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.
Soboshu, the sake brewed by monks played a very important role in the development of sake brewing techniques in medieval Japan. The monasteries possessed many key components necessary for successful sake-making: economic power, skilled labour force, scientific knowledge and strong political clout. However, it all was ended by Oda Nobunaga, who saw temples as a threat to his rule.
The new interview with Naoki Toyota and Tracey Delaney from The Sparkling Sake Brewery based in Cambridgeshire. Inspired by nature, Naoki went to study sake brewing in Nara, the birthplace of Japanese sake. After returning to the UK, he went on the mission to create the sake, which would express the beauty of UK nature.
The second part of the Emergence of Sake mini-series focuses on the introduction of koji into sake brewing, sake at the Imperial COurt during the Nara period and Soboshu, the sake brewed by monks.
This episode wasn't planned initially. I was going to write a short article about HIS Japan Premium, a new Japanese grocery and sake shop recently opened by a large Japanese travel company in Central London. However, the conversation with John Opondo, who is Managing Director of HIS Europe and Masahiro Tsuji, HIS Business Development Manager, turned out so interesting that I decided that I am not going to waste the great material and turned it into a podcast episode. Unfortunately, the sound quality is not that great, which I hope is compensated by John's optimism and charisma. Enjoy! Also please note that I am going to be at HIS Japan Premium on March 31 at Nomikai: Japanese Sake Experience Event. The link to Eventbrite where you can get tickets is in the episode show notes. I hope to see some of my listeners at the event! Kampai!
This episode is the beginning of a mini-series about the emergence of sake as a national drink of Japan. It covers the period from ancient times until the first mention of the sake brewed with koji mould.
In the final episode of Season 2, I am talking to Andy Travers, the founder of London Sake, an online sake shop, and Sugidama Podcast's sponsor. We covered quite a lot of topics from the London Sake story, to the Olympics, bottle labels and managed to taste and discussed three excellent sake during our conversation.
A new episode of Sugidama Podcast is about ginjo, premium and super-premium sake known for its fruity aroma and refined taste. I talk about the history of ginjo style, characteristics of the sake and food pairing and drinking recommendations.
Continuing the Sake Focus series with an episode on namazake, unpasteurised sake, known for its wild and funky character. Nama can be translated from Japanese as live, raw, fresh, or even natural. And it's all true about namazake. Listen to the episode to find out about different types of namazake including famous autumn sake called hiyaoroshi.
The second episode in the short Sake Focus series is about nigori, which takes its origin from the ancient sacred drink called doburoku. I am talking about types of nigori, how it's brewed, food pairing and more. Enjoy the episode and leave a review if you like it. It's the best way to support Sugidama Podcast. Kampai!
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.