INTRO
In episode 71 our host Stephen Lyman is joined by James Beard Award Winning Author and Journalist, Emma Janzen to talk about the similarities, differences, histories, and culture behind two of the world’s most fascinating indigenous spirits traditions: agave spirits and koji spirits.
CREDITS
Theme Song: Begin Anywhere by Tomoko Miyata (http://tomokomiyata.net/)
Mixing and Editing: Rich Pav (https://www.uncannyrobotpodcast.com/)
HOSTS
CHRISTOPHER PELLEGRINI Vermont born and bred, long-time Tokyo resident and author of The Shochu Handbook, Christopher learned about delicious fermentations as a beer brewer at Otter Creek (Middlebury, VT). He now spends most of his waking hours convincing strangers that shochu and awamori are unlike anything they’ve ever tried before.
STEPHEN LYMAN discovered Japan’s indigenous spirits at an izakaya in New York City. He was so enthralled that he now lives in Japan and works in a tiny craft shochu distillery every autumn. His first book, The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks, was nominated for a 2020 James Beard Award.
Stephen and Christopher love to all things indigenous alcohol traditions. While they both live in Japan and focus on Japanese spirits on this podcast, if you put something interesting and authentic in front of them, they are likely to enjoy it.
If you have any comments or questions about this episode, please reach out to Stephen or Christopher via Twitter. We would love to hear from you.
SHOW NOTES
Special Guest Emma Janzen
Emma is an award-winning journalist and author who writes and photographs spirits and cocktails for outlets including The New York Times, PUNCH, The World’s 50 Best Bars, and more.
The recipient of two James Beard Foundation awards and two Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, she is the author of a 2017 book about mezcal; she co-authored cocktail books in recent years with reputable industry figures such as Julia Momosé, Toby Maloney, and Jim Meehan; and has also contributed to various other texts including The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails and Signature Cocktails.
Currently the Drinkways Editor for Good Beer Hunting, she also serves as the Midwest Academy Chair for The World’s 50 Best Bars. In 2023, she was named an IACP finalist for best personal essay and ranked #32 on the Drinks International Bar World 100, an annual list of the industry’s most influential people.
You can learn more about Emma at www.emmajanzen.com and we strongly recommend you follow her on Instagram. To learn even more, here’s a link tree.
Agave Spirits v. Koji Spirits
Agave spirits, of course, refer to mezcal and tequila as well as less well known styles such as sotol and bacanora. All of these share a similar ancestry and all are made from agave plants, but they can express in such wildly different ways. In this episode, Emma breaks down agave spirits and with Stephen’s help, draws parallels to Japanese traditional spirits of honkaku shochu and awamori.
Distillation arrived in Mexico thanks to the Spaniards and potentially the Filipinos in the 16th century. This is around the same time that distillation arrived in mainland Japan, but we believe distilling was happening in Okinawa in the 15th century.
Both traditions grew up in isolation – Japan as a hermit kingdom and rural Mexico very far from the centers of European power at the time. Local agave production and processing lead to the creation of agave spirits while local agriculture and the use of koji for sacchrification of starches led to koji spirits in Japan.
Obviously, due to the very different cultures, climates, and production methods that are used to make these spirits, they are wildly different in how they express in the glass, but the common thread of their artisanal qualities cannot be missed.
Until very recently neither traditional spirits type was used in cocktails, but virtually always consumer straight or diluted with water or ice. Today, not only are both spirits becoming popular cocktail ingredients, they are at times paired together to create amazing drinks such as the Koji-San at Bar Goto in New York City.
Much More to Explore
As always, there is more to learn from listening to the episode or following Stephen, Christopher, and Emma on social media.
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