Episode 107 Show Notes
Episode 107. While Sake Revolution is currently the only U.S. sake podcast, there are several other podcasters around the world working hard to spread the good word of sake. We thought it would be fun to connect with our international colleagues for a little sake pod “crosstalk” to network and share the sake love. We start with Alex, the intrepid voice behind London’s “Sugidama Podcast”. He brings sake interviews, history and education and to his interesting episodes. We also take some time to taste a sake together. It’s a sake with a hard-to-pronounce name that is, however, oh so easy to drink: Kokuryu “Kuzuryu” Junmai. Join us for our first crosstalk! #sakerevolution
Skip to: 00:19 Show Opening
Welcome to the show from John and Timothy
Skip to: 01:37 Interview: Alex, Sugidama blog and podcast
Sugidama Podcast
“I have created this podcast to chronicle my journey into the thrilling world of sake and other Japanese drinks, food, culture and history. While I have a sake qualification (International Kikisake-shi), I still consider myself a novice in the sake world. I have plenty to learn about the drink and I want to share this experience with my listeners through personal accounts, interesting facts about sake and interviews with sake experts.”
Listen online: Sugidama Podcast
Sugidama Podcast Web: https://www.sugidama.co.uk/sugidama-podcast/
Sugidama Podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/sugidama-podcast/id1521894510
Sugidama Podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4g6PFj2j0a5fn74CcUnx22
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sugidamablog/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sugidamablog/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sugidamablog
Skip to: 21:25 Sake Introduction and Tasting : Kokuryu “Kuzuryu” Junmai
Kokuryu “Kuzuryu” Junmai
Prefecture: Fukui
Alcohol: 14.5%
Classification: Junmai
Rice Type: Gohyakumangoku
Seimaibuai: 65%
Brewery: Kokuryu Shuzo
Importer/Distributor: World Sake Imports (UK), World Sake Imports (USA)
Brand: Kuzuryu (九頭龍)
Sake Name English: Nine-headed Dragon
SMV: +5.5
View on UrbanSake.com:
https://www.urbansake.com/product/kokuryu-kuzuryu-junmai/
Skip to: 32:58 Show Closing
This is it! Join us next time for another episode of Sake Revolution!
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Episode 107 Transcript
John Puma: 0:22
Hello everybody. And welcome to Sake Revolution. This is America’s very first sake podcast and I am one of your hosts, John Puma from the Sake Notes, also the administrator and founder of the internet Sake Discord, and my pronouns. Are He/Him.
Timothy Sullivan: 0:41
And I am your host, Timothy Sullivan. I’m a Sake Samurai. I’m a sake educator, 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. We say every week that we are America’s first sake podcast, but I’m sure you’ve heard that there are other sake podcasts out there in the world.
John Puma: 1:09
I have heard this.
Timothy Sullivan: 1:11
Are you a listener to some of them?
John Puma: 1:13
I am familiar with a few of them actually. Yes.
Timothy Sullivan: 1:16
Yeah, I thought it might be fun if we networked a little bit and connected to some of the other sake podcasts. What do you think about.
John Puma: 1:24
you’re, you’re inviting the competition on our show.
Timothy Sullivan: 1:28
There is no competition here.
John Puma: 1:31
I know, I know. I know we’re just one big we’re one big happy podcasting family.
Timothy Sullivan: 1:37
Yes. And because we’re the only us podcast we have to reach outside of the U S and we have a very special guest with us today to kick off our series on the sake podcasts of the world. And we’re going to start by welcoming. Alex from Sugidama blog. Alex is a London-based sake blogger, podcaster, sake judge, and a sake advocate. He’s been the publisher of the Sugidama blog website since 2018 and the host of the Sugidama podcast since July, 2020, he’s an international kikizakeshi and he views his mission as expanding the awareness of Japanese sake among as many people as possible and helping to grow the community of sake lovers around the world. So without further ado, I want to welcome Alex from Sugidama Blog to the podcast. Hi Alex. Thank you for joining us. How are you doing?
