Season 1. Episode 22. First comes love, then comes… sake? What is it like to marry a hardcore sake nerd? This week we go right to the source and interview our Host John Puma’s Better Half, the lovely Myshell! She takes us behind the scenes and gives us the lowdown on a live steeped in sake and the secret advantage of a sake-nerd spouse… you get to skip the jet fuel sake and leap ahead right to the good stuff. Myshell also brings one of her favorite sakes to the table for the boys to drink: her long time favorite, the rich and robust Narutotai Ginjo Nama Genshu. Whatever you do, just don’t call it the “oil can sake”. We also learn Myshell’s game plan for finding sake bars that are off the beaten path in tokyo. Afterall – “What’s the worst that could happen?” Suffice to say that Myshell has developed her own sake palate and preferences. and If anyone ever asks you if you want to try a taste of “crazy sake” be sure to say “I Do”!

Skip to: 00:19 Hosts Welcome and Introduction
Welcome to the show from John and Timothy

Skip to: 01:02 Married to Sake: Myshell Speaks!

Skip to: 22:08 Sake Introductions

Myshell introduces the sake that they are tasting this week.

Skip to: 23:59 Sake Tasting: Narutotai Ginjo Nama Genshu

Narutotai Ginjo Nama Genshu

Acidity: 1.7
Brewery: Honke Matsuura Brewery
Alcohol: 18.0%
Classification: Genshu, Ginjo, Nama
Prefecture: Tokushima
SMV: +5.0

View On UrbanSake.com

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Skip to: 32:41 Show Closing

This is it! Join us next time for another episode of Sake Revolution!

John Puma: 0:22
Hello everybody. And welcome to Sake Revolution. America’s first podcast. I’m your host, John Puma from TheSakeNotes.com. Also the administrator of the internet, sake a discord and an all around sake nerd.

Timothy Sullivan: 0:36
And I’m your host Timothy Sullivan. I’m a Sake Samurai, sake educator, as well as the founder of the Urban Sake website and together John and I will be tasting and chatting about all things, sake and doing our best to make it fun and easy to understand.

John Puma: 0:51
That’s all right now. Tim, we’re doing a little something different today.

Timothy Sullivan: 0:56
I am so excited.

John Puma: 0:58
Yeah. Do you want to, do you want to tell the listeners what we’re doing?

Timothy Sullivan: 1:02
Well, we’re going to explore a little bit of married to Sake.

John Puma: 1:07
Now is this, is this something a trying to tell him, is this like an intervention? Am I drinking too much? Or.

Timothy Sullivan: 1:13
Well, you’re not married to sake, John. But your wife is married to Sake and we’re going to be welcoming a special guest. John’s better half Myshell Puma.

Myshell Puma: 1:26
Oh, hi,

John Puma: 1:27
hi.

Myshell Puma: 1:29
it’s me, Myshell!

Timothy Sullivan: 1:30
Welcome.

John Puma: 1:31
Welcome.

Myshell Puma: 1:32
and I’m married to sake

Timothy Sullivan: 1:35
We’re going to talk all about that. It’s so great to have you on our show. This is so exciting.

Myshell Puma: 1:40
I am so excited. I think the part I was looking forward to most was getting to see the education corner myself. Very exciting. It’s a lot bigger than I thought. I think maybe you start calling it an education foyer///.

John Puma: 1:56
I believe the foyer is for a tasting. If I’m not mistaken,

Timothy Sullivan: 2:02
So the whole purpose of this episode is really explore first for John. And then at a later episode for me, what’s it like to marry into a sake nerd situation? So. Myshell, you’re up first. You’re our first victim for this short series.

John Puma: 2:24
And, please let’s keep it short.

Timothy Sullivan: 2:27
so you are our very first married to sake VIP. And I have to ask you as my first question. Oh, how long have you been married to sake? How long and have you and John been together?

Myshell Puma: 2:40
Well, we’ve been together for eight years, but we got married in 2016. So I guess I’ve technically been married to sake for only half that time, four years,

John Puma: 2:52
before that she was dating sake and then engaged to sake

Myshell Puma: 2:54
yes.

John Puma: 2:55
sake.

Timothy Sullivan: 2:57
You were LTR-ing and then you put a ring on it. So, so I have to ask you, how did you bring sake to this relationship? Or did John bring sake to the relationship or who introduced who to sake. soccer?

