Episodes

This week John Gauntner takes over as master of ceremonies, as Rebekah Wilson-Lye, Chris Hughes and Justin Potts combine forces to help flesh out an all-important and ever-evolving element of sake that sits at the core of some of the most important conversations: rice types. Aside from just the distinction between sake rice and standard rice varieties used in sake production, the team discusses influence on the beverage’s character and profile, regionality, agricultural challenges, issues of ac...

The rise in sake’s presence at notable restaurants and gastronomic celebrations across the globe in recent years is in no small part due to the individuals that have taken it upon themselves to craft the physical bridges for transport while also blazing new trails in their home territory. Albeit an entirely unintended development (story in the show!), an unexpected turn-of-events placed Pablo Alomar Salvioni on an untrodden trail which led him to becoming one of the pioneers of the sake movemen...

As promised, the Sake On Air team’s exploration into the sake-specific Daiginjo and Junmai glassware developed by Riedel continues with an interactive tasting led by Riedel Japan President and CEO, Wolfgang Angyal. Clocking in at roughly 90 minutes, this is by far the longest episode of Sake On Air to-date. Why? There turned out to be just too much great food for thought and insightful commentary sprinkled throughout the entire experience. Our apologies in advance – we recognize that a strictl...

The Sake On Air team recently gathered at the Japan offices of Riedel, renowned Austrian wine varietal-specific glassware makers, to meet with Japan’s President and CEO Wolfgang Angyal in order to learn about the nearly two-decade process that went into producing two pieces of highly influential, sake-specific glassware: the Daiginjo Glass, and the more recent, Junmai Glass. Over nearly three hours, Sebastien, Rebekah, Chris, Marie and Justin got an in-depth rundown on the philosophy, process a...

A topic of endless discussion and debate, this week Chris Hughes, Sebastien Lemoine, Marie Nagata and Christopher Pellegrini are joined by Eli Nygren, kurabito (brewer) at Chiyonokame Shuzo in Ehime Prefecture, to examine what exactly gives sake its “local” profile. From rice to water, yeast to koji, people to practices, the number of elements at play that can enhance (or diminish!?) a sake’s “sense of place” are varied and complex. Is “terroir” even an appropriate word? Do sake and shochu need...

This week Chris Hughes takes the reigns as we set our sights on what feels to be an ever-moving target: the complex relationship between sake and food. While experience with wine and other beverages informs many expectations for sake, and a lot of concepts are somewhat transferrable, the reality is that sake is its own beast entirely. Many people in Japan, as well as internationally, have been doing exceptional work to further the craft, understanding and communication surrounding this relation...

We’re back this week with a boozy double-interview featuring one shochu meister and one sake maven. In the first half of this week’s episode of Sake on Air, Christopher Pellegrini interviews Maya Aley, the first non-Japanese to receive the prestigious certification of Shochu Meister. Maya has been living and working in Kagoshima city since 2011. Starting as an English teacher before shifting to translation, interpretation, and local business development, she talks to us about the Kagoshima Univ...

EP 15 – Live with Andre Bishop and William Stuart In March we did four shows, all recorded live at the Aoyama Sake Flea, and who should we bump into than the Sake Samurai, Andre Bishop, and William Stuart, the CEO of Colorado Sake Co.? We managed to grab a few minutes with them to sit and talk sake. The conversation wandered from America to Australia as we picked their brains on topics like sake legislation, drumming up interest outside of Japan, and the future of sake as a culture and industry...

Sake is out this week and Shochu is in! Christopher Pellegrini takes the hotseat to interview his partner in crime, Stephen Lyman. Stephen Lyman is the founder of Kampai.us and the East Coast instructor for the Sake School of America Certified Shochu Advisor Course. Currently based in Fukuoka city on the island of Kyushu, Stephen now splits his time between Kyushu and New York. Every season for the past 6 years he has been helping Yamatozakura Distillery with their shochu production. He and Ch...

We’ve been telling you that it was coming (since last autumn!) and this week we finally delivered. We’re joined this week by none other than Natsuki Kikuya, founder of Museum of Sake, one of London’s foremost curators of the local sake industry. Why a “curator of sake”? The depth and breadth of Natsuki’s work and relationship with sake is difficult to categorize into a preexisting job description. As someone shaping the landscape of the current (and as a result, also future) sake market in Lond...

This week’s show title tells you all you need to know. For those of you unacquainted with Masumi Sake, the brilliant Nagano-based craft of Miyasaka Brewing Company, you’ve come to the right place. And there’s no one better equipped to deliver the goods on this topic than Keith Norum, a name synonymous with Masumi internationally. A long-time Suwa local and Miyasaka Brewing Company veteran, Keith is experienced, eloquent, and arguably one of the best in the business when it comes to communicatin...