Alex: 2:36
Hi Tim. Hi John. Yeah, I’m doing well. Thanks a lot for having me on your podcast. I’m you’re dedicated listener, listened to every episode. Yeah, it’s a, it’s a big honor for me. Yeah.
John Puma: 2:51
It seems like, ah, till July, 2020, you started up just a few months after we did.
Alex: 2:56
Yeah, I know that you started obviously earlier because I remember you were talking about it saying, oh yeah, we started recording and then you decided, okay, we have to rerecord it. I remember that and I’ve got it. I was at the same situation because it was a lockdown. So I’ve got some more time. And I was thinking, okay, probably I was thinking about doing podcasts for several months before that. And obviously for me, it was a bit difficult because, um, English is not my first language. And I always felt a bit like, oh, should they start doing podcasts in the language? Which probably, you know, not mine. and then when it was a lockdown, I was thinking, okay, yeah, I’ll do that. And, um, and I think it took me two months to record the first episode because I was. I was editing it, recording, re-recording, getting to listen to my wife and she’s saying, oh yeah, you, you sounds boring. Oh, you sound is not good something like that, but yeah. It’s uh, uh, finally got the first episode I remember in, in July, 2020. Yeah.
John Puma: 4:10
So what got you interested in, in sake? Well, what was your, like your aha moment that we love talking about those aha moments around here?
Alex: 4:19
Yeah, I definitely had an aha moment because I wasn’t that interested in saketric, uh, for quite long time. And, um, I tried to keep. Twice. I remember, before, 2017 and, I wasn’t really impressed. I was like, okay. It’s okay. It’s nice, nothing special. And then I’ve got a friend who I’m very interested in Japan and Japanese art and in sake. And he invited me to Japanese embassy for tasting, uh, because, uh, it used to be, I don’t know if they’re going to continue it, but after IWC. Uh, so care competition. They had a tasting called award-winning sake every June or July. I remember and he invited me and there were like 16 breweries there with, they look at best here and I was blown away. I was saying, oh really what I was doing all this year. I said, oh, well, I didn’t try. Because the thing is, there are a few things. Really attracted now. I think the taste was the first base, I think because, um, I’m not very, I don’t like, I see that I’m sort of like our oldest headlights. Um, when I was a kid, I couldn’t eat like an apples, like a biting it because I’ve got like, it’s like a pain in my, uh, And these kinds of thing. And so I will avoid it. I see. And it was something that I always liked. Didn’t like about wine. They sell to high acidity there, although I was drinking wine obviously. And, uh, and my favorite wine was, uh, German. The wrestling can not the dry wine, but um, semi-dry and then I’ve got sake and it’s, it’s not like a perfect balance of acidity sweetness. And, uh, and then, I was started reading about it. Uh, I was fascinated by the, brewing process and about the history of. Everything about it. And it’s also so complex and very interesting, different breweries, different types of sake. It took me, I dunno, a few months to memorize all this kinds of Junmai daiginjo, ginjo things like that. I remember I would put them in my Google keep and, um, in that as every time I was thinking about it, I was opening my phone saying, okay, Junmai Ginjo, things like that. Yeah. So it was my ah-ha moment.
Timothy Sullivan: 6:49
All right. so your podcast and your blog are both called Sugidama. So for our listeners who may not know, could you tell us what sugidama means and why did you name your blog and your podcast after this?
Alex: 7:04
Uh, so good on my means the ball made of, cedar twigs, like, um, they made ball and all the old times, they usually. Making this ball at the beginning called the brewing season and it was green and they, they hang it outside the brewery. It was in Japan. It’s a sign of the sake brewery, even now, but as they were brewing, sake, the. Uh, the ball was turning brown, this because it’s getting dry and Dougal could see, okay, it’s brown is ready. We can have a drink. So it was something like, like that. I think it’s like a bit of myth or legend, but, uh, I quite liked this story. I know I was thinking about the name of the blog and I think I, should I try, should I try it? And then I dunno, I’m just reading like different. terms and names for, so, yeah, and I quite liked the term. I quite like the word and I was thinking, okay, it’s it represents sake, it represents this like a brewery that time I thought everybody who drinks sake know about that, apparently not. It’s a lot of Japanese people, no idea what it means. So sugidama. does it mean? they can see from the kanji, what that means the ball from, you know, cedar twigs and, uh, but, uh, it’s a sake or like yeah. But yeah, it’s um,
Timothy Sullivan: 8:34
Hmm. So it’s a symbol, it’s a symbol for the sake industry and it’s a symbol for sake breweries.
