Sake On Air

Somehow, they’ve done it.Despite the long list of complex and seemingly impenetrable barriers, the folks at Tippsy have managed to make a large, diverse, and inspiring range of sake available to anyone just about anywhere in the U.S. Since founding Tippsy in 2018, Genki Ito has managed to expand Tippsy’s offerings to over 400 unique products and make them available to nearly every state across the country.What exactly is, “Tippsy”, you ask? In addition to being a reliable place to shop for sake online in the United States, Tippsy also offers a curated subscription service, opportunities to communicate and learn with a global community of sake fans and sake-curious, and a wealth of high-quality educational and informative materials about sake.The mission that Genki set out on was propelled forward when joined by current portfolio manager, Sachiko Miyagi. An experienced and highly decorated and certified sake educator, Sachiko has made herself the bridge between untapped sake knowledge and undiscovered sake lovers of the future.This week we’re lucky to be joined by both Genki and Sachiko to share with us the challenges and aspirations that have formed the past and will inform the future of Tippsy, and how they plan to get sake into the hands of the millions of people out there unknowingly waiting to begin their own sake journey. Any Tippsy subscribers out there? Share your experiences with us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and of course, don’t forget to share with the folks over at Tippsy, as well! Don’t hesitate to also reach out to us with other sake or shochu-related thoughts or questions at questions@sakeonair.com and rate us on the podcast service of your choice while you’re at it.We’ll be back very soon with plenty more Sake On Air before you know it.Until then, kampai! Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is brought to you by Potts.K Productions with audio production by Frank Walter. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

Aruten, arukoru tenka, or the ingredient largely responsible for the need to create a category of junmai sake in the first place, is sake that has been made with an addition of brewer’s alcohol. Four years and 4 months ago John, little Chris, big Chris, and Justin discussed the differences between junmai and aruten sake in episode 11 of Sake on Air. How time flies. But today Justin is diving back into aruten with sake specialist, and fellow podcaster, Jim Rion. Jim is the author of Discovering Yamaguchi Sake: A Taster’s Guide to Breweries, Culture, and Terrain, published earlier this year from Stone Bridge Press.Jim’s word for this week is aruten. Reasons for adding brewer’s alcohol are many and you’d miss out on a lot of exceptional sake to assume, “junmai, good; aruten, bad.” Aruten sake types include daiginjo and ginjo (sans “junmai” of course), as well as honjozo and futsu-shu. Some brewers choose to specialize in aruten to give themselves more control over the final flavor of their sake, others are maintaining a long tradition that has its roots in preservation techniques for sake.Are you more of an Aruten or Junmai person, or does it really even matter? Share more with us here at @sakeonair on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, or send us a message with your thoughts and experiences to questions@sakeonair.com. We’ll be back with more Sake On Air – On Your Own Terms, before you know it.Until then, kampai! Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is recorded and broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is brought to you by Potts.K Productions with audio production by Frank Walter. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

“Moyashi” is a bit tricky: it’s simply translated as “bean sprout” in Japanese, but in the world of sake it refers to the sprouting koji starter knows as tane-koji, in Japanese. In this week’s episode we get insight as to how this important terminology also ties into an even more specialized term “soyashi” and how the fermentation process is connected to the sprouting of various bacteria and molds.Moyashi was the Sake Concierge, Takashi “Umio” Eguchi’s second word choice in our On Your Own Terms series. He always offers an insightful perspective as part of his explanations about sake and the related enjoyment and culture. Our conversation today is a walk through the historical methods of sake brewing, and how past techniques have been passed down to the terms and practices that still thrive today.Was moyashi new to you? Share more with us here at @sakeonair on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, or send us a message with your thoughts and experiences to questions@sakeonair.com. We’ll be back with more Sake On Air – On Your Own Terms, before you know it.Until then, kampai! Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is recorded and broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is brought to you by Potts.K Productions with audio production by Frank Walter. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

