Sake Revolution

Episode 67.  Diving deep into another sake brand profile, this week Timothy and John look at Domaine Senkin, also known as Senkin Shuzo.  This is a 200 year old boutique brewery located in Tochigi Prefecture, and was brought back from the brink of closing its doors forever with an idea to make more wine-like sakes with a pronounced acidity and sweetness - think German riesling.  Two brothers, the 11th generation brewery President Kazuki Usui and his younger brother, and the brewery's toji, Masato Usui, decided to take the business in a new direction.  Inspired by the wine industry's concept of Domaine, the brewery has a reverence for the most traditional, low intervention brewing methods and source only hand-grown, heirloom rice varieties that all grow within 5 minutes of the brewery.  The water source used to grow the rice is also used to brew the sake.  The Usui brothers combine the avant-garde with the traditional - and end up with a cutting-edge style of sake that is forging a new path in the sake world.Support the show

Episode 66. This week, John and Timothy continue their series of interviews with U.S. Sake Brewers, scoring a fun and interesting sit down chat with Byron Stithem, the owner and toji at Proper Sake Co. out of Nashville, Tennessee.  Byron has been producing excellent sake down south since 2017 and has a soft spot for yamahai style sakes, given their depth of flavor, acidity and ability to pair well with non-Japanese cuisine.  With a true pioneer spirit, Proper Sake Co. is blazing a trail and is the first port of entry to the world of sake for many consumers in Tennessee and beyond.  Bryon crafts a fabulous and flavorful Yamahai Junmai called "the Diplomat" that combines balance, flavor and just the right amount of tart acidity, and is winning fans and followers across the region.  With a new taproom and expanded brewery opening up later this year in East Nashville and new online sales distribution coming soon, be sure to check out Proper Sake Co. any chance you get for a fantastic introduction to what American sake can be.  Kanpai, Byron!Support the show

Episode 65. This week's episode involves absolutely no kidding around. For our first brand deep dive, we look at the interesting and innovative Heiwa Shuzo in Wakayama Prefecture. Heiwa means "peace" and this brewery name was adopted in 1952 as a nod to the hopes of peace and prosperity in the post war period. In 2008, the "Kid" brand was released and as a brand, it speaks to the movement of young and up-and-coming brewers making a new style of sake in a new way.  The president of Heiwa Shuzo, Mr. Norimasa Yamamoto has even written a book on his new and collaborative ideas on brewing and producing sake as a team.  The Kid sakes project a super easy-drinking and fruity flavor profile.  Imagine the sake you'd want to sip from a wine glass on the couch after a long day at work.  Join us as we explore and taste the delicious innovation of the Kid brand from Heiwa Shuzo.Support the show

Episode 64. This week John and Timothy had the great privilege to talk with Miho Fujita, the president of Mioya Shuzo, the makers of Yuho sake.  Fujita-san did not take the usual path to running a sake brewery, which is most often handed down in a family from generation to generation. Coming from a corporate background, she found herself with the chance to step in and help the brewery with marketing and sales. Eventually she became the president as well as a dedicated, hands-on brewer herself.  The Yuho sake style is bold and hearty and a style that Fujita-san herself loves to pair with many types of cuisine. Aging and decanting are both encouraged to embolden flavors. Mioya Shuzo is located in Hakui, Ishikawa prefecture, a town so famous for UFO sightings that it has a dedicated Space and UFO museum.  While she hasn't spotted a UFO herself, I think it is safe to say that Fujita-san's Yuho sake is simply outta of this world.  Support the show

Episode 63. Today brings another "Sake Spotlight" adventure, focusing in on the sake from a specific prefecture. John and Timothy turn their focus up north - way up north - to Hokkaido, Japan's second largest and northern most island.  Famous for its open plains, abundant dairy and frigid winters, Hokkaido is home to just 13 sake breweries.  The largest of these breweries is Otokoyama Shuzo.  Otokoyama means "Man's Mountain" and both sakes tasted today are brewed by this well known sake brewery. Hokkaido is also emerging as a sake rice powerhouse with three new sake rice strains registered since the year 2000 - Ginpu, Suisei and Kitashizuku.  John was a recent pre-pandemic visitor to Hokkaido, so be sure to listen in for his sake bar, ramen and "footwear survival" tips to make the most of your next trip to snowbound Sapporo. See you there!Support the show

