Episode 181 Show Notes
Episode 181. Sake Day, celebrated every year on October 1st, will be here before you know it, and Sake Revolution is here to be your guide! In this special episode, John and Timothy map out the most exciting Sake Day celebrations happening across the country in 2025, from San Franciscoβs legendary 20th anniversary Sake Day to exciting events in Boston, Denver, D.C., San Diego, and New York. For devoted sake fans, Sake Day feels like all our favorite holidays rolled up into one, and we can’t wait to celebrate it. Wherever you are on your sake journey, let us help you plan the perfect place to have your own Kanpai on Sake Day! #SakeRevolution
Skip to: 00:19 Show Opening
Welcome to the show from John and Timothy
Skip to: 1:41 Sake Tasting: Brooklyn Kura Ashokan & Blue Door
Brooklyn Kura Ashokan Junmai Ginjo
Alcohol: 15.5%
SMV: 0
Brewery: Brooklyn Kura
Classification: Junmai Ginjo
Importer/Distributor: Skurnik
Rice Type: Yamadanishiki
Rice Milling: 60%
Brooklyn Kura Blue Door Junmai Nama
Alcohol: 17.0%
SMV: +3.0
Brewery: Brooklyn Kura
Classification: Junmai Nama
Importer/Distributor: Skurnik
Rice Type: Yamadanishiki, Calrose
Rice Milling: 70%
Skip to: 06:12 Sake Day Calendar for 2025
Skip to: 08:08 Sept 20th, 2025: Sake Day San Diego
9th Annual San Diego SAKE Festival
Event Description: Get ready to sip, savor, and celebrate at the San Diego Sake Festival 2025 β proudly presented by San Diego Sake Club in collaboration with the JETRO LA. Taste your way through a curated selection of premium sake from Japan and the U.S., all in one unforgettable afternoon!
π
Date: Saturday, September 20, 2025
π Location: JULEP Venue β 1735 Hancock St, San Diego, CA 92101
β° Time:
β’ VIP & Nonbei Entry: 2:30 PM
β’ General Admission: 3:30 PM
ποΈ Tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/9th-annual-san-diego-sake-festival-tickets-1373416348269?aff=oddtdtcreator
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA4pNWWV6VI
Skip to: 09:35 Sept 27th, 2025: Sake Day San Francisco
Sake Day San Francisco
Event Description: Taste Sake, Learn Sake, Buy Sake. We are back again and ready to Get Our Sake On! 20 amazing years and 20 years of “Sold Out” SAKE DAYs – so don’t miss out – order your tickets now.
π
Date: Saturday, September 27, 2025
π Location: HOTEL KABUKI 1625 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94115
β° Time: 4:00 PM
ποΈ Tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sake-day-2025-tickets-1357275861639
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Q1gXuXTDo
Skip to: 13:34 Oct 1st, 2025: NYC – Sake Revolution LIVE!
Sake Day 2025: Sake Revolution Podcast LIVE!
Event Description: Join us on SAKE DAY, Weds Oct 1st, 6PM, for a LIVE studio audience recording of America’s first sake podcast: Sake Revolution! Your hosts John and Timothy will be live and in person at the Brooklyn Kura Taproom and invite you to join in the studio audience, laugh and sip along with us and experience Sake Revolution LIVE! On this very special Sake Day episode, we’ll be interviewing the master sake brewer of Proper Sake, Byron Stithem. Byron is coming up from Nashville to join us in person and is bringing two sakes for us all to taste as we are recording – which is included in your ticket price. In addition, audience members will be able to submit questions to be answered live during the broadcast. This will be a fun, interactive and delicious podcast experience! The Brooklyn Kura taproom will be open before and after the recording to hang out, meet our special guest and purchase additional sake and snacks to make your Sake Day complete!
π
Date: Weds, Oct 1, 2025
π Location: Brooklyn Kura Taproom 34 34th Street Brooklyn NY 112332
β° Time:6-9 PM
ποΈ Tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sake-day-2025-sake-revolution-podcast-live-recording-and-tasting-event-tickets-1573729119159
https://www.brooklynkura.com/pages/events#id=sake-revolution-podcast-live
Skip to: 16:38 Oct 3rd, 2025: World Sake Day NYC 2025
World Sake Day NYC 2025
Event Description: Celebrate World Sake Day in NYC 2025 with the best sake tastings, food pairings, and cultural experiences!
π
Date: Friday, October 3 Β·
π Location: The W LOFT 240 Kent Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11211
β° Time: 5-9 PM
ποΈ Tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/world-sake-day-nyc-2025-tickets-1496911014139
Skip to: 17:54 Oct 4th, 2025: Denver’s Queen City Sake Festival
Denver’s Queen City Sake Festival
Event Description: Denver’s first craft sake festival. Taste a selection of over 100 sakes with passionate experts that make and love them!
