Sake On Air

Like most all of our listeners, we’re keeping rather close to home these days. The nature of things makes it a bit challenging for the team to gather and record, but on the bright side, it’s given us the time to dig through the archives and finally get around to editing some of our on-the-road interviews that have been gradually piling up over the past several months. Starting this week, we bring you “Sake-On-Air-On-The-Road”!For this week’s show, Big Chris (Hughes) is interviewing Tony Mitchell, brewer at Cambridge’s pioneering Dojima Sake Brewery, in a conversation that took place on location at the brewery while Chris was back in the U.K. during a visit home in 2019.Dojima Sake Brewery’s plans are expansive and ambitious, and that ambition helping to drive the unprecedented model that Dojima is cultivating is palpable when listening to Tony’s passion for his craft and the lifestyle that he’s managed to cultivate around it. In addition to discussing the brewery’s exciting approach to crafting great sake while at the same time creating a cultural hub for Japan’s iconic beverage in the Cambridge countryside, the two also spend time discussing Tony’s days at Wakatakeya Sake Brewery in Fukuoka, and the experience that transformed the course of his life for good.Being on the road and at the brewery, you’ll likely be able to tell that we weren’t able to take advantage of our regular recording equipment. Your understanding is appreciated.

If you’d like to help more sake-lovers find the show by reviewing and rating us on Apple Podcasts, it would mean the world to us. You can also send your thoughts and feelings about the show to [email protected], or say “Hi” to the team at @sakeonair on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you’re so inclined, we actually have a YouTube channel, as well.Thanks for tuning in everyone.Stay Home & Kampai!

Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is a co-production between Export Japan and Potts.K Productions, with audio production by Frank Walter.Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” is composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

This week we’re tackling arguably one of the most misunderstood segments of the sake world:Kanzake, often simply referred to as, Hot Sake.For a complex web of reasons, the quality and general nature of hot (or warm) sake is still shrouded in generations of preconception and misconception. However along with an aggressive reexamination of “Why?” in relation to lost practices in food and beverage, kanzake is in the midst of a mini-resurgence, particularly in Japan. Over the past decade, not only the number, but the level of quality and creativity entrenched in dining and drinking establishments throughout Japan has grown dramatically. Even outside of traditional Japanese cuisine or izakaya dining, some of Japan (and the world’s) most lauded genre-bending restaurants have made elements of kanzake service not only a part of their beverage program, but a cornerstone to it. This week we have Justin Potts, Marie Nagata, Big Chris (Hughes) and Little Chris (Pellegrini) on the mics as we delve into kanzake history, experiences, terminology, service, and heating things up at home.For the already-converted, hopefully you’ll find some hot tips (!) to add to your arsenal. For those still on the fence or for anyone that’s previously been burned (!) by less-than-positive experiences, hopefully you’ll find reason to set out on another expedition of the kanzake landscape.Oh, and there’s a small supplement to this week’s episode over on our YouTube channel, as well!

Help more sake-lovers find the show by reviewing and rating us on Apple Podcasts. Let us know what you thought about this or any of our shows to [email protected], or say “Hi” to the team at @sakeonair on  Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.If you happen to undertake any kanzake experiments at home, please do share the results and photos with us!

Take care out there everyone.And don’t forget to Kampai!

Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is a co-production between Export Japan and Potts.K Productions, with audio production by Frank Walter.Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” is composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

To all of our listeners: thank you for your patience.As much as we go out of our way to include awamori as part of the broader shochu conversation, despite many months of listener requests, we have yet to do an entire episode dedicated to Okinawa’s incredible indigenous spirit. Until now!The progenitor of the entire shochu category, the now geographically indicated Ryukyu Awamori has been deeply tied to the lifestyle and culture of the Okinawan people for at least the past 600 years. With only 46 distilleries still officially producing this incredible spirit, awamori is poised to either take over the world with its unmatched depth and character, or gradually get folded into the world of shochu. This week Little Chris, aka Shochu Pro, aka Christopher Pellegrini is joined by Sebastien Lemoine and Justin Potts to go over the basics. What is it? Where did it come from? How is it made? How does it differ from products in the broader “shochu” category? We think awamori is in a position to transform both the demand for, and dialogue, around Japanese spirits. After this week’s episode, we hope you’ll think so too. Let us know what you think of the show by reviewing and rating us on Apple Podcasts. You can send your questions and comments about this or any of our shows to [email protected], or to @sakeonair on  Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Don't forget us on YouTube! April is shaping up to be a month of excitement, challenges and experimentation. We hope you’ll continue to join us for the ride. Until then, Kampai!

Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is a co-production between Export Japan and Potts.K Productions, with audio production by Frank Walter.Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” is composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

As promised, we’re coming right back with Part 2 of our exploration into what goes into paving the way for a brand new sake brewery outside of Japan. We continue our conversation with David Joll, owner and head brewer at Queenstown’s, Zenkuro, along with Matthew Shaw, co-owner and head brewer Melbourne Sake, which if all goes according to plan, should be opening its doors in the relatively near future.You have the same SOA crew as last week, with Marie Nagata, Chris Hughes, Justin Potts, and Sebastien Lemoine further digging in to the unique challenges associated with a beverage that has been so hyper localized to a specific region for so long. What are the true essentials for crafting quality sake? What can you not live without? To what degree can you feasibly DIY some decent equipment? What can really only be realized with the support of the people and equipment from Japan? All of that and more as we close out this special two-part series with these inspiring gentlemen. Please do pop over to review and rate us on Apple Podcasts if you find yourself with a free minute, and feel free to send your questions and comments about this or any of our shows to [email protected], or to @sakeonair on  Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. There will be more content coming to our YouTube channel very soon as well, so stay tuned! We’ve got one more episode set to release before the end of March. There’s a lot we want to share with you all. Take care of yourselves and one another. We’re all on this together. And while sake isn’t a solution to our global challenges, we’d like to think that a full tokkuri with a bit of regularity certainly couldn’t hurt, as well.

Kampai!

Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is a co-production between Export Japan and Potts.K Productions, with audio production by Frank Walter. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” is composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

It now feels like eons ago when, only just last month, the global sake community seemed to have all flocked to Japan for the final days of the winter brewing season. My how the world has changed…

It was during this time that we managed to catch up with David Joll, owner and head brewer at Queenstown’s pioneering sake brewery, Zenkuro, and Mathew Kingsley-Shaw, co-owner and head brewer at the soon-to-be Melbourne Sake.

The Sake On Air team of Marie Nagata, Chris Hughes, Justin Potts, and Sebastien Lemoine sat down with these gentlemen for a conversation that went on for nearly three hours. Reluctant to trim away too many tasty tidbits, we’ve decided to split the recording into a two-part episode, the first part which you’re (hopefully) listening to now, with part two scheduled to release in the coming days.

During the first half of this marathon, these ambitious brewers and entrepreneurs discuss their initial motivations for making the leap into sake production, the people and examples that guided them early on, the initial trial and error process, and more.

There’s plenty more to the story when it comes to building a brewery from scratch in the Land Down Under. Stay tuned, as plenty more insight from these gentlemen will be hitting the airwaves in a matter of days.

For those of you that could take a spare moment to review and rate us on Apple Podcasts, it would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to send your questions and comments about this or any of our shows to [email protected], or to @sakeonair on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find us on YouTube as well.

Take care out there everyone.And don't forget to Kampai!

Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is a co-production between Export Japan and Potts.K Productions, with audio production by Frank Walter.Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” is composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

Continuing with our Meet Your Hosts series, this week we bring you interviews with another pair from the team here at Sake On Air.

First up we have Marie Nagata, interviewed by John Gauntner – a bit of an interesting dynamic, as it was Marie’s participation in John’s Sake Professional Course and the community of sake lovers and sake-curious who shared that experience with her that initially lured her down this path, as you’ll hear her describe. Essentially, a Jedi Master interviewing his young Padawan. From her globetrotting upbringing to her time as a brewer, as well as touching upon her new endeavors and her advice for those getting started with the category, it’s a fun, lighthearted and motivating discussion that highlights how the passion for sake is getting passed from generation to generation.  

In the latter half of the episode we have Justin Potts being interviewed by Sebastien Lemoine. (You can listen to the reverse of this back on Episode 27). From fermentation to farming, brewing to educating, local food to the role of family in the future of sake, and advocacy for the necessity of kanzake, the conversation takes many turns and (hopefully) rewards the listener willing to accompany Justin in his adventures and ramblings.