The amount of “genshu” sake circulating the market these days is ever-increasing. So first and foremost, what in the world is genshu?This week your regular host Sebastien Lemoine brings the genshu topic to the table on his own terms together with Justin Potts. Beyond defining the term (hint: it’s actually pretty simple!) they also get into how the term can be both misinterpreted and reinterpreted at the discretion of the maker’s processes, making sake titled with the word genshu not only more prevalent, but also raises the question: does it even matter?Are you a genshu fan? If so, tell us why at @sakeonair on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, or send us a message with your thoughts and experiences to questions@sakeonair.com. We’ll be back with more Sake On Air – On Your Own Terms, very soon.Until then, kampai! Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is recorded and broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is brought to you by Potts.K Productions with audio production by Frank Walter. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

This week we’re lucky to be joined once again by Niigata Sake Lovers founder, sake educator, guide, and evangelist extraordinaire, Tomomi Duquette.Tomomi’s sake vocabulary that she’s brought to the bar this week on her own terms is particularly interesting in that it flies directly in the face of what her sake homefield is best known for. In Niigata – generally considered the karakuchi motherland – genuinely amakuchi sake is relatively few and far between (although that’s gradually changing, as well).In general, karakuchi is more prevalent vocabulary – both in sake conversation and on the label – than amakuchi. That being said, for every karakuchi sake, there’s certainly a delicious bottle of amakuchi out there as well, isn’t there? So, why doesn’t it seem to get as much attention? Is karakuchi as universally loved as it seems, or is amakuchi equally synonymous with beloved sake?In order to discuss amakuchi, we kind of have to address karakuchi, as well, so this week you sort of get a two-for-one here at On Your Own Terms. Lucky you!Do you lean more karakuchi or amakuchi? What’s your personal barometer for each? Let us know @sakeonair on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, or send us a message with your thoughts and experiences to questions@sakeonair.com, and we’ll discuss. We’ll be back with more Sake On Air – On Your Own Terms, very soon.Until then, kampai! Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is recorded and broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is brought to you by Potts.K Productions with audio production by Frank Walter. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

Not only can a single batch of sake be broken down into unique seasonal releases, it can even be divided up into a range of unique products immediately following the pressing of a single batch.One possible way to do so would be to set aside (and then promptly bottle and distribute) what’s known as “arabashiri”, often translated as “first run”. This week we’re thrilled to be joined once again by previous guest of Masumi fame, Keith Norum. What exactly is “arabashiri”, and is it something you should be on the lookout for? Keith is the perfect guest to speak on the topic because not only does Masumi do a spectacular annual Arabashiri release, their specific product actually differs a bit from the conventional definition of the word, leading to some great Masumi stories as well as a great compare-and-contrast conversation that will hopefully shed more light on this often underappreciated bottling and help our listeners better understand the term as a result.Anyone keen to follow Keith on a detailed brewery tour of Masumi can do so here, as well as keep up-to-date with Masumi straight from the source in Nagano right here.If you have some of your own arabashiri experiences, be sure to share with use here at @sakeonair on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, or send us a message to questions@sakeonair.com. We’ll be back with more Sake On Air – On Your Own Terms, very soon.Until then, kampai! Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is recorded and broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is brought to you by Potts.K Productions with audio production by Frank Walter. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

Is it “kura”, or is it “gura?”It’s both! On week’s episode of On Your Own Terms, regular host Justin Potts sits down with Chris Hughes to examine a rather pervasive term in and around the world of sake: kura, the Japanese word that encompasses storehouse, brewery, factory, and nowadays, a whole lot more. Sake breweries are often called sakagura in Japanese, with their modern facilities are often built around an older kura that can be 100s of years old. (Note: the “gura” spelling represents the inflection that occurs when attached to a preceding word, hence, “saka-gura”, as opposed to, “saka-kura”.)The Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association (JSS) has an excellent resource that lists all of the sake breweries throughout Japan that offer kura tours. There are also many companies that offer brewery tours as part of their personalized services, including our very own Sebastien Lemoine’s Passerelle.Have you visited a sakagura before? Do you have plans to go? If so, share your experiences or let us know at @sakeonair on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, or send us a message to questions@sakeonair.com. We’ll be back with more Sake On Air – On Your Own Terms, in just a few days.Until then, kampai! Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is recorded and broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is brought to you by Potts.K Productions with audio production by Frank Walter. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