Myshell Puma: 3:12
that one is pretty obvious. That was John introduced me to sake. I don’t think I ever heard the word sake before I met John. I did not know anything about it.

Timothy Sullivan: 3:23
So was this your introduction to Japanese culture as well? When you started drinking Sake with John out on the town, having dates and things like that.

Myshell Puma: 3:32
absolutely. I didn’t know anyone who’d ever been to Japan. I wasn’t really into any sort of like anime or manga or anything like that. I think if you’d ask me, I’d probably know that like sushi was a popular dish there. and that’s about it.

Timothy Sullivan: 3:47
Do Do remember what your first reaction was to sake? was it like on one of your dates with your now husband? Is that when you kind of first had it like a premium sake

Myshell Puma: 3:59
so I think. Probably part of being married into Sake is that you kind of start at the top, right? Like I know a lot of people where their first impression is like sake bombs or maybe a table sake, just sort of something simple. But John already knew so much by the time that I met him, that the first sake I ever had was Dassai. So I was like, Oh, this is great. This is lovely. It’s, you know, Floral. Yeah.

Timothy Sullivan: 4:28
you skipped over that whole awkward period,

John Puma: 4:30
Yeah.

Myshell Puma: 4:30
it.

Timothy Sullivan: 4:31
right? To the

Myshell Puma: 4:31
it wasn’t like on a date. It wasn’t that we went to a restaurant and he ordered it. It was actually, he’s like, I love sake and I want you to try it. So he had purchased it from a store and it was just like at home. like here, why don’t you try this?

Timothy Sullivan: 4:45
So you liked it right from the beginning. Is that right?

Myshell Puma: 4:47
Yeah, I liked it. It was, you know, it was like I said, it was very pleasant and light, but, it wasn’t, I don’t think it was my aha moment. I know you guys love your aha moments.

Timothy Sullivan: 4:56
Well, what was your aha moment, please

Myshell Puma: 4:58
So I think, he was like, Oh, okay. You like, I was like, yeah, I liked it. It’s flora like Sweden. I don’t remember any of the sakes in between. And that first. I guess a couple of weeks of trying sake, but the first sake that I truly loved was Narutotai And luckily that one’s pretty easy to get ahold of in New York.

John Puma: 5:20
Yeah, I think, we were out at an izakaya and she saw the can and it was like, what is that is interesting. What is that? I was like, I don’t know. I’ve never had it. and so, I think she ordered a glass and was like, this is amazing. This is so good. How could you have never had this before? And I was like, I don’t know. It’s just, theres a lot of sake out there. I know, cause it was a completely. Different style than what I was used to. and then are, you know, for our listeners, narutotai, a very strong flavored sake, and we’ll get more into that later on. But. I was, I generally had favored and still do the lighter, more like floral, fruity styles of sake. So this thing, you have a sip, it just bowls you over with flavor. And I was like, Whoa, I’m not ready for this. And I put, Myshell was like, I am, and it quickly became a favorite of

Myshell Puma: 6:14
hers. This more of this. I love this.

Timothy Sullivan: 6:17
So, is that when you started forging your own path in the world of sake, when you started finding your own palate, what you really like you did you notice at that point that your tastes and John’s tastes were kind of diverging in the woods, so to speak.

Myshell Puma: 6:32
I didn’t start forging my own path and sake cause it’s definitely how it is. We have completely different sake, flavor paths, I guess. it took a long time. I had to learn a lot more about. sake, I guess in general. And what makes a Nama Genshu like Narutotai tastes different than Dassai. And once I started learning more and having more Sake, I kind of figured out what those special things were that I liked. And it probably took a few years. I want to say before I, I knew enough to know what my path was and what to ask for. when we first went to Japan and we were asking for recommendations on sake, I would always say, I like “Nama Genshu”. because here that means a bold flavor, but in Japan you can actually get a lot of nama genshu that is a much lighter taste and isn’t as sort of robust as Narutotai is, so I kind of had to learn more terminology to continue to break down what I’m looking for.

Timothy Sullivan: 7:37
Yeah. And for our listeners who are joining us, maybe for the first time Nama Genshu, is the, a unpasteurized and undiluted style of Sake. That’s really rich. And as you said, Myshell in the States, it’s really bold and juicy and full bodied. And that’s something that you really connected with. Can I ask you before you got into sake, did you have any other favorite type of. Drink that you would say was a hobby of yours. Like, did you really love cocktails or beer or wine or anything like that?