Alex: 8:40
Yeah.
John Puma: 8:41
love it.
Alex: 8:42
And obviously the website name was available.
John Puma: 8:46
Yeah, that’s always, that’s always a big plus.
Alex: 8:49
Exactly.
John Puma: 8:51
well, so, so you, um, as we touched on earlier, you’re based over in, uh, in London and, personally I have, I’ve never been, what is the sake scene like over there?
Alex: 9:03
Well, London is probably the, the pinpoint of the British sake scene because it’s everything. In a way, concentrated in London and all, most of the good Chinese restaurants in London. And, there are few. shops, which sell sake, uh, in London. Um, so at the moment it is quite vibrant. It’s the interest for sake is growing pretty, pretty fast because when, even when I started drinking sake, they were like, um, you could go to Japan center, which is a supermarket chain supermarket to call it Japan center. And, uh, it was one place and, probably a couple of other shops and that’s it. Also we’ve got like now we’ve got three sake breweries in the UK. Uh, the first one was Kampai, which is based in London. Uh, There is a Dojima brewery, which based in Cambridgeshire and it’s, um, it’s set up by Kampai it’s set up by quite nice British couple, um, quite geeky. And, uh, it’s a it’s amazing brewery. And Dojima is set up by the Japanese company. Uh, I think the owner, when he sold, he, I’m not sure, but I think he’s from sake brewing family. Because he’s not the eldest son, so he’s not an owner of the brewery, but he set up, uh, some other brewery and opened Dojima in this. Very nice place apart in time that we’ve been there because they open just before, Covid in a way, probably a year before or months before. And so I never had that opportunity to go, so probably should go. And there is another one, sparkling, brewery, which is.
John Puma: 10:53
I think I’d heard about that recently.
Alex: 10:55
Yeah, they won the award at, IWC this time. Uh, they’ve got, I think commended and, they just started in June, in July last year.
Timothy Sullivan: 11:06
Yeah, you didn’t, you did an interview with them. One of your episodes, you met with the sparkling sake brewery
Alex: 11:12
Yeah, yeah. With Naoki. And, uh, Tracy, uh, Naoki’s a brewer and owner and Tracy, she in, in, in charge of marketing and promotion and
Timothy Sullivan: 11:24
Yeah, that was a really, really nice
Alex: 11:26
Well, thank you.
John Puma: 11:27
it sounds like it’s a growing scene over there, which is what we’d like to see. It’s kind of like similar to what’s going on here and that’s great. We always want to see more people experiencing sakes. That’s a really great.
Alex: 11:38
Yeah, exactly. And obviously people very often look back, uh, look at, uh, unite United States in this regard because the United States is well ahead. Um, Europe in terms of, sake.
John Puma: 11:52
Um,
Alex: 11:53
Got quite a lot of breweries. And I think the, the market is bigger and you see more brands there. So, yeah, it’s, um, it’s, it’s a great sort of example for Europe and, because I was talking to, One of my guests yesterday, I was recording and I will ask her about the sake scene outside the UK. And she said, yeah, it’s getting much better. Now. It’s a, there are brewery in France. There is a brewery in two breweries in Spain and, uh, in Germany, they getting more sake and, uh, yeah. It’s um, but it’s, uh, it’s very good news.
John Puma: 12:34
Great. Great.
Timothy Sullivan: 12:36
Yeah. So when you are d oing your sake podcast. How do you decide on your show ideas? I know that’s something that John and I spend a lot of time talking about for our show. How do you decide what, what to do for your show?