We decided that it was about time we sat down and hashed it out over something that is becoming an increasingly divisive topic in the sake world: to aruten or not to aruten? That is the question that John, little Chris, big Chris, and Justin pose to one another, as well as our listeners, in this week’s surprise release of Sake On Air. For those unfamiliar with the concept, both junmai and aruten likely appear to be nothing more than drunken gibberish. However, to anyone trying to discern what’s...

What does it take to realize a dream of American craft sake? And even more specifically, Brooklyn craft sake? This week Chris Hughes and Justin Potts catch up with Brian Polen, co-founder and president of Brooklyn Kura, New York’s first sake brewery, on his (relatively) recent trip to the sake island in the pacific. Having officially opened to the public in 2018, the trail being blazed by Brian, along with co-founder and brewmaster, Brandon Doughan, is one that is already informing a future of...

We’ve got a new twist on an old formula this week. In the interest of fairness, after having done a Shochu 101 episode, we thought it only made sense to give Sake the same treatment. However, unlike Shochu, the “basics” of sake have been well-treaded in many forms across books, videos, blogs, lectures and other media. It didn’t make sense for us to just rehash the same material that’s already readily available just about everywhere. While we want to provide our listeners with a solid foundatio...

A bit of a small miracle, we managed to get the entire Sake On Air entourage in the same room at the same time. A first for the show, we have John, Sebastien, big Chris & little Chris, and Justin all together on the mic together this week! In Japan, the sake and shochu industries are now just as turbulent and dynamic as any beverage category on the market. Since that action doesn’t always get communicated to the international sake-loving community, we thought we would sit down this week to refl...

Japan has absolutely exploded as a food and dining destination, but how is it as a sake destination? Sure there’s more than enough incredible sake to go around, but will you be able to find it? Are there specific regions or locations scattered across Japan that are accessible and offer the kinds of unique sake experiences and discoveries that make it worth the trip? What can we expect from “sake tourism” in the (hopefully) near future? Its these topics (and more!) that fuel this particular sake...

It was time to lay the groundwork for our up-and-coming explorations into the worlds of shochu and awamori. Welcome to Shochu 101 – class is in session. After picking the brains of a few bartending alchemists on the subject, we decided to put the Shochu Pro himself, Mr. Christopher Pellegrini, in the hotseat for 60 minutes in order to break down the fundamentals of both shochu and awamori. For those unacquainted the Japan’s indigenous distillates, this is a great place to start. Hopefully by th...

In recent weeks we’ve had the opportunity to sit down with some exciting guests for special events and interviews, and this week is no different. First, we’re finally giving some much-deserved attention to the world of shochu this week. Better yet, we were able to round up an amazing group of bartenders, mixologists and all-around beverage specialists that have been resetting the standards for quality and innovation in some of the world’s most recognized and lauded drinking and dining establish...

As promised, we’re back again for two straight weeks of live interviews straight from Aoyama Sake Flea, the bi-annual celebration of sake and craft culture, hosted in collaboration with Tokyo’s iconic Farmers Market @ UNU (United Nations University). This week, Sebastien and Justin are first joined by Dimitry Bulakh, director of twelv., Japan’s (the world’s!?) first premium organic sake bar, located here in Tokyo, as well as founder and director of Far East Grocery, specializing in organic teas...

Over the next couple weeks (yes, we’ll be going weekly for a short stint!) we’ll deviate a bit from our standard format, but that’s because we have something special lined up! The fine folks at Aoyama Sake Flea, the bi-annual celebration of sake and craft culture, hosted in collaboration with Tokyo’s iconic Farmers Market @ UNU (United Nations University), reached out to the Sake On Air crew to see if we might be interested in hosting a few live shows at the festival. You had us at “Sake”. (An...

EP 2 – State of the Industry: Japan How in the world did we get here? Where exactly are we? Where is all this headed? These are the themes that Christopher Hughes, Sebastien Lemoine and Justin Potts share, ponder and discuss on this episode of Sake on Air. From tax laws to land reform, market perception to distribution, we try to apply a bit of context for the current state that the sake industry (in Japan) is in. Looking strictly at the numbers, things appear a bit dire. But looking at wha...

And characters they are indeed! We’re giving ourselves one more “warm-up run” before we really dig in, so we thought it only made sense to round the team up at the bar and pass the tokkuri as we reminisce and share, “How did I get here?” stories. Plus, we wanted our listeners to get to know exactly who it is that will be guiding them on these twice-a-month journeys into the depths of the sake and shochu world – never to return! This week John Gauntner, Sebastien Lemoine, Christopher Hughes, Chr...

Episode 0 – Sneak Peek Welcome! You’ve just stumbled upon a “sneak peek” at the new Sake On Air podcast, what is soon to be a bi-weekly production examining the stories, people, questions, and future of sake and shochu directly from Japan. Recorded at the Japan Sake and Shochu Information Center, located in the heart of Tokyo, your hosts and members the SAKE 2020 team are setting out to deliver news, interviews, live broadcasts, and introduce new dialogue into the international sake stream of ...