Episode 179. This week, John and Timothy explore another brand profile: Hououbiden from Kobayashi Shuzo in Tochigi Prefecture. How does a brewery go from the edge of bankruptcy to become a coveted cult sake? To quote Huey Lewis, that's the power of love! This brewery is managed by the rare combination of a husband who is the brewery president and a wife who is the Master Brewer/Toji. The sake they make is etherial and elegant. Today's tasting - the Hououbiden "Asahi Mai" Junmai Daiginjo - left T...
Jul 02, 2025•30 min•Season 4Ep. 179
Episode 178. In this episode join John and Timothy as they interview Keith Norum. Keith is a well known figure in the sake industry and he has represented the Masumi brand of sake since 2005. Keith tells us his story of getting to Japan and finding his way to the world of sake. What's it like working at a traditional Japanese sake brewery? Keith gives us a peek behind the noren! Together we all taste one of the most popular Masumi sakes in the market outside Japan - Masumi Shiro Junmai Ginjo - a...
May 11, 2025•33 min•Season 4Ep. 178
Episode 177. If we think about sake, usually an image of a glass bottle pops to mind. But if we scratch the surface and investigate a bit more the way that sake is packaged and shipped, there is a world of variety out there you may not have considered! This leads us to one of our series we are calling "Funky Packaging"... think of it as sake beyond the glass bottle. Cups, bags, paks, and today's packaging - the Joto One Cup - a special paper cup that makes sake accessible on the go. Listen in as...
Mar 30, 2025•30 min•Season 4Ep. 177
Episode 176. With 2024 over and done, it's time to take a look back at the sake year that was. Join us this week for some casual sipping and some discussion on the highlights, surprises and challenges of this past year's sake adventures. Tim and John both let us know their favorite episodes from the past year and we also take a guess at the most downloaded episode from 2024. It's also the moment of truth to review our "Sake Revolution Resolutions" - Did we achieve our goals? Whatever the outcome...
Feb 01, 2025•32 min•Season 4Ep. 176
Episode 175. Join us this week for another wide-ranging sake interview. We are welcoming Lucas Smolic, the founder of the Sake Brewers Guild, to the podcast. Lucas started in engineering but found his way to sake which evolved into a deep passion for sake brewing. This inspired the development of the Sake Brewers Guild with its mission to make learning the skills of sake brewing accessible to all. Among other things, we discovered that the Guild is supporting and connecting sake brewers on ALL S...
Dec 27, 2024•37 min•Season 4Ep. 175
Episode 174. This week we welcome a sake personality from Quebec, Canada to the studio – Mr. Benoit Champagne. With a name like Mr. Champagne, you might well think Benoit was destined for a life involved with sparkling wine, but luckily for the sake lovers of Quebec, he found his way first to Japan and discovered a love of sake, which he now guides breweries to exporting in Canada. Benoit also worked for years as a non-Japanese brewer and export manager at a Japanese sake brewery, which we also ...
Nov 08, 2024•32 min•Season 4Ep. 174
Episode 173. World Sake Day comes once a year on Oct 1st. For sake fans across the globe, this is our big holiday... think Christmas-4th of July-Halloween all rolled into one! What better way for us to mark the day then with a live recording of Sake Revolution in front of a studio audience and featuring an interview and tasting with our two New York City Tojis: Brandon Doughan of Brooklyn Kura and Shinobu Kato of Kato Sake Works. Our friends and sake fans who attended this live recording at the ...
Oct 16, 2024•55 min•Season 4Ep. 173
Episode 172. "Say Cheese"! If you identify as a curd nerd, join us to explore an exciting new way of pairing with sake! We are joined this week by extra special guest host Myshell who lends her crazy-style palate to our exploration of these pairing possibilities. Listen in as we taste three sakes, each of which has been paired with a show-stopping cheese - each a different style from a different country, no less. Have wine and cheese pairings finally met their match? #SakeRevolution Support the ...
Sep 28, 2024•46 min•Season 4Ep. 172
Episode 171. This week we go back to school...again! Timothy's new role as the Director of Education at the Sake Studies Center at Brooklyn Kura is the focus of today's episode. The Sake Studies Center is the new sake school on the block, offering education, tastings and brewery tours for professionals and sake-curious consumers alike at our state-of-the-art facility at Industry City in Brooklyn. It's also a sake community center where other sake educators can bring their classes and special eve...
Aug 18, 2024•33 min•Season 4Ep. 171
Episode 170. We were so happy to sit down to chat and sip sake with our friend Ryan Mellinger, the General Manager of the Joto Sake imports portfolio at Kobrand. Ryan explains to us, in an easy to understand way, the intricacies of the complex "three tier system" of alcohol distribution that we have in the States and all that goes into getting fresh and delicious sake all the way from Japan to local stores and restaurants for us to enjoy. Speaking of delicious sake, we also taste an intriguing s...