π
Date: Saturday, October 4, 2025
π Location: Finn’s Manor. 2927 Larimer Street Denver, CO 80205
β° Time:
β’ VIP Session: 12 – 1 PM
β’ General Admission: 1 – 4 PM
ποΈ Tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/denvers-queen-city-sake-festival-tickets-1458944555439
Video:
https://d1xykzbd1twk8p.cloudfront.net/ef9fef4a-1344-4975-b6a4-1ceff659d3ee_480p_vertical.mp4
Skip to: 19:26 Oct 4th, 2025: Boston – Sake Day East
Sake Day East 2025
Event Description: Are you ready for another amazing celebration?!Sake Day East 2025 Tickets on sale now! Join us at New England’s largest Sake Day celebration!
π
Date: Saturday, October 4, 2025
π Location: 100 High St. 100 High Street Boston, MA 02110
β° Time:
β’ General Admission: 5 – 8pm EDT
ποΈ Tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sake-day-east-2025-tickets-1344346940889
Skip to: 21:41 Oct 5th, 2025: DC Sake Co Kanpai to Sake Day in DC
DC Sake Co Kanpai to Sake Day in DC
Event Description: D.C. Sake cΕ celebrates its 4th Annual Kanpai! to Sake Day in DC at Love, Makoto with diverse sakes, deep insights & great food!
π
Date: Sunday, October 5, 2025
π Location: Love, Makoto. 200 Massachusetts Ave NW. Ste. 150. Washington, DC 20001
β’ General Admission: 12-4 pm EDT
ποΈ Tickets:
https://resy.com/cities/washington-dc/venues/dear-sushi-at-love-makoto/events/4th-annual-kanpai-to-sake-day-in-dc-love-makoto-2025-10-05
Skip to: 22:59 Oct 5th, 2025: NYC – Brooklyn Kura Sake Day Tasting Event
Brooklyn Kura Sake Day 2025
Event Description: Premium Sake Tasting: Taste sake from dozens of breweries from all over Japan. The SAKE will be flowing and featured brands and varieties being poured will change at 7pm~
5-7pm: Premium Sake Tasting Round 1
7-9 pm: Premium Sake Tasting Round 2
Interactive Brewery Tour!
Join us for a “taste along” brewery tour! Join a walk through of our brewery and taste each step along the sake brewing process:
Taste steamed sake rice at our Koshiki rice steamers
Taste koji rice outside our koji room
Taste moromi sake mash in our fermentation room
Taste kasu “Sake Lees” in our sake pressing room
Finish the tour with a freshly pressed Shiboritate Brooklyn Kura sake!
π
Date: Sunday, October 5, 2025
π Location: Brooklyn Kura 34 34th street Brooklyn NY 10025
β’ General Admission: 5-9 pm EDT
ποΈ Tickets:
https://www.brooklynkura.com/pages/events#id=brooklyn-kura-sake-day-2025
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/brooklyn-kura-sake-day-2025-tickets-1584479363429
Skip to: 24:38 Oct 10th, 2025: NYC – Sake Con Sake Day
Sake-Con Sake Day NYC 2025
Event Description: Prepare to immerse yourself in an epic SAKE-CON extravaganza!
π
Date: Friday, October 10, 2025
π Location: 55 Broadway 55 Broadway New York, NY 10006
β° Time: 6-10 PM
ποΈ Tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sake-con-nyc-sake-day-2025-tickets-1486869549849
Skip to: 30:38 Show Closing
This is it! Join us next time for another episode of Sake Revolution!
Announcing Patreon
Now there is a new way to support Sake Revolution. Join us on Patreon! Patreon is an online platform that allows you to support your favorite creators by subscribing to a monthly membership. At Sake Revolution, we’re offering two tiers, each with its own perk. If you enjoy our sake podcast, if you are able, please consider supporting this labor of sake love! See below to learn about our Patreon support levels.
-
Sake Enthusiast
Have you ever wanted to sip along with us as we taste our sakes on the podcast? Now you can! As a Sake Enthusiast patron, you’ll get the inside track and know in advance which sakes we’ll be featuring on the show. This allows you to get them on hand and sip along with us while you listen.
-
Sake Otaku
As a Sake Otaku supporter of the pod, you’ll get access to all the Sake Enthusiast intel along with access to a monthly live zoom Sake Happy Hour taking place the first Weds of every month at 9pm ET (6pm PT). Visit with us live on zoom! Come with all your questions and suggestions and enjoy a relaxed and fun Happy Hour with with us as we all sip sake together!
Episode 181 Transcript
John Puma: 0:15
Hmm. Okay. Hello everybody and welcome to Sake Revolution. This is America’s First Sake podcast, and I am your host, John Puma. I run the internet sake discord and also Reddit’s r slash sake community.
Timothy Sullivan: 0:36
And I am your host, Timothy Sullivan. I’m a Sake Samurai. I’m the Director of Education at the Sake Studies Center, as well as the founder. Of the Urban Sake website, and every week John and I will be here tasting and chatting about all things sake and doing our best to make it fun and easy to understand.
