Welcome to the first episode of Sugidama Podcast, the podcast about Japanese sake, the amazing drink, I am madly in love with, profoundly fascinated by and eager to tell you about!

Sake is a mysterious drink for the Western audience. Many heard but only a few have tried. As any mysterious object, it’s surrounded by myths and legends. Some of them are completely false and others have some truth in them. Before I started my sake journey I also had many misconceptions about it. So I would like to share some of the most common myths and bust them here. Or see if there is any truth in them.

In Japanese “sugidama” means a ball made of cedar twigs and it’s a symbol of a sake brewery. In old times a sugidama was usually hung in front of the brewery at the beginning of the brewing season and the locals knew that when it turned brown, the sake was ready and they could head for the brewery for a nice drink. So every time you listen to my podcast or read my blog, why not to have a sip of sake!

Episode Contents:

• Sake: what's in the name: sake vs. nihonshu
• Origin of sake
• Myth 01: Sake is a spirit
• Myth 02: Sake is rice wine
• Myth 03: Sake is always drunk warm
• Myth 04: Sake is good only with Japanese food
• Myth 05: Premium sake is always better
• Sake of the Episode: Keigetsu Nigori Junmai Daiginjo

Sake mentioned in the episode:
Keigetsu Nigori Junmai Daiginjo
Keigetsu Tosa Brewing Company (in Japanese)
Hedonism Wines

Sugidama Podcast on Podchaser - please review if you don't use Apple Podcasts

Music used:
Wirklich Wichtig (CB 27) by Checkie Brown https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Checkie_Brown_1005/hey/Wirklich_Wichtig_CB_27

Just Arround the World (Kielokaz ID 362) by KieLoKaz
https://freemusicarchive.org/music/KieLoKaz/Free_Ganymed/Just_Arround_the_World_Kielokaz_ID_362

Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/