Aug 04, 2024•33 min•Season 4Ep. 170
Episode 169. This week, we are returning to our series on sake vessels, but this time looking at sake serviceware in particular. We're focusing in on the Tokkuri, the workhorse carafe used for sake service across the world. Tokkuri carafes can be used to serve sake chilled, room temperature, and to warm it up as well. The materials used to make tokkuri run the gamut from metal to glass to wood, with the most popular being ceramic. However utilitarian, use of the tokkuri comes with some etiquette...
Jul 13, 2024•29 min•Season 4Ep. 169
Episode 168. We are off to explore the sake scene in another region of Japan! This time it is beautiful Oita Prefecture! As we don't know much about Oita, despite there being 33 sake breweries there, we needed to phone-a-friend. Luckily for us, our buddy Chris Johnson (aka The Sake Ninja) lived for 3 years in rural Oita on the Jet program. Chris gets us up to speed on the charms of Oita as well as the local customs and food culture. We also hear tales of Onsen that are so hot, they are known as ...
Jun 21, 2024•34 min•Season 4Ep. 168
Episode 167. If we think about sake, usually an image of a glass bottle pops to mind. But if we scratch the surface and investigate a bit more the way that sake is packaged and shipped, there is a world of variety out there you may not have considered! This leads us to our latest series we are calling "Funky Packaging"... think of it as sake beyond the glass bottle. Cups, bags, paks, and today's packaging - the Kikusui Funaguchi "Smart Pouch". It's kinda like a Capri Sun and a boxed wine had a b...
May 29, 2024•32 min•Season 4Ep. 167
Episode 166. If we think about sake, usually an image of a glass bottle pops to mind. But if we scratch the surface of exploring how sake is packaged and shipped, there is a world of variety out there you may not have considered! This leads us to our latest series we are calling "Funky Packaging" - think of it as sake beyond the glass bottle. Cups, bags, pouches, and today's inaugural packaging - the Tetra Pak Juice Box. Could this form factor we know from our school lunchbox be a good one for s...
May 18, 2024•29 min•Season 4Ep. 166
Episode 165. If you hear the term "CEL-24" and the first thing you think of is prison, and not a sake yeast, I don't think anyone would blame you. But today we're here to spread the word on CEL-24 sake yeast and it's role in bringing us some of the most fruit-driven sake aromas on the planet. Developed in Kochi prefecture in the 90's, CEL-24 was a response to the market demands for more aromatic and fruity sake styles. And after tasting a CEL-24 sake for ourselves, we can say that the apple, pin...
Apr 19, 2024•29 min•Season 4Ep. 165
Episode 164. On New Year's Day, 2024, the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture was the epicenter of a major earthquake measuring a 7.6 on the Richter scale. The affected areas are especially well known for sake brewing and in Ishikawa in particular, 24 out of 33 Ishikawa Sake Brewery Association member breweries suffered damage, with 8 suffering complete destruction. While the news of the earthquake and the recovery efforts have fallen out of the headlines, we wanted to offer our support and go...
Mar 28, 2024•25 min•Season 4Ep. 164
Episode 163. Word on the street is that travel to Japan is surging! One of the joys of travel to Japan is returning with a suitcase full of sake! But how best to do it?! This week, John and Timothy discuss the ins and outs of bringing back sake from Japan. What's allowed and what's not! Where to buy sake and how to package it. Import duties and duty free shops! If you want the lowdown on our experience bringing sake home from travel to Japan, this episode is for you. Let's UNPACK these topics an...
Feb 10, 2024•35 min•Season 4Ep. 163
Episode 162. With 2023 drawing to a close, it's time to take a look back at the sake year that was. Join us this week for some casual sipping and some discussion on the highlights, surprises and challenges of this past year's sake adventures. Tim and John both let us know their favorite sake stories and their favorite episodes from the past year. Do you know which episode was our most downloaded from 2023? Let us know in the comments and we look forward to another year of great sake and many kan...
Jan 20, 2024•33 min•Season 4Ep. 162
Episode 161. This week, John and Timothy explore another brand profile: Masumi from Miyasaka Jozo in Nagano Prefecture. Most well known as the birthplace of Association Number 7 sake yeast, Masumi has a long history dating back to 1662. Located on beautiful Lake Suwa, Masumi is a brand that is well known outside of Japan. The brand name of "Masumi" means transparency or truth and traces its origin to an ancient bronze mirror, which is a treasure of the local shrine and is the proverbial "mirror ...
Dec 28, 2023•30 min•Season 4Ep. 161
Episode 160. It's time to get wild again! Wild about sake rice, that is. Wild Rice is our series where we look closer at different strains of sake rice and what makes them unique. This time around, we look to a rice native to Hiroshima Prefecture - Hattannishiki. Known to not grow as tall as other sake rice, but still have a well developed shinpaku (starchy core) Hattannishiki is a fairly modern rice, as it was developed in the 1970's. Let's dive in and see what flavors Hattannishiki has in stor...