John Puma: 0:54
Hey, Tim. How you doing?
Timothy Sullivan: 0:55
I am good. How are you, John?
John Puma: 0:58
Great, great. So, uh, my understanding is that today we’ve got something a little bit different. We’re gonna, we’re gonna flip the script slightly, is that right?
Timothy Sullivan: 1:06
That’s right. We are going to start with some drinking. And then get to some thinking.
John Puma: 1:12
Alright, starting with drinking. Excellent. That sounds fantastic. It’s my, the best way for me, uh, to start a podcast, I think is to start with the drinking. So, we’re not gonna be tasting the same thing today, but we will be tasting things from the same brewery. Is that, is that, do I have this right in my head?
Timothy Sullivan: 1:27
Yes. We need a little something to sip on while we talk about today’s episode. So let’s. Flip the script as you said, and start with our Kanpai John, why don’t you let us know what brand we’re featuring and which sake you are tasting.
John Puma: 1:41
So, we’re gonna be tasting some Brooklyn Kura. It’s a, you know, local sake that we’re both very familiar with, and I am gonna be having a, a newer product from them. Uh, I’m a fan of this one. Um, see Ashokan, Junmai Ginjo uh, and Yamada Nishiki Rice, and they’re milling it down to, 60% of its original size. Sake Meter value is plus three. And, uh, A BV is, 15%. When I first heard the name, Ashokan, I thought it was like some kind of Japanese word I didn’t understand. And then I was told later on that it’s actually named for the reservoir. Uh, upstate where they get where they get the water, which I thought was interesting. A bit of a, a bit of a anti-climactic finish for that one for me. Uh, Tim, what about you? What are you drinking?
Timothy Sullivan: 2:29
I am gonna be drinking a sake. We’ve featured a few times on the podcast before. It’s the Brooklyn Kura Classic Blue Door.
John Puma: 2:36
Hmm.
Timothy Sullivan: 2:36
This is one of their foundational sakes that they’ve had for years, and it is a junmai sake that’s made with Calrose and yamadanishiki rice. Rice milled to 70%. The sake meter value is plus two. We have an acidity of 1.8 and a little bit higher alcohol percentage of 17%. And this is also a NAMA or unpasteurized sake.
John Puma: 3:03
Yeah. Why don’t we, have a couple of sips and, uh, then we’ll get started talking about our topic today, which Tim, why don’t you, um, begin opening up your, your sake and I’ll quickly mention what our topic is. Sake Day is coming up and every year it feels like there’s more sake events for Sake Day. And we think that, it’s kind of cool to do a little primer and kind of get everybody. Up to speed on what’s coming and, uh, you know, if they’re local to any of the areas or if you like traveling, you know, what, what’s in store for them if they decide to go to one of these sake day events. In some cases, Tim or I have been to some of these events and we have some, some hands-on that we can talk about, about our experiences. So Tim, do you have that blue door opened up?
Timothy Sullivan: 3:47
I got it poured. And John, I just want to tag onto what you just said. Sake day is our Christmas. Thanksgiving and 4th of July all rolled into one. For sake, people like you and me, this is the highlight of our year. So we got a plan, our strategy for getting to as many of these events as we can. So I’m so excited to go over the calendar with you from, it’s literally from coast to coast. We have sake events coming up,
John Puma: 4:16
Literally, quite literally, yes.
Timothy Sullivan: 4:18
So I’ve got my blue door poured. How about you, John?
John Puma: 4:22
Um, yeah. So I’m going to grab this Ashokan. And I’ve got that in the glass now. Uh, Tim, I also think, if I’m not mistaken, this ashokan is also a blend, which I find a very interesting thing that we’ll probably need to go in depth on this in the future.
Timothy Sullivan: 4:38
Yeah.
John Puma: 4:39
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan: 4:40
All right. Well, John, here’s Sake Day in advance.
John Puma: 4:44
Here’s to Sake day Tim, and it’s weird to do this so early in a show, but
Timothy Sullivan: 4:48
Here we go.
John Puma: 4:49
Kanpai,
Timothy Sullivan: 4:52
Mm. Now my Blue Door from Brooklyn Kura is one of their sakes. They’ve made for a long time. It’s a little more rice forward. But you get that richness from the unpasteurized side of it, really food friendly and uh, just a great foundational sake for pairing with food. You can open it and pair it with just about anything. It’s really great. Always a winner.
John Puma: 5:21
Nice. And this is Ashokan despite being newer to their line of sake is, It’s very light, very crisp and there is a really nice, pleasant acidity across the whole taste, which I really enjoy. So, yeah, this is, this is some good stuff.
Timothy Sullivan: 5:38
Hmm. Can’t go wrong. We’re gonna start out, and I wanna say that, this calendar from. Mid September to just after Sake day, is going to be available in our show notes. So if, if any of the events are near you or you want to travel to them, if you want details on where to buy tickets, that will all be in our show notes. So please visit SakeRevolution.com. Check out the show notes for this episode, and we will have a full calendar of all the events we’re highlighting today.