Episode 62. Exploring another "wild rice", this week John and Timothy look at the superstar sakamai of Yamagata Prefecture - Dewasansan.  Registered in 1997 and named after the three sacred "dewa" mountains, sakes made with this rice definitely give a nod to the regions famous fruit flavors.  To explore Dewasansan more deeply, we taste the Phoenix Junmai Daiginjo from Tatenokawa - a sake produced in collaboration with the french rock band Phoenix and using 100% dewasansan sake rice. It's a special and meaningful marriage of sake and music.  Speaking of music, one of the most unique ways Dewasansan rice has been promoted is with its very own theme song.  You'll definitely want to listen in to this week's episode, if for no other reason that to hear the Dewa33 song! Join us as we take a deeper look at one of our favorite sake rices!ergnB6Cxq9pMlvRGq0r4Support the show

Episode 61.  This week John and Timothy go on location again. As more and more businesses are reopening and expanding their hours, we wanted to get out there again and encourage anyone, who can safely, to support their local sake shops and restaurants. For our part, we've gone back underground by returning to the famous NYC Sake Bar Decibel, a dark and funky basement sake bar that can't be missed.  We are tasting two fantastic sakes from their menu: Shichiken Junmai Ginjo - a dream of a balanced and fruity premium sake and Kimonoi Junmai Yamahai - an umami and rice-y treat recommendation from Decibel's Manager Cho-san.   In addition to our sake chit chat, we are announcing this week the launch of our Patreon.  If you'd like to support what we do at the Sake Revolution podcast, please consider joining us on Patreon.com/SakeRevolution for some fun perks and extras.  We invite all our listeners to grab a sake, sit back and listen in as we head back down the stairs to Decibel!Support the show

Episode 60.  This week, John and Timothy welcome the talented writer, culinary expert and podcast host Akiko Katayama to the show.  Akiko is a fixture of the Japanese food and beverage scene and is the well known host of the Japan Eats podcast on the Heritage Radio network.  On her show, she explores all things Japanese food and beverage and often introduces sake to her legions of listeners.  She is a fan of sake herself and recommended we try a fun one today - Kenbishi Kuromatsu Honjozo - umami driven and delicious and best of all, we tasted it both warm and chilled to explore the versatility of this brew. And these flavors led Akiko to teach us a new taste descriptor: "kokumi". What's Kokumi? Well, to learn more, listen in and join us as we chat with the charming Akiko about sake and food and have a whole lot of fun!Support the show

Episode 59.  On the final episode of our Shubo miniseries, we explore "Bodaimoto".  Our guide for today's episode is Skurnik Wine's Japan Portfolio manager Jamie Graves.  Jamie has visited the Shorakuji temple, the home of Bodaimoto and he also imports one of the quintessential sakes of this genre, the Takacho "Regal Hawk" Junmai Muroka Genshu Bodaimoto.  The name of the game is again lactic acid.  Getting the right acidity levels helps the sake yeast to flourish. As Jamie explains, this sake is a portal back to a time when samurai craved sweeter sakes to balance out the funky, preserved food they enjoyed.  While you won't find a bodaimoto at every corner liquor shop, this fun and historical style is worth knowing about.  Let's dive in to this 'time capsule' brew and discover a style of sake any samurai would love.Support the show

Episode 58.  Onward with our exploration of all things "shubo" in the third entry in our sake yeast starter mini-series.  This week John and Timothy explore the "yamahai" method of starting sake.  In a language fond of contractions, the Japanese word "yama-hai" has to be one of the most sake friendly linguistic shortcuts you'll find.  Short for "<u>yama</u>orshi" (pole ramming/mashing) and "<u>hai</u>shi" (to stop/cease), Yama-hai indicates that this shubo method ceases the pole ramming/mashing that is done in the Kimoto method to get that fermentation kicked off.  Yamahai and Kimoto are related insofar as they allow for the natural build up of lactic acid, but Yamahai does it without the arduous mashing of the rice, koji and water together.  Is it a short cut to umami-town? Not quite, as the process still takes about four weeks, but you can put away the mashing poles and instead sip on some sake on while that lactic acid develops on it's own. Let's talk turkey and get the low down on Yamahai!Support the show