Dec 13, 2023•30 min•Season 4Ep. 160
Episode 159. 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 week we are exploring Guinomi. This style of sake cup is a larger sibling to the standard ochoko, hold...
Nov 05, 2023•32 min•Season 4Ep. 159
Episode 158. Enough playing it safe! It's time for another walk on the high wire that is our extreme sake series! This time, the guys skirt the law and explore the rough and ready style of home-brew style sake known as Doburoku. While Home brewing of doburoku has been outlawed in Japan for over a hundred years, Doburoku can be produced legally in specially designated Doburoku zones across Japan and by facilities with an appropriate doburoku production license. Doburoku festivals are also held an...
Oct 27, 2023•29 min•Season 4Ep. 158
Episode 157. For our final episode recorded live at this year’s American Craft Sake Festival, we are happy to bring you another U.S. sake brewer interview. This time, we visit with our pal Byron Stithem, owner and brewer at Nashville’s Proper Sake Co., and the owner at Rice Vice, the attached sake bar and restaurant. Byron has lots to celebrate… as he sat down with us, he had just stepped off the stage after receiving the Silver Medal Audience Choice Award at the American Craft Sake Festival for...
Oct 16, 2023•30 min•Season 4Ep. 157
Episode 156. Again this week, we revisit our field trip to the American Craft Sake Festival held this year in Charlottesville VA and bring you another U.S. sake brewer interview. This time, we get a two-for-one as we interview Blake Richardson and Nick Lowry of Moto-i Sake Brewery, which is based in Minneapolis, MN. Founded by Blake in 2008, Moto-i has been creating delicious sakes that are served locally and super fresh on tap. Blake works as Toji and Nick tells us how he graduated from custome...
Oct 04, 2023•31 min•Season 4Ep. 156
Episode 155. Our visit to the American Craft Sake Festival was awash with brewers, but one non-sake booth in particular caught our eye. Without rice, there is no sake and we had the chance to sit down with Whitney Isbell Jones of the world famous Isbell Rice Farm in England, Arkansas. Whitney grew up on the farm and tells us the story of how her family discovered Japanese rice varieties and how they eventually became global experts in growing premium sake rice varieties in particular. While us c...
Sep 11, 2023•34 min•Season 4Ep. 155
Episode 154. Taking a quick detour from our American Craft Sake Festival series, we're sneaking in a seasonally appropriate episode before it's too late. "Natsu Sake" or summer sake, is a new-ish genre of brews meant to take the edge off of the sweltering summer heat, all while letting us enjoy the flavors of sake in the summer. Often presented in clear or frosted bottles with cool-toned blue-ish labels, these sakes definitely give off a chill vibe. With lower alcohol as well as clean, crisp and...
Aug 28, 2023•27 min•Season 4Ep. 154
Episode 153. Listen in as we continue our series of live interviews from the American Craft Sake Festival 2023! This week it's all about SAKE Y'ALL, as the T-shirt of our interviewee says. We welcome Co-founder and Head Brewer of The Void Sake Company, Justin LeVaughn. Justin runs Kentucky's only sake brewery founded in 2020. He talks to us about his road to discovering sake as well as the styles of sake that are popular at his taproom. Orange Creamsicle Nigori anyone? We also discuss how the lo...
Aug 19, 2023•28 min•Season 4Ep. 153
Episode 152. This week, we take Sake Revolution on the road! John and Timothy recently attended the 3rd annual American Craft Sake Festival in Charlottesville, VA. Sake Revolution hosted a live podcast recording of a "brewers roundtable" on stage in front of an enthusiastic crowd of sake lovers at the Festival. We were lucky enough to interview Blake Richardson from Moto-i in Minneapolis MN and Todd Bellomy from Farthest Star Brewery in Boston, MA. It was our first time recording in front of an ...
Aug 02, 2023•26 min•Season 4Ep. 152
Episode 151. Everyone knowns that sake is made from rice, but how much of a role does rice variety really play in a sake's taste? We're lucky enough to have a Toji on speed dial! We phoned up our friend and local sake brewmaster Brandon Doughan, the Toji at New York's first sake brewery, Brooklyn Kura. We tasted two of Brandon's sakes: their well-loved flagship Blue Door Junmai made with California calrose rice and also an experimental bottling, the "Blue Door on Jupiter", which is a version of ...
Jul 15, 2023•29 min•Season 4Ep. 151
Episode 150. This week we continue our series on prefecture profiles with a special focus on those prefectures that are "landlocked" with no access to the sea or ocean. Despite no ocean view, Shiga is awash in water with 20% of it's area covered by Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake! This water feeds a robust rice growing industry and there is a healthy sake industry in Shiga as well. When it comes to food, listen in as Timothy recounts a harrowing run-in with Shiga's most famous, and definitely mo...
Jun 23, 2023•28 min•Season 3Ep. 150