John Puma: 6:12
Wonderful. Wonderful. Cool. So, so Tim, where do you wanna start?
Timothy Sullivan: 6:16
Well, first I think we should take just one minute and talk about what Sake Day is, when is it,
John Puma: 6:23
we have an episode about that, but I will, I’ll let, I’ll let this, I’ll let the reminder happen in this case.
Timothy Sullivan: 6:28
Oh, thank you. Yeah. So Sake Day is October 1st, right?
John Puma: 6:34
Yep.
Timothy Sullivan: 6:34
And what’s the deal? What’s it all about?
John Puma: 6:37
Uh uh, it is, uh, the day is the day the brewing season starts.
Timothy Sullivan: 6:43
That’s right. So it’s a, it’s a day that is set aside to kind of celebrate the kickoff of the brewing season. And it’s a day to stop and celebrate all things sake and focus the world’s attention on the beverage that we love so much. And I think it’s a great day to celebrate. And, you know, beer has St. Patrick’s Day. Tequila has Cinco de
John Puma: 7:05
that, is that what has St. Patrick’s Day? I don’t know if, I don’t know if, if the Irish agree with beer having St. Patrick’s Day necessarily, but, we’ll, you know, we’ll let them write in and tell us what they think about that.
Timothy Sullivan: 7:22
Well, I’m just, I am just glad sake
John Puma: 7:24
does tequila have you say
Timothy Sullivan: 7:25
Cinco de Mayo.
John Puma: 7:26
Mayo. We’re
Timothy Sullivan: 7:29
No. Am I wrong? Am I way off base?
John Puma: 7:31
I don’t know. now. All right. But, but we, but we have Sake Day. We do
Timothy Sullivan: 7:37
We have Sake Day, and there’s, there’s no, there’s no ambiguity about it. Sake day is dedicated to sake, and it is October 1st. So the, the events start happening in like late. September through early October, so all cluster around October 1st. And I thought it, it would be great to do a little overview for all of our listeners all around the country to see which sake day events they might want to go to. So coming up first is the ninth Annual San Diego Sake Festival in celebration of Sake Day, and that’s gonna be on Saturday, September 20th. So this is San Diego, California’s largest sake celebration.
John Puma: 8:25
Mm-hmm.
Timothy Sullivan: 8:26
have you ever been to this one?
John Puma: 8:27
Uh, San Diego you say.
Timothy Sullivan: 8:29
San Diego?
John Puma: 8:30
No, I’ve been to a different San based,
Timothy Sullivan: 8:35
We’ll get there soon. We’ll get
John Puma: 8:36
get there soon, but no, I’ve not, I have not been to San Diego in,, since I was a teenager, so it’s been a while.
Timothy Sullivan: 8:41
Alright, well. This is a Sake Festival that’s been going for nine years, so that’s a pretty long time for celebrating Sake Day in San Diego. Uh, this is going to be, again, Saturday, September 20th. They have a VIP entry at 2:30. General admission at 3:30 and the tickets are on sale already. So if you are in the San Diego area, this is one not to be missed. The tickets are on Eventbrite, but again, just visit SakeRevolution.com. We have a YouTube video from a past year, so you can kind of get the vibe for this event. And then, tickets, will have a link for that.
John Puma: 9:19
So Tim, have you ever been to this one?
Timothy Sullivan: 9:21
No, I’ve never been to the San Diego Sake Festival, but it has been around for a while. And, uh, definitely the early, early side of Sake Day celebrations.
John Puma: 9:32
of course. Yes. Uh, okay. So what’s next?
Timothy Sullivan: 9:36
We’re gonna stay on the West coast for what I would call, you know, my favorite phrase, the big kahuna right here.
John Puma: 9:42
Mm,
Timothy Sullivan: 9:44
Sake Day San Francisco
John Puma: 9:48
Now this one?
Timothy Sullivan: 9:49
Oh my gosh. We’ve both been
John Puma: 9:51
Yeah. This one I’ve been to
Timothy Sullivan: 9:53
when? Is this year’s happening?
John Puma: 9:55
This year it’s, Saturday, September the 27th. So they’re, they’re getting in there ahead of time.
Timothy Sullivan: 10:01
Yeah, that’s good. It’s on a weekend, which is always appreciated.
John Puma: 10:04
I think it’s important for, to do a weekend.
Timothy Sullivan: 10:07
It’s gonna be from four to 8:00 PM at the Hotel Kabuki, and there are tickets online at Eventbrite, but last time I checked, this event is already sold out.
John Puma: 10:19
Yeah, this one sells out fast, and I don’t even think it matters how soon we would’ve done this episode. This would’ve sold out beforehand. It’s a very, very, um, popular event. There’s a lot of people there. It’s probably the biggest of the events we’re gonna talk about, but. Man, is it, it’s a lot of people. It sells out real fast. It’s a great time though.