Alex: 12:52
I think at the beginning, uh, I was just wanted to go through like very educational because I think my idea of podcast was. Let people who, for example, never tried sake and thinking about trying it, or probably try that a couple of times at a restaurant, but have no idea about what it is. And they probably liked it, but they feel a bit scared to go to the, store once a wine shop and buy a sake because they have no idea what. What it is. And so it was, I think my main focus and when I started, I was probably, my, my first episode was about second myths and misconceptions because it’s very often that you talk to people and. You see, it’s not spirit really or something. Yeah, because it’s clear, it’s too drunk from very small cups and it’s always this, you’ve got these kinds of, impression or it’s rice wine. And I’m gonna say, oh yeah, it’s called the white rice wine by even by Japanese people. But it says it’s really wine and things like that.
John Puma: 14:02
Yeah.
Alex: 14:02
And then I was, I was talking to friend of mine who started listening to my podcast and he said, oh, you give so much information. In one episode, it’s a bit difficult because he wasn’t into sake. And he said, it’s very interesting. But it’s, it’s very difficult to digest because it’s too much information. So I decided, okay, I’ll do like a focus series, whole focusing on like nigori or Namazake or these kind of enjoy these kinds of things. And, um, so I did two seasons and then I decided to talk about. In this season about the evolution of sake brewing in Japan, going through probably, you know, as long as far back as possible and trying to, to do like episode on like sake and during Nara period, like an ancient Japan during Muromachi period and, Sengoku jidai. And then Sake In Edo. And sakes and modern times these kind of things. So I was trying to think of what people could be interested and what I would be interested, um, uh, to listen to hear. Um, because sometimes you think, oh yeah, it’s very interesting topic and you start researching it and thinking, okay, probably other people that are interested in it. And also in terms of, uh, trying to balance it with me talking all the episodes, which is to the short episodes, it’s a under half an hour because it’s very difficult to listen to one person talking. Uh, and so, um, mix it with interviews, having like, uh, ideally half of episodes of, uh, interviews, half of episodes, uh, me talking.
Timothy Sullivan: 15:53
So you go back and forth between like solo, educational episodes and then kind of interviews with, uh, different sake people.
Alex: 16:00
Yeah, exactly.
John Puma: 16:03
Do you have a favorite episode? I know this is a hard question, but, um, you know, you probably have several, but, uh, you know, if you think about like what episode that, uh, that you really are really proud of, what, what, which one comes to mind?
Alex: 16:16
I think the interviews, I’m quite happy about the interviews because they, most, all of them were very interesting. It was, um, talking to amazing people who are very, very dedicated and very enthusiastic about, uh, sake. I was talking to. I came here about Koji and she likes certified coaches specialist. And she was talking about Koji. Like, it’s your, you know, some people talk about cats and pets, and she was talking about Koji in this way. And it was so, so fascinating. And, um, I was talking to I remember to Erica and she opened the sake bar in London just before COVID she opened it like a December 9, 2019 and it was like a. A couple of months after that, a few months after that it was a log down and she managed to, they managed to get through and it’s still around and it’s, it’s very good sake bar. the only sake bar. uh, in London actually. so yeah, it was very interesting and so many people, and I think it’s the most interesting thing to talk about. I think. most popular episodes by statistic is the interviews. I think like we did the interview with, andy Travis, who all knows London, sake. It’s an online store and it’s very, very popular. And I did the interview with, uh, Oliver who is, the owner of Tengu sake here again, importing company. And it was also very, very popular. So it’s. Good things. Yeah. Yeah. Quite, quite like these episodes.
Timothy Sullivan: 18:00
Well, on, on the education side of things, you mentioned a moment ago, the emergence of sake, one of the, kind of the history series that you you’ve started recently. And I was curious how do you research all that information? Because that’s really hard to come by. sake history is very deep. And if you don’t read ancient Japanese texts, it’s hard sometimes to research. So what has your process been for educating yourself on these topics that you talk about?
Alex: 18:33
It’s a very painful process
Timothy Sullivan: 18:36
Yes, it’s painful.