Myshell Puma: 8:08
I don’t think I had any one thing that was like a hobby or anything like that. I definitely, probably always liked, you know, sour and sweet and like big flavors in general. But didn’t really have a lot of experience with any specific type of alcohol.

Timothy Sullivan: 8:24
And you mentioned a moment ago that you have taken some trips to Japan. I’d be really curious to hear from you. What your experiences were there, if you had any, really memorable Sake experiences there, if you went primarily to experienced sake or where you just, consider yourself more of a general tourist, like what was your or agenda going there and what kind of noteworthy experiences did you have?

Myshell Puma: 8:51
so I’ve been there, I guess nine times now. And that answer is different as time has gone on. So the very first time I went to Japan was I want to say like three or four months after that first sake experience. And John had already been quite a few times. And so I was just a hundred percent I’m here to learn and just you do what you know, how to do, and I’m just tagging along and, you know, you’re the experts sort of thing. And

Timothy Sullivan: 9:24
you say three, three to four months after your first Sake experience? You went, wow.

John Puma: 9:30
On the fast track team.

Timothy Sullivan: 9:31
This is totally fast-tracked. Wow.

Myshell Puma: 9:34
I think that’s such a big part of it is that when you, get involved with or married to someone who is so into sake you really start like all the way at the other end, he knew what the different types of sake were and that you could even ask for things like that.

Timothy Sullivan: 9:49
See you were like a Sake sponge, absorbing all the knowledge…

Myshell Puma: 9:52
yeah, I think on that Japan trip though, I wasn’t like, I want to drink all the sake that’s there. I was like, I want to just. Everything. I’ve never been, I don’t know anyone who’s been and all the lights and the languages and the big city. I didn’t grow up in a big city. So I would just, the experience of Japan was what I was looking forward to. But after that, a strip, like kind of seeing the things that like John was really interested in doing and like, you know, Akihabara video games, that kind of thing. I was like, I wanted to try this other thing and I want to try this. And so the next time we went, I tried a little bit more to do my own thing or like branch out into, I want to try this instead. Mmm. And I think, you know, when we’re coming back to New York, we’re going to, a lot of different restaurants are going to sake events like joy of sake that kind of thing. And I’m starting to learn, like I said more about what. Makes sake sake and all the different, special things that make each one taste special. And I think it was when I went to an event in New York city for Gifu?. It was like a Gifu Sake and food sort of event. And that was the first time I had had multiple types of sake all from the same place, like back to back all at the same time. And it was like this click where I was like, Oh, I can see the notes that all of these different, like breweries have in common, the place is an important part of. The flavor of Sake And after that is when I started to really pay attention to where the sake that I enjoyed was from, and Hiroshima is like the standout place that I really loved. And I learned a lot about how Hiroshima’s water is special and that sort of thing. So when we go back to Japan, I’m asking for sake from Hiroshima and sweet Sake and that was great. I learned a lot from that. But I kept getting the same sake everywhere that I went, um, mostly in Tokyo at this time.

John Puma: 12:00
Right. And that’s like, because she would ask for a recommendation based on like a profile and then they’d go, Oh, this one. And it was always like the same one.

Timothy Sullivan: 12:07
Hmm.

Myshell Puma: 12:07
And I that’s when I started to realize, well, if I always ask for the same thing, something from Hiroshima or something sweet or both, I’m always going to get the same thing. So I started asking the bartenders, well, where are you from? Do you have any sake from there there? they’d get pretty good excited. And they’d be like, Oh, well, yes, or something close. And they would pour it for me and then start telling me about what it was like there. They were like, Oh, I’m, you know, I’m from Kyoto. And this sake is from Kyoto. And it’s, you know, this is what’s famous and this is the foods that we normally eat with it, or, you know, and I was suddenly getting like geography lessons with my sake and. Learning about Japan with a glass of Sake And I think it was maybe the year after that or two trips after that we decided to go to the source of our favorite sakes. And so for me, that was Hiroshima. So we went to Hiroshima to drink more Hiroshima Sake And I did all this research and like about which bars have the most like local sake I learned the word and I was so excited to use that as much as possible. And then we did the same thing for John, you know, a lot of his favorites are in Yamagata and so we traveled to Yamagata one year to drink there Jizake. And after that, I started to learn that there was even more to sake that makes it special. It’s not just where it’s from, but I guess it was last strip. I learned a lot about how important East is, specifically in my tastes. I like, a thicker, more robust mouthfeel, like a rounded sort of flavor. And I learned the yeast is important. So now I guess I’m like starting to pay attention to that