Timothy Sullivan: 10:39
Yeah, and this is the 20th anniversary for Sake Day San Francisco. So this is the first Sake Day event that. Was held in the States. This is the a big granddaddy event, and uh, it is very popular, very successful. You and I have both been, so let’s hear about your experience at Sake Day, San Francisco.
John Puma: 11:01
Um, so for me it was a. It was a very special event because not only was it my first trip to Sake Day, San Francisco, but it was coming outta the pandemic. It was the first one they’ve done since then. And it was for me and Myshell, like the first time we went to a big social event. You know, outside of like New York. And so going over there, getting to the West Coast and, you know, during the pandemic we met all of these really wonderful people, um, on the discord and on different sake tasting events on virtual, like onnomis and stuff like that. And so it was great to finally see and meet and drink with so many of these people that I had, I, I had. Known, quote unquote, but had never actually sat and, and, and broke bread with, or, or kanpai’d with. And it was a really wonderful experience. And on top of that, just the event itself is just so big and it’s just, you know, so much wonderful sake. And if you are an East coast person. There’s something you should know, and that is the West Coast. Even from the same importers gets different sake. You can try just stuff that you can’t get in New York.
Timothy Sullivan: 12:04
Yeah, I went last year for the first time and I was pouring Hakkaisan Sake as a vendor and I got, got to break away for a little amount of time and walk around, but it’s on two floors. There are dozens and dozens of tables, representing different brands, distributors, importers, and it was so full of sake. Goodness, you could not believe it. So.
John Puma: 12:33
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan: 12:33
Really highly recommended. Um, and for this year there’s actually going to be, I’m privy to a little bit of insider information. There’s going to be, yes, there’s going to be a sake Samurai reunion and sake samurai table at this year’s Sake Day, San Francisco.
John Puma: 12:51
how are you gonna do this? You gotta split your time, like what’s going on?
Timothy Sullivan: 12:55
Yeah, so there’s one table dedicated to Sake Samurai and they will be pouring, I think every 45 minutes. It’s gonna change. A couple samurai’s are gonna come in and pour certain sakes and throughout the night you can meet all the different Sake samurai’s from the years. And uh, I’ll be on one of those shifts when I’m not at the Hakkaisan table.
John Puma: 13:16
Wonderful. So yeah, if you can, if you are there, you can meet Tim twice. You meet him at two different, completely different tables.
Timothy Sullivan: 13:26
Yes. And if you say you are a fan of Sake Revolution, you will get a sticker.
John Puma: 13:32
Oh, is that it?
Timothy Sullivan: 13:34
so John, the next event is hitting very close to home
John Puma: 13:38
Yeah. Um, yeah, so the next event is October the first on Sake Day itself on a Wednesday. Um, and it is, uh, pardon, pardon the. Strong self-promotion. Here
Timothy Sullivan: 13:55
Shameless,
John Puma: 13:56
shameless self-promotion here, the shameless self-promotion. Here it is. Sake Day. Sake Revolution live. And so it’s gonna be me and it’s gonna be you, Tim. And we’re gonna be at Brooklyn Kura and we’re gonna do, uh, a live episode of the show. On stage. There’s gonna be sake to drink. There’s gonna be. Uh, you know, other, I’m sure there’ll be other fun people to hang out with there as well. There always are. And yeah, we’re gonna do a special episode. We’re gonna have a guest, which is gonna be a lot of fun. So, uh, Tim, who’s going to be our special guest
Timothy Sullivan: 14:32
We are going to have Byron Stithem, the owner and Brewer from proper sake in Nashville, Tennessee. Byron is gonna fly up and join us as our special guest, and we’re gonna be including, uh, two sakes from his brewery as the tasting flight that every attendee who comes to our live recording is gonna be able to taste along with us at the Brooklyn Kura tap room. So it’s gonna be fantastic. Now we have to mention we did this last year with, Shinobu Kato and Brandon Doughan from Kato Sake Works and Brooklyn Kura. So we’re continuing on with the theme of having a US brewer in the house with us. And I don’t know about you, John, but when we did our live recording last year for Sake Day, I had an absolute blast. Like it was so much fun. It was so much fun.
John Puma: 15:24
it was, I had a great time also. It was just, Such a, you know, just blast is the right word. Yeah, it was such a fun time and I was, I think I had to like get on a flight the next day too. So I was very nervous about making sure that everything was in order and all that. So I’m really looking forward to being able to enjoy it a little bit more and have a little bit, you know, a little more relaxation on it. Very excited though. It’s gonna be such a, a great, uh, event.
Timothy Sullivan: 15:48
So if you are in the New York City area, and we are the only event I found that’s actually happening on sake day, proper sake, October 1st. If you’re in the New York City area, please join us at the Brooklyn Kura Tap room. Tickets are available at brooklynkura.com and also on Eventbrite. And as always, for all these events, just visit our show notes to get the link directly to tickets and. This is an affordable event too. It’s only$15. That includes, uh, entrance to the live recording, uh, tasting flight of two sakes. There will be other sakes available for purchase along with snacks, but it’s a great affordable price to come in and be with some fellow sake nerds for sake day.