Alex: 18:38
very painful, because the information in English is very, very limited. So I’ve got some kind of concept what was going on and the reason. Sort of like big think about what was going on in, in sake, how it was developing. and then I was trying to find the, there is some information. Okay. It looks like a machine translation from Japanese, um, uh, corporates from Japan use, um, texts. So I was looking at it and you, you start to understand, okay, it’s probably not very well translated, but the, you can understand the, what is, about. And, I was using. Google translate in some cases when I post trying to get something. Yeah, it was very difficult. And, um, I think obviously it’s, I was, every time I was doing this episode, thinking, who am I to do that? Because I don’t speak Japanese. I’m studying Japan use, but it’s still at a level that I look at the Kanji, uh, texts written country and like, Very very uncomfortable because I can’t read it. It takes time to read it. And, all these days it’s very sort of like simple kanji text and even like, uh, and NHK web news easy, makes it difficult for me to read and, um, which is simplified Japanese news for like the beginners. but on the other hand, All this like history, I always like this. and I think history always my favorite subject in school. And, um, so, uh, I find it very interesting to do and to do this research and think, okay. I was probably I’ll do the next time, the series with probably a bit more information when I probably can read Japanese. So I dunno. Yeah. But yeah, it’s, it’s very difficult process and. Because of the, uh, very limited information, but also you pick up things from other sources are, from like interviews sometimes from some breweries websites, they mentioned some kind of events. And so you like have this kind of like a puzzle
Timothy Sullivan: 20:57
Yeah. I’ve come across things where it’s like, there’s even conflicting information. So sometimes one brewer says one thing about the EDO period and another brewer says something else. So you have to kind of find the common threads and see what. The real story is, and it’s really hard work. So I appreciate you putting that information out there. You know, uh, studying medieval Japanese sake history really makes you want to have a drink when you’re done studying
Alex: 21:24
Yeah, exactly.
John Puma: 21:25
I think it is time. It’s more pastime. We had some sake here on the Sake Revolution Pod, and, um, this week we are going to be drinking Kuzuryu. From Kokuryu, and this is their Junmai from a, kokuryu Shuzo in Fukui. Prefecture. the rice here is a gohyakumangoku. the gohyakumangoku is milled down to 65%. The alcohol percentage is 14 to 15. Uh, acidity is 1.3 and the Sake meter value of that range of dry to sweet is Plus 5.5. And our fun fact for this week on, uh, founded Tim and Alex in 1804. As, as Americans, it kind of blows my mind every time something happened that far back and is still in business today. Uh, yeah. So, all three of us have this bottle in front of us.
Timothy Sullivan: 22:29
Alex, we talked about what sake we may want to taste together. And we ended up with this Kokuryu, Kuzuryu, Junmai not the easiest name to pronounce. I
Alex: 22:41
No. Sorry.
Timothy Sullivan: 22:42
uh, the English, the English name is a nine headed dragon. And that comes from their water source. The Kuzuryu gawa river in Fukui. So is there a reason you picked this sake that you wanted to taste with us?
Alex: 22:58
Um, there are a few reasons because when you ask me, okay, what is your favorite sake? I was thinking, okay. My favorite sake is sake. I’ve never tried because, because.
Timothy Sullivan: 23:11
so this is a blind re this is a blind react.
Alex: 23:15
Yeah,
Timothy Sullivan: 23:15
All
John Puma: 23:16
Oh, right. I like this. This is a fun idea.
Alex: 23:18
Because every time I was listening to some other people and people say, oh yeah, this is my favorite sake. Every time I go to izakaya or restaurant, I, see if it’s on the menu, I always, audit. And in my case, it’s completely different. If I see something on the menu, I already tried. I ordered something different, which I never tried. and, uh, another thing is, I’ve got a friend and we usually go to each other’s houses and drink sake once in a while, and obviously during. It was quite difficult. And I remember he bought this sake and he said, okay, I bought it for you because you probably will like it. And they’re waiting for you to come. And then he’s got COVID and then it was something that happened. And obviously he, eventually he drank this sake without me. So I think it’s a good opportunity.
John Puma: 24:13
Finally, finally, good to
Timothy Sullivan: 24:15
This is your re your redemption, the Kokuryu redemption. All right. Well, let’s get this open and get this into the glass we will all be reacting Kokuryu.
