This is a podcast to chronicle my journey into the world of sake and other Japanese drinks, food, culture and history. While I have a sake qualification (International Kikisake-shi), I still consider myself as a novice in the sake world. I have plenty to learn about the drink and I want to share this experience with my listeners through personal accounts, interesting facts about sake and interviews with sake experts.
Recently, I have spoken to one of my listeners, who praised this podcast for its wonderful content. “But you know”, he said. “Sake is a completely new thing for me and I feel a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information you put in each episode. Why don’t you make them a bit easier to digest?” And he’s absolutely right. So I decided to do a series of episodes focusing on one particular topic, I have mentioned before. And this time it's junmai/honjozo.
The amazing conversation with Andrew Russell, a Britain-born sake brewer, who lives and work in Japan, at the iconic Imada Shuzo. We talked not only about yeast, an unsung hero of sake brewing according to Andrew, but also about his life as kurabito, a brewery worker.
Continue ReadingSake Ingredients: Yeast the Unsung Hero of Sake Brewing
The results of the IWC Sake competition are out! Check them out at the IWC website. This year I happened to be one of the sake judges and it was a tough but amazing experience. Listen to the new episode of Sugidama POdcast to find out how the competition works and about my personal experience as an IWC Sake judge. Kampai!
Do you know what irisake was and how it was used in the Edo period? What about mirin? Can you drink it or only use it for cooking? Listen to the new episode of Sugidama Podcast featuring Kinu Yukawa, a Japanese food specialist, chef and cookery teacher to find out! Kampai!
Continue ReadingSake, mirin and other animals (Interview with Kinu Yukawa)
The new episode of Sugidama Podcast is out: the terrific interview with Akemi Yokoyama where she's talking about everything koji including amazake and bread making. Listen to the episode and please leave a review on Apple Podcasts if you use it. Alternatively, share the episode on your social media and let everyone know about it. Kampai!
Continue ReadingSake Ingredients: Beautiful Koji (Interview with Akemi Yokoyama)
The new episode of Sugidama Podcast is about rice, the essence of sake. What type of rice do exist, what is the difference between table and sake rice, key sake rice varieties and interesting facts. Download and enjoy! If you like the episode please leave a review in Apple Podcasts or share the episode with your friends. Kampai!
The importance of water is difficult to overestimate. It’s second only to the brewer’s skill and as important as good rice and koji. But honestly, given good water, a skilful toji can make excellent sake from even table rice. But I am not sure if even a genius of a toji can make a delicious sake from low-quality water.
What could be more disappointing than ordering something, waiting for it with excitement and then realising that it’s something you don’t like. It happens quite often unfortunately and buying and ordering sake is not an exception. So in this episode, I would like to give you a few tips on choosing sake and also talk about some parameters you will find on the bottle beside a milling ratio. And my tips of course are based on my own experience.
Continue Reading5 tips to pick up the sake you will enjoy (plus what is SMV)
There are plenty of books about wine or whiskey. You go to any bookshop and you can always find something. Unfortunately, there are actually not many English language books available…
The origin of sake is covered in mystery. In order to get some clarity, I have spoken to Natsuki Kikuya, who is a certified sake and wine professional, educator and…
Continue ReadingThrough the time: the history of sake (Interview with Natsuki Kikuya)