John Puma: 16:31
Yeah, I hope to, uh, you can get over there and join us. I be a lot of fun. So Tim, what’s after that?
Timothy Sullivan: 16:38
Okay. After that, we have another. New York City Sake event. This is World Sake Day, New York City 2025, and it is on Friday, October 3rd from five to 9:00 PM at the W Loft Rooftop in Brooklyn. Now, have you been to this event before? They’ve had it for a few years now.
John Puma: 16:56
No. So last year, as mentioned, I was going outta the country right after our event. So I missed everything else that went on that weekend, which, uh, very sad about. It was nice to go on vacation, so I’m not complaining too loudly. This does look like a lot of fun, though. I’ve never, have you ever been to the W Loft? In Brooklyn.
Timothy Sullivan: 17:13
No, I have not. But I do have some details about this event. Uh, the admission is$65 and that will get you 15 tasting tickets. And then, uh, they say they’re going to have 35 Japanese and US sake breweries represented.
John Puma: 17:33
Okay.
Timothy Sullivan: 17:34
Um. And the tickets will be available on Eventbrite. And again, see our show notes for more details. so moving on. That’s October. which is the Friday, and moving to the Saturdays. So this is that, valuable weekend, right after
John Puma: 17:51
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan: 17:52
day when a lot of events happen.
John Puma: 17:54
Yes, yes. Saturday we’ve got, Denver’s Queen City Sake Festival for those in the, uh, in the Denver area or would, or those who would like to be in the Denver, Colorado area, uh, this is an event for you.
Timothy Sullivan: 18:07
And this is gonna be Saturday, October 4th from one to 4:00 PM Mountain Time.
John Puma: 18:12
Ooh. Afternoon. It’s a little day drinking going on. Alright.
Timothy Sullivan: 18:17
Now, did you know Denver was known as Queen City?
John Puma: 18:20
No, I thought that was like Charlotte.
Timothy Sullivan: 18:23
I don’t know. They say, they say it’s Queen City, so I did not know that. Um, this is an event that features over 100 sakes
John Puma: 18:33
Mm-hmm.
Timothy Sullivan: 18:33
and they have a few different tiers. They have a VIP early access ticket and they also have a general admission ticket. And it looks like it comes with a free, locally handmade. Sake cup as part of your admission and I have a video of this event as well you can check out on our show notes and it looks like a whole lot of fun. This is held at a place called Finn’s Manor in Denver, and it is gonna be a fun afternoon of hashtag day drinking.
John Puma: 19:06
Uh, yeah, I, I’ve actually never been, not only have I not been to, uh, this event, I’ve actually never been to Denver. Don’t, uh, don’t get out much. Go to Japan a lot. That’s about it.
Timothy Sullivan: 19:16
Yeah, well on Saturday, October 4th, there’s this event in Denver, but there is competition on the East coast. Uh,
John Puma: 19:25
what else is there?
Timothy Sullivan: 19:26
the other event happening on Saturday, October 4th is Sake Day East.
John Puma: 19:32
Ooh, I’ve heard of this one.
Timothy Sullivan: 19:34
Yes. So it’s called Sake Day East. This is New England’s largest Sake Day celebration. Uh, they’ve been doing this for several years. Have you been to Sake Day East, John Puma?
John Puma: 19:45
no. I, like I said, I don’t get out much.
Timothy Sullivan: 19:50
Well, I’ve been to Sake Day East several years, and it is very fun.
John Puma: 19:56
Mm-hmm.
Timothy Sullivan: 19:57
this is an interesting event. They do the tasting event, which is your standard walk around tasting. Uh, but they have a pre-event guided seminars. So they’re doing a little education piece that starts at like three to 5:00 PM
John Puma: 20:14
Oh, okay.,
Timothy Sullivan: 20:15
for an additional fee, you can come early and do a guided tasting with several sake experts that will be there. We have Todd Bellamy doing one. There’s a representative from Heiwa Shuzo is gonna be there. Our friend Josh from Joto Sake is gonna be there. And so they have these, pre-event seminars that they do, which is really fun. And then the main event kicks off, either at five or six o’clock if you want, early admission or not. So there’s a lot of options, a lot of education, a lot of tasting you can do. Uh, this is a really rich event. Lots to, lots to check out here.
John Puma: 20:58
Nice, nice. Being, uh, being on the East Coast is something that maybe I should consider. It’s only an Amtrak away.
Timothy Sullivan: 21:04
That’s right. Yeah. Fantastic. So it’s a great event. I’ve really enjoyed it, uh, the past years that, that I’ve been able to go there. And I know that, Brooklyn Kura will be represented along with a whole bunch of other distributors. I, the one year that I went, they had a, a cheese purveyor there who did these little bento boxes of cheese and you could buy those with your sake and like nibble on the cheese and walk around. It was great. I loved it.