We would be grateful if you could take a moment to review and rate us on Apple Podcasts, and feel free to send your questions and comments to [email protected], or to @sakeonair on  Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find us on YouTube as well.

We’ve got a lot coming down the pipeline in March.

Stay tuned and Kampai!

Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is a co-production between Export Japan and Potts.K Productions, with audio production by Frank Walter.

Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” is composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

This week we zone in on sake in the U.K. as we welcome the founder and owner of Tengu Sake, Oliver Hilton Johnson to the show.

Oliver’s carefully

curated portfolio

and user-friendly communication are just a handful of the reasons

that Tengu Sake has been selected as the Specialist

Merchant of the Year

in the Sake category for the International Wine Challenge four years running. From Oliver’s

first forays into the sake business to the exciting developments happening

throughout the sake industry in London, Chris Hughes, Marie Nagata and Justin

Potts fill the tokkuri and dig into the nitty-gritty with one of the country’s

young pioneers of kampai.

Please review and rate us on Apple

Podcasts, and send

your questions and comments to [email protected], or @sakeonair on  Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. We’re on YouTube as well.

More Sake

On Air coming your way in two weeks.

Kampai!

Sake On Air is made possible with the generous

support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers

Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is a

co-production between Export Japan and Potts.K Productions, with audio

production by Frank Walter.

Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” is

composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

This week

it’s time once again to take a moment to get to know the team here at Sake On

Air. We first aired one of these episodes back in October (Episode 27), where you got to know Sebastie Lemoine and Christopher Pellegrini; aka, “little Chris”.

This week

you’ll be hearing from Christopher’s sake-inspired counterpart, Chris Hughes

(aka, “big Chris”) along with our quiet champion behind the scenes, Shuso Imada.

Despite his

relatively short amount of time based in Japan, Chris’s personal and

professional history with sake extends back to the days when he still called

the U.K. home, which has led him to now becoming one of the most active and

prolific non-Japanese sake educators in Japan. In his endless pursuit of truth,

as well as new questions in the world of sake, his passion and dedication are

both palpable and highly contagious.

Currently

the general manager of the Japan Sake and Shochu Information

Center (where we

broadcast from almost exclusively), Imada-san’s ties to the sake industry reach

deep, and are long and storied. From his family ties to world-renowned

breweries in Hiroshima

to deeply rooted sake distributors in Tokyo, then extending to his own private

ventures in sake-centric marketing and brand development, Imada-san has

arguably one of the broadest perspectives on the industry out of anyone, along

with the experience to match. In his interview, Rebekah takes him down a journey of his

own personal past, but also explores the major turning points of the industry

and its evolution over the past several decades. We let this one run a bit

long, because it we thought it was all important.

As always,

if you’re willing to take a moment to review and rate us on Apple

Podcasts (or

whatever service you listen on) it would mean the world to us.

We also

welcome all of your questions and comments about the show, which you can send

to [email protected], or track us down at @sakeonair on

 Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also listen on our official  YouTube

channel, if that’s

your thing.

Time

stamps:

Chris

Hughes interview

01:46 Start of the interview

05:12 Chris discovers sake for the first time

10:50 Working in sake

26:15 Comics and sake

Shuso

Imada interview

33:44 Start of the interview

37:36 About the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association

43:30 Sake in the 1960s and 1970s

50:30 Why Imada-san's English is so good

59:40 What does the Sake world mean to Imada-san now?

We’ll be

back in two weeks.

Kampai!

Sake On Air is made possible with the generous

support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers

Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is a co-production

between Export Japan and Potts.K Productions, with audio

production by Frank Walter.

Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” is

composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

What

exactly is the scent of sake?

For our

final episode of 2019, Chris Hughes,

Rebekah Wilson-Lye, and Sebastie Lemoine gather to discuss the nature and

role of aroma in sake. Seeing as how the smells that we experience impart so

much influence on our perception of taste and our associated memories, this is

a topic that arguably carries as much weight as any in the dialogue of sake.

From

personal experiences to systematic judging, a bit of the science of sake to the

evolution of aroma in relation to production, this week’s discussion ventures

far and wide in attempt to unravel the influence of smell on our perception of

sake. That being said, we’ve still only scratched the surface. There exists a

plethora of angles we’ve still yet to explore, which means that you can be sure

we’ll be back to expand upon this particular topic again in the future.

