Podcast

INTRO

In episode 41 of the Japan Distilled podcast, your hosts Christopher Pellegrini and Stephen Lyman roll up their sleeves and dive back into a very specific aspect of alcohol production: the absolute necessity of yeast.

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 have a deep and abiding respect for this single celled organism.

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

World’s Biggest Overachiever?

There may be no single cell organism more vital to human civilization. Archeologists have discovered ruins of ancient civilizations in which it was clear that they were working with yeast even if it wasn’t actually identified as a living organism until Louis Pasteur in the 1850s.

Yeast has been used to make bread and alcohol since time immemorial. While you can make unleavened bread without it, you simply cannot efficiently make ethanol without yeast.

The Science of Yeast

This single celled organism has two respiratory pathways. One for an oxygen rich (aerobic) environment and one for an oxygen poor (anaerobic) environment. When the aerobic respiratory pathway is activated, the yeast will convert oxygen and sugar into water and carbon dioxide (CO2). When the anaerobic pathway is activated, it will convert the sugar into CO2 and alcohol. Therefore, alcohol fermentations are almost always submerged in liquid to deprive the yeast of oxygen.

The Art of Yeast

Yeast’s primary job in alcohol production is to convert sugars to alcohol, but it also adds flavors and aromas both through by products it creates while alive, but also when its cells die their own enzymes digest their bodies into aroma and flavor compounds. Managing this delicate balance of flavor and aroma derived is one of the arts of alcohol production.

Types of Yeast

There are hundreds if not thousands of species in the world. Yet one, saccharomyces cerevisiae is dominant for both bread and alcohol production. While this particular species shares the same DNA, strains of s. cerevisiae used for bread and alcohol are different. In fact, the strains used for beer versus wine versus sake versus spirits are different as well. Bread yeast is more resistant to the adverse conditions present in an oven while alcohol yeasts remain active at higher alcohol concentrations. And of course, those used for wine can remain active in high alcohol concentrations than those used for beer.

Of course, each yeast has its own flavor and aroma characteristic as well. Many have been cultivated specifically to express green apple or star anise or banana notes. As a result, yeast may very well have a larger impact on the final product than any other component other than the main ingredient and sometimes even that.

Much More to Explore

Of course, there is certainly much more to learn. Please have a listen and let us know what you think.

Kanpai!

In episode 40 of the Japan Distilled podcast, your hosts Christopher Pellegrini and Stephen Lyman tackle the scintillating topic of absolutely absurd liquor laws in the United States. While this episode is very US-focused, we promise the episode will be entertaining for listeners worldwide who may enjoy listening to a couple of Yanks poke fun at their countrymen.

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 have been battling these silly rules for years.

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

The OG Silly Liquor Law: Prohibition

The 18th amendment to the US constitution made the distribution and sale of alcohol illegal in the US as of January 17, 1920. As you all well know, this led to bootlegging, illicit distillation, speakeasys, and all sorts of roaring twenties shenanigans. Fortunately, the 21st Amendment repealed prohibition in 1933, but the damage was done. What was left in its wake was a regulatory morass as the country made booze legal again.

The TTB

The TTB is the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Established in 2003, they are responsible for all regulatory issues surrounding federal import and distribution of beverage alcohol. They are authorized to classify alcohol to such a degree that there are over 40 different recognized categories of whisky, a dozen or more brandy categories, and dozens of other recognized spirits categories.

Unrecognized? Any Asian Spirits whatsoever. No shochu, no awamori, no soju, no baijiu. Very European focused. Silly liquor law? We think so.

They are also authorized to add new categories, but have added precisely 1 near category (Brazilian cachaça) in nearly two decades of operation. And cachaça only got recognition since the US wanted Brazil to recognize Tennessee Sour Mash and Kentucky Bourbon as uniquely American spirits traditions. Clearly a lot of work to do to catch up with reality. TTB, c’mon guys, you can do it!

California Soju Law

In 1998, Korean American restaurant industry lobbyists, no doubt backed by “Big Soju” lobbied successfully to allow California beer and wine soft liquor license holders to sell soju if it was imported and bottled at 24% ABV or less. This intentionally blocked domestic releases of Japanese shochu, which is almost always bottled at 25%, but that didn’t stop some Japanese makers from taking advantage of the loophole.

The rule only said the product needed to be imported, so Japanese suppliers began labeling 24% ABV versions of their domestic products as soju to gain access to the enormous California marketplace. Rational to a degree, but created enormous consumer confusion and still does to this day.

Silly liquor law? We know so.

New York Soju Law

Inspired no doubt by California, New York based lobbyists quickly followed suit and got soju approved for soft license sale at 24% ABV or less so long as it was made in Korea. The law was passed in 2002 and ever since Korean soju has been available on soft license while 24% ABV shochu bottled for California has been restricted to hard license shops statewide.

Fortunately, that law was revised in July 2022 (the inspiration for this episode).