Timothy Sullivan: 13:51
one thing you’re describing is that something that’s made me so enthusiastic about sake is that it seems so. Uh, simple on the outside. Look, if you look at a glass of sake it could be a glass of water, but when you start to scratch the surface and go a little deeper and then a little deeper after that, you can spend your whole life studying sake and never get bored. I think because there’s so many levels. And I think you’re picking up on that too, that there’s so many avenues to. Explore and learn about Sake It’s one of the things that I’ve really enjoyed about it. Now I wanted to ask you if you’ve mentioned a few trips to Japan going to different places. Do you have any particular experiences that really stand out places you visited or restaurants you’ve visited or sakes you had that are really memorable for you on any of your

Myshell Puma: 14:40
Yeah. Yeah. I think, each trip and like what I’m looking for and what I’m learning that trip has sort of is what you’ll find. I guess this is a way as a way to think about it. So when we were in Hiroshima, And trying Hiroshima sake It wasn’t just sake that we learned about. We ended up learning about how famous they are for Okonomiyaki. And I got to have Okonomiyaki for the first time M

Timothy Sullivan: 15:03
can you describe that for our listeners? What that is for people who don’t know.

Myshell Puma: 15:07
so Okonomiyaki, I think it’s often described as sort of a. Like a pancake sort of it’s layered. And there’s often a lot of vegetables in it, like scallion and cabbage is like different. And, you can add additional like proteins. I think I had bacon and cheese and mochi in mine, but I think that’s a Hiroshima thing. So it’s less of a

Timothy Sullivan: 15:30
It totally is. Yeah. Yup.

John Puma: 15:32
Yeah, from what I understand, there’s two major types of the Hiroshima type and the, and the Osaka type and, you know, in Osaka, it’s more of a pancake, it’s more of like a flat thing and he puts stuff on it and fry it up in Hiroshima it’s very layered and a little weird that way, but, well, not weird, but it’s layered. There’s noodles in it and cabbage and all sorts of things.

Timothy Sullivan: 15:53
Yeah. things getting Okonomiyaki and Hiroshima, that was one of the super memorable experiences

Myshell Puma: 15:59
was just like a whole new type of food that I didn’t even know existed just from going to try to sake but I mean, I have so many memorable experiences, I think, going to Japan to try sake What I’ve really started to love about it is learning about. Everything. There’s just so much, it’s so different. sometimes John will have to work when we’re in Japan. And so I kind of just have some time by myself where I’m walking around and I really love just finding the really nondescript sort of underground under the train tracks, very old, traditional looking places and just going in there and making it work. Because I don’t know Japanese. I mean, I try, but, I learned so much from there. Everyone is always so happy to share sake It’s like when you find someone who loves sake it’s like a community, no matter where you are in the world, like if you come in there and you don’t speak Japanese and they don’t speak English, but they know you want to try sake like they’re going to be happy to make it work. They’re going to help you try things. that’s just been so many great experiences doing that. most recently, I think two years ago, I was in Takadonababa, which is about five minutes by train from Shinjuku. And the reason I went there is because when we’re on the train, I always hear the announcer say, TAKADANOBABA, TAKADANOBABA. And I’m like, what does that place? That sounds, what does that? And John’s working one just, you know, for a few hours and I’m on my own and I’m like, I’m going to go there. It’s only five minutes away. And I get off the train station and I find a sake bar and I go in, and it is probably my favorite experience and probably my new favorite sake bar in Japan. it’s where you sit on the floor sort of place. And there is a bar up front and the bartender who is always there is what I have started to describe, like just the sake nerd and every day there’s a different, just whatever he’s got that day as a sake he has. And he’s so knowledgeable, even though he doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Japanese, we were still able to really, communicate through sake I guess. I told him I wanted something. I say crazy style. it’s a word that seems to translate. When I say crazy style, they start to bring me their aged stuff. Their chunky nigoris. I get things that are aged in wine barrels are made. And, you know, sometimes I get like a champagne method. Uh, I’ve had some, they were like, this one’s crazy because it’s five different yeasts were used. I guess that’s interesting too, is seeing what the bartender’s interpretation of craziest and like why they think this one is particularly interesting. So the one that he gave me first was macho and, it tasted like bananas. It was very interesting. Um, and I’m like, yeah, this is great. Like another one more and more. And finally he’s like, Hmm, you normally drink? And I was like, do you know, Tamagawa? Like, I love Tanigawa, it’s so bold and rich and robust. And he’s like, I have something for you. And he goes off to the corner and brings down this huge bottle of a nigori kimoto genshu room temperature it’s been open for who knows how long it’s like the chunkiest like there’s rice pieces in it. And I absolutely loved it. I went nuts for it. And that is. Like my favorite experience that I’ve had in Japan, I think just like slowly building up to like, Oh my gosh, like you can do that. Like you can just leave a chunky and a gory out on the shelf at room temperature for months?.