Is it “unfiltered”?This week’s episode of On Your Own Terms explores one component of sake’s rather confusing classification of filtered vs. unfiltered when we discuss muroka sake with one exceptional gentleman who happens to be both the owner and head brewer of North American Sake Brewery and co-founder of the Sake Brewers Association of North America, Andrew Centofante.Often simply communicated as, “unfiltered”, muroka is just one of many processes and choices available to a brewery when deciding the nature of the sake that they want to send out into the world. As concepts such as “low intervention” increase in popularity and align with the values of more and more brewers and consumers, muroka is gradually becoming more and more a key piece of vocabulary related to sake-specific communication. But is “unfiltered” entirely accurate? Is there more to it? This week regular host Justin Potts sits down with Andrew to discuss.Is muroka a term you pay attention to or place value in? Let us know at @sakeonair on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, or send us a message to questions@sakeonair.com. We’ll be back with more Sake On Air – On Your Own Terms, in just a few days.Until then, kampai! Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is recorded and broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is brought to you by Potts.K Productions with audio production by Frank Walter. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

We’re back again with more, On Your Own Terms, the series that allows our guests to select a single bit of sake or shochu-specific terminology to share with us, explaining it concisely, while also reflecting on their unique experiences and perspectives tied to their topic-of-choice.This week, the Sake Concierge, Takashi “Umio” Eguchi, brings both terminology and perspective that only he could deliver. This time around we explore the “ricey” component of the sensory experience of sake.When we started doing this, somewhat narrow-mindedly there was an assumption that most guests would likely select a Japanese-term that would mean little to those not particularly well-versed in the world of sake or shochu. While that’s generally been the case up until now, Umio throws a wrench in things this week – in the best way possible.The sensory experience of sake is often described, in terms of either (or both) flavor or aroma as being “ricey”, or expressing “riceyness” in some form, whether it be something reflecting steamed or cooked rice, mochi rice, rice bran, or something else entirely.If your evaluation of a particular wine pointed out its “grapeiness”, you might get sideways looks for pointing out the obvious. If we were talking beer, however, pointing out “malty” character or something being “hoppy” would be considered information of value.For a drink essentially made entirely from rice and rice-based raw materials (koji!), what meaning or significance does the “riceyness” of a particular sake communicate? Could it mean something different to different people depending upon their geographical or cultural perspective? How does such a term not only point out the obvious, but also the exemplary? Umio elucidates on all of these things, keeping us on our toes and in a state of reflection for this session of On Your Own Terms. We’ll be back with more Sake On Air – On Your Own Terms, in just a few days.Until then, kampai! Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is recorded and broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is brought to you by Potts.K Productions with audio production by Frank Walter. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

In case you missed it, we’ve just kicked off our new mini-series: On Your Own Terms, where we examine sake or shochu-specific terminology concisely through the eyes of the advocates and professionals that have unique experiences and perspectives on their topic-of-choice. Last episode we looked at the ever-popular topic of nama together with Jorge Navarette at Matsui Shuzo in Kyoto. (Nama has been a recent hot topic here on the show, actually). For those that missed out, it’s right below this episode in your Sake On Air podcast feed!This week we’re joined by the ever diligent, hardworking, and knowledgeable Arline Lyons of Discover Sake and Taste Translation. Always a reliable and accurate source for timely and pertinent sake information out of Japan, the Zurich-based translator and educator throws us a bit of a curveball this week with her sake terminology of choice: kanri.While not typically a part of the outward-facing sake lexicon, it’s a term that has significant implications related to how the production of sake is, hint: managed.Let us know how the concept of kanri fits into your perception of sake or shochu, and what other sorts of terminology you’d like for us to explore. Feel free to share your thoughts on this week’s show (and this new series) @sakeonair on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, or send us a message to questions@sakeonair.com. We’ll be back with more Sake On Air – On Your Own Terms, next week.Until then, kampai! Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is recorded and broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is brought to you by Potts.K Productions with audio production by Frank Walter. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.