kind of glimpse into the ongoing evolution of tradition and culture of Japan’s iconic and long-celebrated koji-fermented beverages – sake, mirin, and shochu – collectively referred to (occasion...
Jan 12, 2022•56 min
A lot of the interview material from our episodes here at Sake on Air winds up on the cutting room floor, but some of it is just too good to let go to waste. With our Okawari series, we raise our glass for a second round of information and insight from our past guest interviews and serendipitous encounters that we just didn’t get enough of the first time around.This week’s Okawari welcomes back three very special guests, each touching upon topics that took place as part of our previous discussio...
Dec 28, 2021•53 min
Although this particular holiday season may prove to be somewhat of an exception for some – much in the way that many of us assumed 2020 to be an exception – for many people around the world the year winding down and a new year ramping up tends to be a long-awaited opportunity to gather and spend a bit more time with family, friends and colleagues. A natural extension of this is, for many, also a welcome opportunity to open a few bottles of something special that they’ve been hanging on to, or p...
Dec 20, 2021•1 hr 18 min
Seeing as how we haven’t featured any of our esteemed sake brewing revolutionist friends on the European continent recently, we thought it was about time we check in. This week we’re joined by Tom Wilson, co-founder and head brewer at Kanpai in London, as well as Grégoire Boeuf, kuramoto at Les Larmes du Levant, located in Pélusin, France.While often loosely lumped into the same category, both brewing (excellent) sake on the same continent, the approaches and philosophies of these two breweries,...
Nov 15, 2021•1 hr 8 min