Timothy Sullivan: 19:46
that’s amazing. I have to tell you. Hearing you tell this story and having gone to Japan by myself as well. It is incredibly brave what Myshell has done described. Like Sake bars are not always the most welcoming place. Often they’re behind it door. You don’t know if you open the door what’s behind there. How many people are sitting there and if you’re going to be welcome or not, and if you don’t speak Japanese, that adds another layer to it. But to hear you like marching into these bars and, communicating your love of sake That is incredible. The brave, from my point of view, someone who’s quite timid about approaching strangers or, you know, not wanting to bother anybody or say the wrong thing. And you’re like going right in there with your love of sake front and center. I think that’s so amazing. That’s really admirable.

Myshell Puma: 20:36
I definitely went through a phase where I was scared to try those sorts of things. And also sort of what’s the worst that can happen. Like, it doesn’t work out like, you know, sumimasen so sorry. And you leave. It’s just the kind of place where it’s something new every day, but you know, they had great stuff. And, when we went back this year, the guy remembered me. He’s like, Oh, I have Tamagawa for you!

Timothy Sullivan: 20:57
Oh, that’s so sweet. Well, I think the number of non-Japanese foreigners marching in there by themselves asking for a quote unquote crazy sake. Okay. I think that would be a memorable experience for that.

John Puma: 21:13
Yeah. this going into places that you don’t know, and just asking you for a sake, is it is a Myshell thing.

Myshell Puma: 21:20
guess that’s something I started doing on that second trip. That was the difference between the first and the second.

John Puma: 21:25
Yeah, it was that we were walking past the place. She recognized a bottle in the window and said, Oh, we that’s okay. Let’s go in there. And I’m like, well, we don’t, we don’t know if they have any English in there or anything like that. And she’s like, Oh, we’ll

Myshell Puma: 21:36
Oh, that was the thing I learned some key Tongy I guess. Um, the most important one for that second trip being, what Dewazakura looks like the label at any time, we’d blocked by windows. I’d be like, Hey, that’s Dewazakura. And I know that we like that. And I know what it looks like. And so we can walk in and ask for Dewazakura and then go from there. And that works. It was great.

John Puma: 22:03
so, all this talk about sake it’s going be thirsty.

Timothy Sullivan: 22:08
yeah. Yeah. So my show, you mentioned earlier, one of your or original favorite sakes, and we’ve prepared this today. Why don’t you do a little intro for us, Myshell and tell us what we’re going to be all tasting together.

Myshell Puma: 22:21
So Tim and John told me that since I’m going to be the guest on the episode, I get to pick my favorite sake for us all to drink together. And. Narutotai, also my aha moments. Okay. I thought it would be perfect for everyone. It is a Ginjo nama genshu. And let’s see, what else is, what else should I say about it? It’s one of my favorites. I realized a few hours ago. I was like, Oh no. Now the boys are gonna have to drink this. Like, this is so different from what they normally like. And I got like, I feel a little bit bad.

John Puma: 22:56
I don’t feel bad. so this one is it’s from, uh, Honke Matsuura brewery, which is, uh, tokushima Prefecture

Timothy Sullivan: 23:05
It’s 18% alcohol.

John Puma: 23:07
Yeah, that’s that’s a genshu lover’s genshu

Timothy Sullivan: 23:10
Yep. And the SMV has plus five. So that’s that measurement of how sweet or dry a Sake is. So plus five is like, you know, medium, dry, and, uh, this is unpasteurized and ginjo, so it’s the alcohol added style. And I think it’s very important for our listeners that we described this bottle as well. This is very, very unusual. So how would you describe the

Myshell Puma: 23:34
of looks like a can of kerosene to me. Like, have you guys ever had those like oil, like for like lamps it’s a silver can tub, maybe like a

John Puma: 23:42
I think aluminum,

Timothy Sullivan: 23:46
right? all right. You guys have yours ready to go?