John Puma: 21:31
Nice. Well, if, um, you’re on the East Coast and going up to Boston is a little out of the way for you, perhaps you’ll enjoy going down to DC because on Sunday, October 5th there is the DC Sake Co Kanpai to Sake Day in DC That’s
Timothy Sullivan: 21:50
Where, where is it?
John Puma: 21:51
it’s, I think it’s in dc Uh, and I think that you’re doing Kanpai-ing and you’re having sake in dc. this is uh, run by DC Sake Co’cause their name’s right in the front and we’ve had Reiko from there on the show before. And, uh, so she’s a friend of the show
Timothy Sullivan: 22:06
Yeah, so the unique thing about this DC Sake co event, it’s that it’s gonna be held at a restaurant. They’re doing this in collaboration with a restaurant in DC called Love Makoto, which is a fabulous restaurant. So I think they have the ability to do these seated luncheons as a, first step, and then they do general admission later in the day. So this is, this is an afternoon. Day drinking event, which again, two thumbs up, we wholeheartedly approve. It allows you to go on and enjoy the rest of your night and, uh, but this, this is just fantastic.
John Puma: 22:42
Yeah. Let’s say you are on the East Coast, um, but you know, DC’s kind of far and Boston’s kind of far, uh, and you happen to be in New York on Sunday, uh, October the fifth. Well, we’ve got you covered. There’s an event in New York for that as well. Uh, Tim, what do we have?
Timothy Sullivan: 22:59
Yeah, so this is another little bit of shameless self-promotion. You can’t deny us that, uh, Brooklyn Kura is gonna be doing its own celebration for Sake Day on Sunday, October 5th, and that’s going to be in the Brooklyn Kura tap room. Uh, we’re gonna be inviting a number of distributors to come and, uh, tickets will be available on BrooklynKura.com and also on Eventbrite. And this will be a really fun walk around tasting. We’re going to have some. Guest chefs come in and do pop-up food. We’re going to have a DJ playing music. We’re going to have a, uh, enhanced interactive brewery tour we go around the brewery and you’re gonna be able to taste steamed sake rice by the steamer. You can drink Moromi in the fermentation room. You can. Do a whole lot of tasting of Koji by the Koji room. And you can also taste some kasu by our Yabuta sake press. So as we walk through the brewery, you get to nibble on all the stages of the sake brewing process. And it’s really fun. We don’t do this very often, but for special events like Sake Day, we’re gonna do these interactive brewery tours. And uh, Brandon is also gonna get out his Shizuku drip as well.
John Puma: 24:19
Oh, nice. Those are always fun. He like does those for special occasions too. Yeah. Cool.
Timothy Sullivan: 24:25
Yeah. So if you can come out to Brooklyn Kura on Sunday, October 5th from uh, five to 9:00 PM we’d love to see you. It’ll be a great event with, so many types of sake. All our importer and distributor friends will be there.
John Puma: 24:38
Nice. Nice. Sounds good. uh, so yeah, we, we’ve got our next event here. So we’re moving past, past sake day, weekend, and moving into Friday, October the 10th. And this is, Sake-Con, which I love the name sake, Con sake day, NYC 2025. And, um, Tim, tell us all about sake. con.
Timothy Sullivan: 25:02
This is gonna be on Friday, October 10th from five to 10:00 PM Eastern. And this is gonna be at an event space in Manhattan. So if you’re in the city’s and you want to go to, evening time Sake event and you kind of miss all the stuff around the first, uh, this is a great event that will follow up a little bit later. That there are just like many other events, there are some early bird options to get in early. A general admission prices range from.$35 to$45.
John Puma: 25:37
Well that’s interesting. Cool. Um.
Timothy Sullivan: 25:40
So that, uh, if you want to look up the Sake con, sake Day, New York City 2025, that’s on Eventbrite. Or you can also visit sake revolution.com. So John, that is our calendar. I think that Sake Day 2025 is probably the most robust offering of events that I’ve ever seen. What do you think?
John Puma: 26:03
Yeah, I think that, and I think that every year we get a little bit more, which I love. I think it’s great to have, to have options, to have variety, uh, and, and, you know. America’s a damn big place. And so having events all over the country, um, it’s good for people who are just not necessarily just in New York or California. I’m talking to you Denver. I’m talking to you Boston, and I’m talking to you DC I think it’s really awesome that, that we’ve got these things going on outside the big city. so, so where are you gonna be?
Timothy Sullivan: 26:33
Alright, so I’m definitely gonna be at Sake Day San Francisco and it goes without saying that I’m gonna be at the live recording of Sake Revolution on the first. Yes, I’ll be there and then I’m gonna be at Sake Day, Brooklyn Kura on the fifth on that Sunday. And those are the ones I’m guaranteed to be at for sure.
John Puma: 26:58
Cool.
Timothy Sullivan: 26:59
What about you?
