Sake Revolution

Season 1, Episode 18.  Everyone's gotta start somewhere and every revolution has its beginning.  In this week's episode, John and Tim look back at how each of them came do discover sake.  Tim introduces us to Hakkaisan Junmai Ginjo, the sake that got him started after his A-Ha moment at a New York City sushi restaurant. That fateful dinner lead to a new career and a new marriage!  One sip of sake can change your life!  This sake is light, clean and crisp.  A perfect pairing with Sushi.John's story takes us on a bumpy first trip to Japan and then a deep dive into sake discovery in New York City.  John recalls that Kaori Junmai Ginjo was the first premium sake he was able to order by name.  It's an aromatic sake - It better be! "Kaori" means aroma - but has a lighter overall impression than John remembers.  One thing both Tim and John agree on, the sake selection today is much bigger than what we had just 15 years ago --- a good sign that more and more people with have their sake A-Ha moments, too.Support the show

Season 1, Episode 17.  Often the overlooked step-child of sake production, bottling is a lot more complex that you might think.  And a lot depends on the scale of your production.  A family run Mom and Pop brewery might bottle and label sake by hand.  Whereas a larger brewery might have an multiple automated bottling lines with a clean room.  Keeping with this week's theme, John and Tim challenged themselves to profile two sakes that were sold in bottles!  We did it!  The two sake selected not only came in bottles but are both would could be described as sturdy... or some might go so far as to say indestructible.  Either way, they are absolutely delicious.  So, to quote Laverne and Shirley, "Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!" and we're off to the bottling line!Support the show

Season 1, Episode 16. Pasteurization is well known and it used for a lot of sakes.  this kills off any bacteria or yeast and makes sake stable outside of refrigeration.  In the world of sake there are a number of variations on pasteurization, known as "hi-ire" in Japanese or "into the fire".  We've got our Full Nama (also known as Nama Nama), Once pasteurized nama chozo, Once pasteurized Nama zume, and twice pasteurized regular sake. As if that wasn't enough, there are also at least three ways to do pasteurization for sake... before you know it, we will get to 10,000 thousand ways.  John and Tim both opt for highly fragrant and flavorful sakes this week.  Give a listen to see what they've came up with.Support the show

Season 1, Episode 15. It's been said that the process of making sake can be done in 10,000 different ways.  Talk about versatility!  As our series on Sake Production methods continues, we're going to learn about three, no... wait, make that four more of those 10,000 ways.  This time we're looking at Pressing.  When the mash is fermented, we need to separate the newly created sake from all the unfermented rice solids.  this is achieved by pressing the mash.  There are a number of ways to achieve this some automated, some totally analog and some super high tech.  But, the big news is that at the pressing stage you can finally drink your sake!  Now, many sakes go on to further processing, but if you're in a hurry you can stop sake production with this step and pour yourself a glass.  Speaking of pouring John and Tim each bring a sake to the table.  John tries the high end Hanagaki Usu-Nigori Junmai Daiginjo, while Tim goes for a futsushu named - what a coincidence - "Ban Ryu" which translates to 10,000 Ways! Well, now...only 9,996 more ways to go.Support the show

Season 1, Episode 14. In our continuing Sake Production Series, we are now in the home stretch! The main event, or you could say the "Main Mash"! Today John and Tim are taking Moromi, also known at the main fermentation mash.  This 25-30 day fermentation period starts with a four day process known as "Sandan Jikomi".  These first four days of the Moromi see all the ingredients added - but in specific amounts on specific days.  Without a doubt, the temperature and length of moromi mash fermentation have a big impact on the final quality of the sake. "Low and Slow" fermentation helps produce a smoother, cleaner sake.  John and Tim also taste two fantastic sakes in this episode, the Bijofu Tokubestsu Junmai from Kochi, and the Shimeharitsuru "Jun" Junmai Ginjo from Niigata.  Listen in to get their tasting notes and get the low down on these two special sakes.Support the show

Season 1, Episode 13.  Call it Shubo, or Moto, or Seed Mash, or Fermentation Starter or Yeast Starter... it's all the same thing!  In sake production, shubo is the step where fermentation actually begins and the goal that this step is actually to create a healthy vibrant yeast colony for the main mash.  To expand the number of yeast bit by bit, we need this stepping stone of a process to get us from a tiny amount of yeast to enough to ferment a big tank of sake.  The time we spend to make "shubo" gets us there.  There are 4 possible ways to make shubo: Sokujo, Yamahai, Kimoto and Bodai-moto.  Tim and John explore each of these variations and dig a little deeper into the family tree of sake.Support the show

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