John Puma: 23:50
Absolutely.

Timothy Sullivan: 23:59
So the aroma is very rich for me. Very rich. One word that I might use to describe it as kind of like Jammy. Like if you ever smell grape jam or strawberry jam, you get that little bit of a condensed, fruity fruitiness preserved fruitiness. I kind of get that on the aroma a little bit.

John Puma: 24:23
Yeah.

Timothy Sullivan: 24:23
you can smell a little bit of ethanol too. There’s a little bit of, alcohol aroma there as well, because this is so high in alcohol, but it feels integrated. It doesn’t feel off-putting in any way at all, but you can sense a little bit that it’s a higher alcohol sake So let’s go ahead and give it a taste and see what Sake Myshell had her aha moment with.

John Puma: 24:51
Wow. That is a lot.

Timothy Sullivan: 24:54
Very rich. So Myshell, why don’t you talk us through this and let us know what parts of the flavor, what you like, what appeals to you, what your memories are. Anything you want to say about this Sake

Myshell Puma: 25:05
I like the, I think mouthfeel, I mentioned before, it’s like very round and full, a little bit juicy, but it is a very robust. Flavor it, you know, it carries all throughout it doesn’t sort of build up or drop off. It’s just there. And I love that about it. And especially, I guess, eight years ago, when I was first trying Sake this really stood out. It was so different from anything else. I think that’s what really caught my eye. It’s almost a little vanilla-y, I think so. Even though it’s so robust, it’s still refined. It goes really well with food. It goes really well by itself. as it starts to sort of warm up, I still like that as well. I like it cold. I like everything about it.

Timothy Sullivan: 25:56
Yeah. on the spectrum of sake is this is definitely on the Boulder in your face. I would just describe this to someone who doesn’t drink Sake at all. This might be like someone who likes whiskey or Brown spirits, or, you know, someone who likes that bolder type of sipping a spirit might enjoy a Sake like this. Would you agree with something like

Myshell Puma: 26:19
yeah, absolutely. Now that you say it, I’m like, Oh, that makes so much sense.

John Puma: 26:25
There was a, long period in, during our visits to Japan when we were both order drinks And The waiter or waitress would inevitably bring her sake and put in front of me and put my sake in front of her every time. And they’re like, right. And I’m like, and then, so we know we swap it and it’s like, no, no, no, that we, I have the feminine

Timothy Sullivan: 26:48
The light

John Puma: 26:49
fruity one… okay. She’s got the big bold.

Timothy Sullivan: 26:51
the whiskey lovers

Myshell Puma: 26:55
I think we were somewhere, in Tokyo and I small, you know, a small bar trying all the sake and they sort of d ubbed me an Oyaji like, Oh, you want the dry, the rich, the crazy stuff.

Timothy Sullivan: 27:09
Yeah. So

Myshell Puma: 27:10
Oyaji”

Timothy Sullivan: 27:10
means like the old man. Yeah.

Myshell Puma: 27:12
I actually asked, I just tried it. I was like, you know what, let’s see what happens in a different bar. We went to recently, I asked like, can I have oyajii style Sake interested in what he would bring, what he considers that to mean? And, it was a very dry sake. And I was like, Oh, okay. This is interesting. And we were with our friend who is from Japan and who lives in Japan. And I was like, what do you think? Like if you think about, oyaji sake. And he’s like, Oh, the label is so, oyaji, it was like, Painted and shaped and,

John Puma: 27:41
yeah, it had that very old, like fifties or sixties, like style artwork on it. And it was very old school.

Timothy Sullivan: 27:47
Now, do you enjoy visiting sake breweries more? Or do you enjoy visiting restaurants or having cultural experiences? What part of going to Japan related to sake Do you enjoy the most.

Myshell Puma: 27:58
I definitely love restaurants. Like those sort of like snack and sake sort of bars. The best we have started going to. Visit one brewery, each trip. And I love getting to do that because every brewery kind of has a different way of doing things and a different reason for doing things. And I’ve learned a lot about Sake seeing their differences, but. The brewery takes like a whole day, and then you really miss out on other opportunities for tasting sake and eating food. And when we’re there, I’m really kind of counting down like second we land. I’m already counting down to when we take off again. And I’m sad that you could, you could only eat so much ramen in a day, you know, and you’re only there for nine days and I’m really trying to get in as much as I can. And so. the whole day at a brewery, we just do the one and we learn and then we’re back out also. They’re so far away. It’s really hard to get to. There’s a lot of our favorite breweries that, you know, we’d love to get to see, but it’s just, you’ve got to have cars and, you know, hours of time in the mountains, all that stuff.

