Episode 141. When you think of Washington DC, What pops to mind?  Maybe the White House? or perhaps the picturesque cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin each spring?  If this week's guest has her way, when you think of DC, you'll soon think of "sake"!  Reiko Hirai is the founder of DC Sake Co - an online sake retailer serving the Washington DC area.  She's also an event planner and a strong voice working to promote sake in our nation's capital. This year marks Reiko's first annual Spring...

Episode 140. 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 Edo-Kiriko. This luxurious and historic hand-cut crystal glassware is most...

Episode 139. If you enjoy the sound of ice cubes clinking in a glass, this may be the episode for you! This week, John and Timothy crack open the topic of sake on the rocks!  Pouring sake over ice may not be the norm, but it can be a treat with the right kind of sake... and the right kind of ice.  We'll experiment with tasting our higher alcohol genshu-style sake both on the rocks and straight up to see what works better along with the pros and cons of sake over ice. But all that is just the...

Episode 138 This week we're proud to introduce you to our friends at Umami Mart: Kayoko Akabori and Yoko Kumano. These sake pioneers took Umami Mart from a food-focused blog back in the aughts to the outstanding  sake retailer, cocktail bar, online shop and Oakland CA community hub we know today.  At Umami Mart, you can buy all kinds of Japanese goods, dish ware, bar ware, tabletop items, but above all else, Umami Mart is a great place to buy sake.  This of course includes their eponymous...

Episode 137. One of the most famous sweet treats to come out of Japan in recent years are the seasonal and sometimes funky-flavored Nestle KitKats. It seems that for every season or any reason there is an exclusive, limited edition KitKat flavor. To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we thought it might be fun to pair some unusually-flavored Japanese KitKats with some absolutely unique sakes. Along the way Timothy and John discuss the different ways that Valentine’s Day is celebrated over in Japan...

Episode 136.  Sitting down with another U.S. sake brewer, this week John and Timothy interview Todd Bellomy, founder and brewer at Farthest Star Sake in Medfield Massachusetts.  As New England's only sake brewery, it has become Todd's mission to introduce his customers to the adventure of discovering freshly brewed, local sake.  At his sci-fi themed taproom, guests can explore his classic junmai and nigori as well as an ever changing rotation of infusions and variations of his standard brews....

Episode 135. Ready, Set, GO! This week, John and Timothy explore another brand profile: Gokyo Five from Sakai Shuzo in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Yes, we are returning not only to Yamaguchi, but also to the town of Iwakuni for this week’s episode. The town is famous for it’s 5 arched Kintai Bridge and Gokyo “GO”  FIVE (Go means 5 in Japanese) is a fun brand that explores seasonality and highlights the brewery’s dedication to “kioke” or wooden sake brewing vats. While breweries across Japan...

Episode 134. This time of year, many people think about going back to school to advance their careers, but have you considered going back to SAKE school?  Let's study up on all the various sake courses and certifications out there to help us learn more about our favorite drink.  If you dream of a career in sake, the right class might be just the ticket to get you on the the path to sake expertise in the new year! Check out our show notes for a sake education PDF download that will be your...

Episode 133. 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 take things a bit literally and look at a true heritage wild rice strain that is used to make sake.  A "wild rice" episode featuring an actual wild rice? A bit too on the nose perhaps, but we couldn't resist! We are talking about "Akamai" or red rice.  This ancient grain has a distinct dark...

Episode 132. With 2022 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 sakes and their favorite episodes from the past year. What was your favorite episode?  Let us know in the comments and we look forward to another year of great sake and many kanpais. Happy Sake New Year!...

Episode 131. The holidays are returning and along with them, the eternal question - what gift is best?! We know the answer! Sake is an amazing gift for friends, family and colleagues.  This week Timothy and John have a "wrap" session dedicated to all things sake-gifting. As for tasting, we'll introduce you to a snow globe in a bottle - the Senkin "Snowman" Junmai Daiginjo Nigori.  This premium seasonal sake would be a delicious gift in itself, but also represents the best of the spirit of the...

Episode 130.  Join us this week as John and Timothy go down the rabbit hole in search of what could be described as the most unique sake yeast out there!  This takes us over 100 years back in time to the establishment of the first olive trees in Japan planted in the rural Sanuki region of Kagawa Prefecture which we learned went on to become the nation's epicenter for olive oil production.  To boost slumping sake sales, the Kagawa Sake Brewer's association decided in 2016 to leverage their...