John Puma: 24:29
as it were.
Timothy Sullivan: 24:36
All right. So again, this is a Junmai sake and let’s go ahead and look at it in the glass. It has, mine has a little, very slight cast of yellow to it. It’s not perfectly clear,
John Puma: 24:53
Same here.
Timothy Sullivan: 24:55
probably not aggressively charcoal filtered. Let’s give it a smell
Alex: 25:03
yeah,
John Puma: 25:05
It’s not a, it’s not a John Puma wheelhouse aroma, but I really do like it.
Alex: 25:08
yeah.
Timothy Sullivan: 25:09
Hm,
Alex: 25:10
I think it’s fair. I think it obviously. According to SMV, it’s a dry a sake, but the smell is very sweet.
Timothy Sullivan: 25:21
I agree. It has almost like a cotton candy smell to it. It’s um, really interesting and some depth, a little bit of impression of sweetness in the aroma.
Alex: 25:34
Good luck at some, some fruit, but like these kinds of ripened fruits, like, uh, like, uh, plums or,
Timothy Sullivan: 25:41
yes, I agree completely.
John Puma: 25:44
And not that a cotton candy was like right on the nose. I think it’s definitely in that, that cotton candy, that circus peanuts area for me, probably why I liked the aroma so much.
Timothy Sullivan: 25:58
Yeah. really nice aroma. And it’s the type of aroma where it’s not hitting you over the head with one thing. Like there’s some layers going on there. There’s a depth to the aroma and it’s fun. I really enjoy exploring sakes like this in a wine glass, because you can really study it and examine the aroma in a little bit more detail. Uh, but I’m also excited to
Alex: 26:21
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan: 26:22
taste it.
John Puma: 26:23
Yes, please.
Timothy Sullivan: 26:26
Mm. Very silky texture.
John Puma: 26:32
There’s a nicest and I sought out a richness on the.
Timothy Sullivan: 26:37
Yeah. Again, for me, just like the aroma, there’s a lot to dig into. It’s not a simplistic. One-off flavor. There’s a richness there’s rice going on and get a little bit of rice flavor, little creamy, silky texture,
Alex: 26:53
Yeah. Quite
Timothy Sullivan: 26:54
and the finish. The finish seems pretty
Alex: 26:56
yeah, it’s a dry and bitter finish, which I like, I like this bitterness and it just gives the kick
Timothy Sullivan: 27:04
So Alex, we have to know, is this sake in your wheelhouse? Is this a sake that you would normally drink?
Alex: 27:11
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan: 27:11
I know it can’t be your favorite because you’ve tried it now, but.
Alex: 27:16
Yeah, it’s definitely this, which I like, and I’m definitely. Um, um, yeah, I think w what I like about it, it’s very clear. It’s, it’s, it’s deep but clear it’s. Um, because sometimes you’ve got sake, it’s not very deep, but very clear sort of crisp tastes, but this one is a very good combination of depth and, uh, this clarity and this freshness,
John Puma: 27:47
Hm.
Alex: 27:48
I think it’s, it’s amazing food sake it’s because it’s, Junmai it’s, I’m probably good with, um seafood, Because well its made in Fukui, we were famous for crabs. And, um, yeah. And, because it’s a lot of Umami is going on, so you can have it with a lot of other stuff like with meat or veggies. Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan: 28:15
Hm. Have you, have you had other sakes from Kokuryu from this brewery?
Alex: 28:21
I had, I had, I think Junmai Daiginjo, which was amazing. It was amazing. It’s amazing. Second. And I didn’t have, they have June, my Daiginjo sake, which made to, to be drunk, hot. So I didn’t try it and, um, just want to try it and because it’s definitely something that, um, should be very nice
John Puma: 28:47
Hm. What do you think about warming this up?
Alex: 28:50
I will definitely we’ll warm it up afterwards and try it because on the brewery website, it says either have a chilled or warned no room temperature,
John Puma: 29:01
Yeah, very tasty stuff. And yeah, I think this is, as you mentioned, very, it can be very food friendly. It’s going to be very warming friendly. I think there’s a lot, a lot of notes here that are going to be really, uh, in favor of that style.