Timothy Sullivan: 29:11
Yep. They’re very often in these far away locations that, you know, don’t have buses or trains or anything and, they can be hard to get to. So I totally understand that. So you’re all about the restaurant experience, my first trip to Japan, I had such a good time and. Even though I didn’t speak Japanese. a lot of what you’re describing is very much my experience as well, having these great welcoming people who picked up on my love for sake and your love for sake and that’s all you really need to communicate well. And, that is. Such a great feeling, isn’t it? Like, I just loved that. And that being at the heart of this clutural exchange

John Puma: 29:55
Yeah. And one of my favorite things as a result of all of that is when you go back to a place after going there before a couple of years. And if they remember you. That’s a fun thing. It’s always a fun, exciting thing to go back in there. And you’re like, Oh, you’re the one who likes the such and such. Uh, I got all easier for Myshell. Cause she’s got that ‘crazy style’

Myshell Puma: 30:17
Especially if they’re like fellow sake nerds, I think, the bartenders love sake and they’re always trying new things. And so when they see you and they remember you, they’re excited to share the next new thing. And, you learn so much about it. I think that’s maybe where so much of my love for sake is it’s not necessarily just the flavor. it’s that like sake is Japan in a glass, there’s so much about the place that it came from, the rice, the water, the community. And then of course, when they start talking about the place, then you learn about, Oh, like Yamagata, they have great water and mountains and cherries, and they’re so famous for cherries and they’re famous for these areas. And in Hiroshima, I started going to, um, different like shrines and like, it’s so beautiful and mountainous, and it’s just. the more Sake that we try, the more places that we want to visit and then go see, and it’s like, it’s a very, sake is a very slippery slope. Like, like one day, you’re trying Sake for the first time. And now like we’re on our third level of Japanese and trying to go as many places as possible. Yeah.

Timothy Sullivan: 31:29
Well, Myshell, thank you so much for coming on our show. It was wonderful to have you on so much

Myshell Puma: 31:36
you for having me. This was awesome.

John Puma: 31:38
Thank you for coming.

Timothy Sullivan: 31:40
Yeah. Well, we’re going to have you back for sure.

John Puma: 31:42
Oh yeah.

Myshell Puma: 31:43
Maybe we’ll do ‘Tom. I got next time. More bold sake for you guys.

Timothy Sullivan: 31:50
Yes, you have to break us out of our sake ruts. For sure

Myshell Puma: 31:53
I think I could convince you

John Puma: 31:55
all, sir. It’s

Timothy Sullivan: 31:59
I don’t know about that.

John Puma: 32:00
thasts a bridge too far.

Timothy Sullivan: 32:04
We all have our limits, right, John?

John Puma: 32:06
We do a i’m not a big, chunky nigori guy.

Timothy Sullivan: 32:10
Me neither, but I will drink anything for educational purposes. So, um, if, if you want to bring a chunky nigori I’m game for anything, I’ve been inspired by you, myshell to go behind that door, walk in. What’s the worst that can happen. sake That’s my new motto.

Myshell Puma: 32:30
That’s awesome. I’m so excited for you.

Timothy Sullivan: 32:33
Yeah. So if I have any great experiences, I will certainly let you know and we’ll stay in touch. We can’t wait to have you

Myshell Puma: 32:39
Thank you.

Timothy Sullivan: 32:41
All right. Well, I want to thank all our listeners so much for tuning in. I really hope you enjoyed our show. I sure did. If you’d like to show your support for Sake revolution, one way you can really help us out would be to take a couple of minutes and leave a written review on Apple podcasts. It’s one of the ways you can help us get the word out about our show.

John Puma: 33:01
And be sure to subscribe wherever you download your podcasts and tell your friend.

Timothy Sullivan: 33:11
And as always to learn more about any of the topics we talked about or any of the sakes we tasted today, please be sure to visit our website, SakeRevolution.com for all the detailed show notes.

John Puma: 33:23
And if you have a sake question that you need answered, we want to hear from you reach out to us at [email protected]. So until next time, please remember to keep drinking Kanpai!.