John Puma: 27:00
Well, unfortunately, I’ll definitely not be in San Francisco, but I I will absolutely be at Brooklyn Kura for our live show. And I, I honestly haven’t decided if I’m gonna do part of me wants to go up to Boston. I, I, I haven’t gone to Boston in like 15 years and it seems like it would be a fun thing, um, and. So maybe that, maybe I’ll do the, you know, sake con thing. Maybe I’ll do the Sake Day Brooklyn Kura if I don’t go to Boston.’cause I don’t think I could do both, so, you know, I’ll figure it out. I’m still, for me, my, in my mind is kind of early. I’m gonna try and suss out what I, what I’m feeling and, and how I want to do this. But, you know, I’m excited to get out there and go to some fun places and, and sip sake with folks. I think it’s gonna be a good time.
Timothy Sullivan: 27:45
Yeah, and that’s why I wanted to do this episode a little bit in advance so that we could be like Paul Revere and get the word out there and let all the sake lovers know. Whe when the events are happening, if people do wanna travel, it’s in my book. It’s like totally worth it. Like if you want to go to Boston, it’s a great city to visit for a, a weekend or a long weekend. And if, if sake Day East is your anchor for, for that visit, like, that’s great. That’s a wonderful thing to do for a getaway. And if you see John or myself out at a Sake Day event, please say hello as a listener and you two can get a free sticker.
John Puma: 28:25
So now I have promising stickers. Okay, got it.
Timothy Sullivan: 28:27
too. Yes.
John Puma: 28:29
I’m on it.
Timothy Sullivan: 28:30
All right, so jp, let’s check in with our sakes. We’ve had our Brooklyn Kuras in the glass for a little bit,
John Puma: 28:38
I didn’t finish my glass at all, Tim. That’s right.
Timothy Sullivan: 28:42
so you’re not repouring right now.
John Puma: 28:44
I am totally not repouring right that, that sound was, uh, stirring vigorously. Uh
Timothy Sullivan: 28:51
All right.
John Puma: 28:52
hmm. Now, now I will have to say that my sake, despite having been in a bottle that’s been sitting on my, desk for the past 40 minutes or so. Probably a lot cooler than it usually is because you bought me a wonderful birthday gift.
Timothy Sullivan: 29:06
Happy birthday
John Puma: 29:08
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you got me this, Husky just husky, this husky, bottle cooler. And I just, it’s a metal device that you wrap around your bottle and it keeps it nice and cold, even when you’re doing a long podcast with, with your friend Tim.
Timothy Sullivan: 29:23
Yeah, it’s like a stainless steel insulating sleeve that kind of screws over the bottle and the neck of the bottle sticks out the top and it keeps your sake chilled at the table for up to four hours. And I thought, who better? To have this then my podcast buddy John Puma. So happy birthday.
John Puma: 29:40
having just poured and sipped a little bit more, I’ll tell you it keeps it cool for at least 40 minutes.
Timothy Sullivan: 29:44
Alright, good.
John Puma: 29:47
So far, so good.
Timothy Sullivan: 29:49
40 minutes and counting.
John Puma: 29:50
40 Madison County. How is your NAMA dealing with
Timothy Sullivan: 29:53
Hmm. Well I ha I do not have, that, cooler so my sake in the glass has warmed up just a little bit and. As you would expect the warmer temperature, just a few degrees warmer. It brings out a little more of the nuttiness, and rosiness in this sake, brings out the savory notes, but still totally pleasant, really enjoyable, and just not as, uh, crisp as before, but a little more savory that comes through as the sake gets closer and closer to room temp. And I’m loving it. I, I just think this is a great sake.
John Puma: 30:29
Glad. So Tim, I think it’s time for us to wrap up, let’s tell the good people at home what’s going on.
Timothy Sullivan: 30:38
Yeah. Well. We do hope that all of you listening enjoyed this episode and we do hope you can make it out to support Sake Day wherever you are in the country. I want to thank you all so much for tuning in. We really do hope that you’re enjoying Sake Revolution. Now if you’d like to show your support for our show, uh, the best way to support us is to join our Patreon. You can visit Patreon.com/sakerevolution to learn about different ways to show us your support. I don’t wanna forget to send a special hello and thank you to all our existing patrons. We love to see you all on our monthly happy hour that we do live on Zoom. And if you’d like to join the happy hour and chat with us yourself, uh, join us on Patreon. We’d love to have you.
John Puma: 31:24
And if you would like to check us out over on social media, we Are Sake Revolution or Sake Revolution Pod on just about every platform out there. No TikTok yet. Still after all these years, Tim, we’ve talked about that. It still still hasn’t occurred, but maybe one of these days we’ll get there. And if you want to, uh, reach out to us about mistakes we might’ve made, if we missed a sake event that’s going on for Sake Day, please reach out to us and you can do that at [email protected] or one of those aforementioned social media outlets. okay, everybody, please make your Sake Day 2025 plans. Remember to keep drinking sake and. Kanpai