EP 15 – Live with Andre Bishop and William Stuart

In March we did four shows, all recorded live at the Aoyama Sake Flea, and who should we bump into than the Sake Samurai, Andre Bishop, and William Stuart, the CEO of Colorado Sake Co.? We managed to grab a few minutes with them to sit and talk sake. The conversation wandered from America to Australia as we picked their brains on topics like sake legislation, drumming up interest outside of Japan, and the future of sake as a culture and industry.

We have a lot more exciting content from the Aoyama Sake Flea coming very soon; so stay tuned for more Sake On Air.

And if you’re a sake aficionado like us and have the perfect topic for an episode -or just want to let us know how much you love the podcast- share your thoughts with us at questions@sakeonair.com. Your feedback does wonders to support the show, so if you love SOA and want to see it grow, consider tipping your glass to us online with a review.

Sake On Air is regularly broadcasted from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center and made possible by the generous support of the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association. It is a joint production between Potts.K Productions and Export Japan.

Kampai!

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Sake is out this week and Shochu is in! Christopher Pellegrini takes the hotseat to interview his partner in crime, Stephen Lyman.

Stephen Lyman is the founder of Kampai.us and the East Coast instructor for the Sake School of America Certified Shochu Advisor Course. Currently based in Fukuoka city on the island of Kyushu, Stephen now splits his time between Kyushu and New York.

Every season for the past 6 years he has been helping Yamatozakura Distillery with their shochu production. He and Chirstopher have gone into business together to open Yokaban, a new shochu bar in Fukuoka, and Stephen is also finishing up with his first book, The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks, which he co-authored together with Chris Bunting, author of Drinking Japan.

02:25 Stephen’s journey to Japan

04:40 Meeting shochu in NYC

07:00 Starting Kampi.us

08:30 Shochu Tasting Competition

10:53 Meeting Sekai Ishizuka and traveling to Japan together

13:30 Meeting Takkan Wakamatsu

15:02 Interning with Yamatozakura

17:40 The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks

23:10 The Certified Shochu Advisor Course

30:15 How Stephen and Chris met

35:00 Chris and Stephen’s Shochu Bar (Yokaban NY)

38:00 Drinking Games

39:40 Looking toward the future

46:10 Drinking Shochu and Awamori at home

49:45 Challenges selling Shochu abroad

56:40 Shochu as an artisanal Spirit

58:58 Final remarks

We’d love your thoughts and feedback on this week’s episode. Let us know what excites you about shochu at questions@sakeonair.com

You can always follow us on Instagram, Twiiter, and Facebook, if you’re so inclined. And while it has been rather quiet for a long time now, expect updates to our YouTube channel very soon.

Also, reviews are great. If you have a moment, please do share a few kind words. It helps the show like you wouldn’t believe.

A big thanks to Frank for another great production this week. The Export Japan team is helping us with a few other show-related things at the moment, as well. We’ll have more to share here very soon.

Thanks for listening!

Sake On Air is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center and made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association and is a joint production between Potts.K Productions and Export Japan.

Our theme is “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.

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