In what

turned out to be a rather discussion-heavy episode, there are a lot of tasty

tidbits interwoven throughout the show from beginning up until the very end.

Engaged listening is highly encouraged this week!

In

addition, we also need to express a special ‘Thanks’ to all of our listeners

that have supported us throughout our first year of Sake On Air, having seen us

all the way through to the end of 2019. Thanks to all of your excitement and

support for the show, every month our listener base grows in countries spanning

the globe, resulting in more opportunities to share the wonderful world of sake

and shochu with a passionate and sake-curious population. We have a lot planned

for 2020. We can’t wait to bring you along for the ride.

If you

feel like Sake On Air contributed just a little something to your enjoyment of

sake and shochu this past year, please do take a moment to review and rate us on Apple

Podcasts (or

whatever service you listen on). If you feel like giving back to the Sake On

Air team in some way, that’s unquestionably the best way to do it.

Keep

sending us your questions and comments about the show to [email protected], and be sure to continue following

us at @sakeonair on  Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also listen on our official  YouTube

channel.

Happy New Year everyone! Thank you so much for your patience as we worked out what went wrong with the audio of the first version of this episode.

Kampai!

Sake On Air is made possible with the generous

support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers

Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is a

co-production between Export Japan and Potts.K Productions, with audio

production by Frank Walter.

Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” is

composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

We’ve been

doing this for an entire year (and then some) already! To commemorate we

decided to get the entire cast together (minus John,

sadly, who was fully there in spirit) to talk about the nature of the show

itself, as well as address a few audience and listener questions, in front of a

small live audience in Tokyo back on November 25th. 

The format

this week is a bit unique, as the show was designed to be an enjoyable listen,

but also to speak directly to a live audience. For those that would appreciate

a small taste of the live experience, we livestreamed the show on our

Facebook page. The

audio quality is definitely going to be better via the podcast, but if a bit of

visual context will help you get the most out of the show and attach names to

faces, please do have a look at the

livestream video,

as well.

Since starting Sake On Air just over a

year ago the show

has now grown to have listeners in more than 50 countries across the globe and

is downloaded thousands of times every month. Hitting the ground running with

almost zero promotion or prep time back in October of 2018, we charged forward

with excitement and confidence that there was both a strong need and interest

for an open and readily available place to share a new kind of dialogue about

the fascinating and ever-changing nature of sake, shochu and awamori. Thanks to

all of our listeners and supporters that have followed along and championed us

over the past year, you’ve proven us right. We can’t thank you enough.

Knowing

that most of our listeners are scattered across the globe and not having the

opportunity to engage face-to-face with our supporters can be a challenge at

times, as sending data out into the digital void every other week can feel much

less tangible, both for us, and we imagine for many of our listeners as well.

Being able to speak in front of a live group of supporters, while also having

listeners send in questions and words of encouragement throughout the

broadcast, was incredibly rewarding.

We’d love to

hear your thoughts about this week’s format. Having tried this, we feel like

there’s potential to continue to explore this style of show and further engage

with our audience both locally and digitally in more new and direct ways. We’d

love to travel for shows as well! While it may not happen right away, if

there’s interest, we’d love to find a way to make a tour of some sort happen…!

But for

now, this week you can settle in with Sebastie Lemoine, Rebekah Wilson-Lye, Christopher Pellegrini, Marie Nagata,

Chris Hughes and Justin Potts

for a small celebration of all things sake, shochu and awamori, here in Tokyo.

Last but

not least, after listening to this week’s show, if you could take just a moment

to leave a review for us on Apple

Podcasts or your

favorite podcast streaming service it would mean a great deal to us and help

more than you know. Info and instructions about how to

do this can be found here.

Stitcher users can leave reviews directly in-browser here.

While

you’re listening, you can further keep tabs on us through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and our  YouTube

channel.

Any and

all questions and comments are welcome via [email protected], or directly through our contact

page.

We’ve got

one more episode of Sake On Air on the way this month before we close out 2019.

Thanks again everyone.

Kampai!

Sake On Air is made possible with the generous

support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers

Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is a

co-production between Export Japan and Potts.K Productions, with audio

production by Frank Walter.

Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” is

composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.