Alex: 29:14
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan: 29:15
Yeah. One thing that I love about this brewery is their, the depth to all their sakes. I usually love a sake that’s kind of clean, crisp, light, easy drinking, and this type of sake has a little bit more going on. There’s more to dig into lots of layers. And I imagine the flavors change dramatically when you warm it up or chill it down. And that type of exploration with sake for me is really, really fun. So that’s one of the things I love about this brewery.
Alex: 29:50
Yeah. Yeah. I think I love this kind of the opportunity to explore things with sake was the temperature because different temperature you’ve got different taste and different flavor. drink way. You drink it from a wine glass. It’s one thing you can drink it from probably or ochoko or guinomi and it’s going to be slightly different. And even like, um, you drink sake with different people and it tastes different thing. Yeah. Tastes good.
John Puma: 30:25
Yeah, this is a really nice stuff.
Timothy Sullivan: 30:27
Yeah, really good. John, do you have any ideas for food pairing with this? Our new Junmai friend
John Puma: 30:35
Um, I think this can go with anything. I mean, it’s, it’s got that depth. I feel like I can have this with a heavy meat dishes. I’m going to have this with something a little bit lighter. It’s not going to, it’s going to be present no matter what, it’s not going to be fighting anything. It’s going to be having a good, you know, having a nice, uh, it’s gonna find its place. I think.
Timothy Sullivan: 30:55
I think it’s very food friendly
John Puma: 30:57
Yeah, I guess I just don’t think you can go wrong with parenting. This is the easiest pairing question I’ve ever had.
Alex: 31:03
I had a cup so sacred. It’s easy to pair.
Timothy Sullivan: 31:07
Yeah. And luckily it’s the sake that you can get around the world. You’re able to get it in London. We have it here in the States. So I hope our listeners around the world are going to look for Kokuryu Kuzuryu Junmai just rolls off the tongue.
Alex: 31:24
Yeah. And I think as, um, the more you drink this sake, the easier it gets to pronounce these words. So when you finish the bottle, it’s going to be like easy peasy.
Timothy Sullivan: 31:37
Yes.
John Puma: 31:38
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan: 31:39
So Alex, if our listeners want to listen to Sugidama podcast or learn more about you, where can they find you on the internet? What’s the best way to learn.
Alex: 31:48
Uh, the best way to either just to search, sugidama podcast on any platform it’s on Spotify. Uh, apple podcasts everywhere. It’s it’s it’s there just search “Sugidama” Uh, my website is to get sugidama.co.uk, and you can tag me on Instagram or Twitter sugidamablog in one word. Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan: 32:13
that sounds great. Well, I hope our listeners will. Run not walk, run to their platform of choice and listen to you on Sugidama podcasts. It is so nice to talk to you.
Alex: 32:26
Uh,
Timothy Sullivan: 32:27
And we are really happy to, uh, connect with other sake podcasters around the world and so happy to have you on. And, uh, it was just so great having you. Thank you so much for joining us.
Alex: 32:39
Thanks a lot for me. It’s always a great honor because being on the fair, popular podcast and the being on the podcast with people I’m listening to and admire, and, uh, it was, I think we had a very good talk and, uh, yeah, I really enjoyed our
John Puma: 32:57
Excellent.
Timothy Sullivan: 32:58
Alex. So great to talk with you. Thank you so much. And John, always a pleasure to taste with you as well. I’d like to take a moment to thank our patrons as well. If you’d like to become a patron and support Sake Revolution, you can reach us at Patreon.com/SakeRevolution. All the support we receive from patreon helps us to bring you a new and fun episode of Sake Revolution each and every week.
John Puma: 33:23
Uh, and if you are interested in sending us an email. [email protected] is the best way to get an email out to us. You can also reach us on social media. We’re out there on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. So we hit those questions over and get those show ideas over to us. And so please raise your glasses. And until next time, please remember to keep drinking sake and
Alex: 33:50
Kanpai!,
John Puma: 33:52
All right.