Episode 129. This week we focus our spotlight on sake and stories from another prefecture: Yamaguchi!  Well known in Japan as the home to the poisonous but delicious Fugu (Japanese blowfish aka pufferfish), there are a number of outstanding breweries in the Prefecture. Located on the far western tip of Japan's main Honshu island, Yamaguchi is not close to Tokyo, but does have easy access to Hiroshima. To dip our toe into the wide world of Yamaguchi sake, we taste the stunning Gangi Mizunowa...

Episode 128. 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 an icon in modern design - the Sori Yanagi Sake Glass.  With a solid glass...

Episode 127. Dreams do come true! Since its inception, the guys at Sake Revolution has been hoping to do an episode where at least one of them is reporting in “live from Japan”. With the covid restrictions finally easing, travel to Japan is allowed again and John jumped at the chance to visit our favorite destination! This week is a casual check in on the progression of his trip to the best sake bars and shops in Hiroshima and Tokyo. They guys also reminisce on their first (sideways) attempt...

Episode 126. This week, John and Timothy explore another brand profile: Kamonishiki from Niigata Prefecture. This small brewery breaks the mold on what most people expect from a typical Niigata brewery – that is, classic, crisp and dry flavors along with even more classic labels. The packaging for Kamonishiki’s Nifudazake line really steals the show. The focus is squarely on small batch production at Kamonishiki. Each bottle has a hang tag instead of a traditional label and this tag not only...

Episode 125. Believe it or not, the holiday season is sneaking up on us again! And while you may be finalizing your halloween costume, we are thinking ahead to enjoying sake this December. What better way to do this than with the world’s only Sake Advent Calendar! Created for the second year in a row by sake retailer Namazake Paul, the calendar has been upgraded and improved by importing a number of new cup sakes and redesigning the packaging and presentation. Lucky recipients of the Sake...

Episode 124. 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 an industry standard sake cup - the "kikichoko".  A larger relative of the...

Episode 123. Can you keep a secret?  We usually can... unless it involves sake intel that's hot off the presses.  This week, we have a fun interview with California sake expert and sommelier Greg Beck.  Greg is the founder and owner of Sake Secret, an L.A. County sake pop up. He studied Japanese in college and found his way to sake through the festivals and matsuri while working in Hiroshima.  As his passion for sake grew, he returned to the States to share the secrets of sake with everyone. ...

Episode 122. A long overdue return to the Sake Education Corner lets us explore a common question affecting everyone who brings a bottle of sake home - what's the deal with sake storage?! How long can you keep your sake before opening, after opening, at what temperature, in what location, and what to avoid.  While the lawyerly answer to any of these questions is often "it depends", we get into the nitty gritty and provide concrete advice anyone can implement immediately. So crack open your...

Episode 121. This week, we shine the sake spotlight on a region of Japan that is virtually unknown to most sake fans. We’re talking about Kagoshima, the volcanic, sub-tropical home base of “imo” sweet potato shochu on the southern tip of Kyushu island. Despite being a world famous mecca for distilled shochu, two of the over 100 distilleries in Kagoshima have ventured into sake production giving us a sake lifeboat in this vast ocean of shochu. Today we’ll be tasting one of them: Tenbu sake...

Episode 120. Stop the presses! Sake has been more and more in the news recently and we wanted to take a look at some of the newsworthy headlines hitting our shores.  This week, we'll discuss reports of the first ever "carbon neutral" sake coming out of Hyogo from the Kobe Shushinkan Brewery.  This involves not only changes to the energy that powers the brewery but also changes to the production process itself to optimize energy expenditures and production time.  Is this a sneak peek into...

Episode 119 This week we welcome sake expert Jessica Joly to the podcast to introduce us to this very special trio of sakes all from Saga Prefecture. The breweries are all different and distinct, but they have collaborated to create a set of three bottles with a unique branding and flavor story you won’t see anywhere else. First, from Koimari Brewery, we have the Tropical Junmai Daiginjo which uses the silhouette of a pineapple on the label to communicate it’s fruity aroma and flavor. Next,...

Episode 118.  This week, John and Timothy combat the boredom of late summer by exploring another extreme sake.  If you've ever put a squeeze of lemon in your iced tea, you know acidity can transform a beverage. But what role does acidity play in sake? and how do we taste it?  By exploring a sake that is much higher in acid, we hope to uncover  this and more.  Wine is well known to have more overall acidity than sake, so let's see if this high acid brew brings some wine-like qualities to the...

Episode 117. This week John and Timothy give a recap of their recent visit to the Joy of Sake event in New York City.  This is one of the "big kahuna" sake events in the U.S. and a great kick off to what we hope will be a return to more in-person sake tasting overall.  We explore some of the history and what to expect at this event.  John even lets us in on his favorite sips of the night.  If you'd like to join next year, we give you all the details on staying connected to get in on their...