Episodes

Cody Brailsford is a rather rare breed. Now fuku-toji (assistant head brewer) as of this recording, at Watanabe Sake Brewery, makers of Hourai brand sake in the small countryside town of Hida Furukawa in Gifu Prefecture, Cody has been toiling away in the brewery for well over a decade. As more sake breweries open across …

This week’s episode is exactly what the title says: an interview with Shinichiro Shimizu, the president of Shimizu Seizaburo Shoten, better known as makers of the incredibly popular brand of sake, ZAKU. Zaku has taken both Japan and the world by storm in recent years, being awarded top accolades in just about every sake competition …

When you start talking sake (or shochu), you don’t get too far in before finding that you need to address koji. That’s what Justin, (big) Chris and Sebastien set out to do this week. As Japan’s magical mold, Aspergillus oryzae, begins to gain traction, not just throughout the world of brewing, but in the culinary …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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, …

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 …

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 …