Sake Revolution

Season 1, Episode 12. Join us this week as we keep things caliente and chat with our good friend Chizuko Niikawa-Helton about one of her favorite topics, Hot Sake!  Chizuko is the president of Sake Discoveries, a New York based Sake PR company as well as a Sake Samurai. First, we learn how Chizuko discovered sake and ended up in the Big Apple and how her fashion industry experience helped her succeed at matching customers with sake.  Chizuko also gives us some inside scoop on her hot sake pop up bar, "Sake Caliente" and how to easily select which sakes may be good for warming and what temperatures are best (watch out lukewarm fans!). In our tasting session, we taste a trio of sakes that are all good for warming up.  It's fun to see where to tasting notes overlap for these three sakes.  Rice-y and a whole lot of caramel!  Kanpai!

Support the show

Season 1, Episode 11. Our Sake Production Series marches forward with John and Tim exploring Koji - the magical fungus among us that is needed to make sake. Koji is a friendly mold that we grow or propagate onto sake rice. This mold gives off an enzyme that breaks down starch into sugar.  We need sugars for fermentation.  Rice starch as it is won't ferment.  Koji, this molded rice is created in-house by every sake brewery.  It's not something you can order up from a catalog.  As such, hand-made koji is a big expenditure of resources for a brewery and it's a difficult process.  48 hours of constant attention is needed to craft top quality koji and the work is done in the cramped and hot "koji muro" or koji room.

Support the show

Season 1, Episode 10. Since we’ve learned about sake ingredients and sake classifications already, we thought it might be fun to look at the sake production process. We’re starting with what is called “raw materials preparation”. This encompasses rice washing, soaking and steaming. These three distinct steps all work together to prep the sake rice for fermentation.

Support the show

Season 1, Episode 9. What is nigori sake? Cloudy, Murky, Coarse, Milky... there are lots of ways to describe what we call "nigori" sake.  This of course is the milky-white, and sometimes sweet, cloudy sake you may have seen around.  But, don't enrage the Samurai... there is one word we don't use to describe it... that is "unfiltered".  With the rice starch sediment floating around the bottle, we understand why, at first glance, you might think this could be "unfiltered" sake, but sake fans in the know understand that all premium sake in Japan must, by law, pass through a filter to be sold legally as sake. In reality, nigori is a coarsely-filtered sake.  Truly "unfiltered" sake is actually illegal in Japan! This true unfiltered sake is known as 'Doburoku' - sold by special permit only - and is a chunky, rice-y affair that is the equivalent of drinking unprocessed sake fermentation mash.  John and Timothy wade into the opaque world of nigori to see if they can bring any clarity to the understanding cloudy sake.

Support the show

Season 1, Episode 8.  Ninjas are notoriously hard to pin down, but we were very lucky to recruit the nicest ninja in NYC to join the Sake Revolution and to sit down for an interview and kanpai.  That Ninja, of course, would be Chris Johnson, the Sake Ninja.  Chris tells us how the sake ninja title came to be.  I won't give it away, but you may be shocked, shocked I say, to learn it does involve a late night drinking party at NY's rough and ready Sake Bar Decibel.  And how about falling in love with premium sake on your last night in Japan after living there for three years.  That's like having your first Zabar's bagel the day you move out of New York.  And that's just the beginning for our fun talk with C.J. 

Support the show

Season 1, Episode 7. An in-depth survey of American sake podcast hosts has concluded that "Nama" sake is awesome. Well, that survey was just Timothy and John, but if you don't know about Nama yet, you are in for a treat and you are welcome in advance.  Nama literally means "raw" and refers to sake that is unpasteurized.  Skipping the pasteurization heat-treatment step of sake production leaves sake in its "fresh from the press" state, but the trade off is that it is not shelf stable outside of refrigeration.  The characteristics of nama sake are generally rich, full, brassy flavors and most commonly higher alcohol percentages.  This type of sake is not about subtlety or restraint, but rather in-your-face exuberance.  So buckle up and get ready for a deep dive into the bold, brash world of nama.

Support the show

Season 1, Episode 6. Who doesn’t love a potluck? Well, I think lots of people don’t if you end up with three different jello salads, but we lucked out with our potluck: Three fantastic sakes to taste and profile. How did we get so, em, lucky? It must be the good luck brought in by our very first sake interview guest! Today we’ll be talking with sake pro and talented sake brewer Mr. Ben Bell. Ben is well known in the sake industry for having worked for two years at Nanbu Bijin Sake Brewery in Iwate, Japan. Getting access to work at a Japanese sake brewery is a rare opportunity for foreigners, so we talk to Ben about how that came about and his overall path in the world of sake. Tasting three unique and vibrant sakes round out our episode.

Support the show

Season 1, Episode 5. For every yin there is a yang, for every sunrise a sunset and for every Junmai sake classification, there is a Non-Junmai classification.  Alcohol added sake is referred to generally as "aruten" style sake. Just as we have 3 grades of premium sake for the Junmai "pure rice" styles, we have three grades of premium sake for the alcohol added styles.  In this episode we take a deep dive into understanding the alcohol added classifications including a tasting of two different aruten styles.  Along the way, we discover we may indeed be living in a golden age of sake.  And it goes without saying that the sake glass is half full.  Everyone knows that sake always finds a way.

Support the show

Season 1, Episode 4. For this week "Junmai" is the magic word.  It literally means "pure rice" in Japanese and refers to those styles of sake that are made with rice, water, yeast and koji only, with NO added alcohol allowed.  Timothy and John explore the three classification grades of Junmai sake from the entry level grade (Junmai) to the middle grade of premium (Junmai Ginjo) all the way up to the luxurious, super-premium classification (Junmai Daiginjo).  Learn what flavors you might expect from a Junmai style sake and what our recommended pairings are.  You'll also hear about Timothy's intrepid journey finding himself alone on an isolated and rural Japanese country road in search of an elusive Junmai.  And John tells of his trip to far away Kochi Prefecture to root out the perfect Junmai sake to pair with deep-fried Izakaya fare.  Both stories have a happy ending, with Junmai Sake coming to the rescue.  Have you tried all three grades of Junmai Sake?

Support the show

Season 1, Episode 3. The rise of Covid-19 has John and Timothy recording remotely and sipping socially-distanced sake.  In our last episode, we discussed the four main ingredients in sake but did you know there is actually a 5th optional ingredient as well? We are talking about "Jozo Arukoru" a.k.a. Brewer's Alcohol!  It's true! Some sakes have distilled alcohol added, and some  do not.  For premium sake, distilled alcohol is sometimes added to round out flavors and boost aromas.  The decision whether to add alcohol or not is largely a stylistic one  - as both styles can be delicious.  To illustrate the point, Timothy and John are each bringing an alcohol-added sake to the table to taste in this episode!  let's explore how added distilled alcohol affects the flavor, texture and aroma of these sakes.

Support the show