Specifically, the legislation reads:

Such license shall in form and in substance be a license to the person specifically licensed to sell wine at retail, to be consumed upon the premises. Such license shall also be deemed to include a license to sell beer [and], soju AND SHOCHU at retail to be consumed under the same terms and conditions without the payment of any additional fee. For the purposes of this subdivision:

…

(B) “SHOCHU” SHALL MEAN AN IMPORTED JAPANESE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE THAT CONTAINS NOT MORE THAN TWENTY-FOUR PER CENTUM ALCOHOL, BY VOLUME, AND IS DERIVED FROM AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.

Finally, New York diners and drinkers can enjoy shochu at fine Japanese restaurants throughout the state who do not have hard liquor licenses.

Their silly liquor law just became a bit less silly.

Much More to Explore

Of course, we dive into several other silly laws and give plenty of commentary on these and other rules. Please have a listen and let us know what you think.

Kanpai!

EPISODE INTRO

In episode 39 of the Japan Distilled podcast, your hosts Christopher Pellegrini and Stephen Lyman introduce you to the most powerful toji guild in Japanese history, the Kurose Toji. This guild absolutely revolutionized and subsequently professionalized shochu production in the 20th century. And yet today, the guild has nearly disappeared with just a few remaining master brewer-distillers keeping their former powerhouse from going extinct.

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 were guests of the Kurose Toji Guild in preparation for this episode.

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

From Moonshine to Corporate Entity

During the Meiji Restoration many formerly informal Japanese businesses were forced to privatize as the newly formed government needed to expand its tax revenue in order to rapidly modernize to protect the country against the possibility of foreign colonization.

As such, during 1884-1885, shochu makers were overnight turned form farm distillers to businesses. This didn’t do much to change their lives since their products were still not effectively taxed. That change in 1898 when the first taxes on alcohol production were instituted. Seemingly overnight stills disappeared into hidden mountain retreats and those that remained had a sudden need for a consistent product that they could actually sell.

Given that distillation at this time was done on an extremely small scale, these were not necessarily viable businesses without the assistance of craftsmen who knew how to make a robust fermentation in Kyushu’s hot, humid environment.

Since necessity is the mother of invention, a market grew up and was filled by the toji guilds.

Kurose Toji Guild

Since all shochu was handmade at this time, the most vital aspect of the process was the development of a robust koji fermentation. This required carefully maintenance of temperature and humidity suited to the environment where the shochu was being made. In short, it required the knowledge, skills, and experience of a master craftsman, or toji.

Most distilleries were owned and operated by farmers or fishermen so they didn’t necessarily have the requisite skill to make a reliable, delicious product on their own. Yet the tax demands instituted in the late 1890s made this an imperative for continued economic viability.

In 1902, three men from Kasasa Village in Southern Kagoshima Prefecture collaborated to create the Korose Toji Guild: Hajime Katahira (b. 1884, d. 1936), Minosuke Kurose (b. 1882, d. 1967), and Tsunekichi Kurose (b. 1885, d. 1925). Note that all three were 20 years old or younger when the founded the guild, but they were onto something.

Katahira, who came from a sake brewing background, introduced the staged fermentation process, which allowed for a strong starter fermentation by cultivating more koji and yeast cells prior to introducing the main starch source. Nearly all shochu is made in this style today, but previously the “donburi” method was predominant in which water, yeast, koji, and the main starch source were all added to a single fermentation. This new technique provided for a more stable, more delicious fermentation, which also resulted in higher yields.

The two members of the Kurose family had been trained in the production of Okinawan awamori so they brought black koji to the guild’s arsenal. This allowed for a much more consistent and stable fermentation in the hot, humid Kyushu climate.

The three quickly began recruiting other men from the community to join their guild. Soon the guild had swelled to several hundred members, all living in Kasasa, and being sent out to distilleries across Kyushu and beyond for seasonal production. They’d return in the spring to work their village’s fields before being sent out to produce shochu again the next year.

By the 1950s there were over 400 guild members and new classes of 50 students a year. And they were well paid. By this time a 15 year old toji guild member could draw an annual income nearly equivalent to the average salary in Japan. Compensation would only increase with experience until they were promoted to “toji” at which point they would be sent out as a team leader to one of the hundreds of distilleries that contracted their services.

Death of the Toji Guild(s)

As quickly as the Kurose Toji Guild and the nearby competing Ata Toji Guild rose to power, their grip on the shochu industry began to wane. This happened for two key reasons.

First, the introduction of the Kawachi Drum, which is an automatic koji making machine developed by the same Professor Kawachi who discovered white koji. Once a machine could make koji consistently, the need for a true master toji was greatly diminished.

Second, as shochu became more popular throughout Japan in the 1970s, expansion lead companies to hire their own full-time head toji, which reduced the demand for the guild’s services.

Today the Ata Toji Guild is extinct and there are only two active members of the Kurose Toji Guild. One runs the Toji no Sato Kasasa Distillery in Kasasa Village and the other is in training at a sake brewery in Saga Prefecture. He is expected to take over Toji no Sato in the future.

Much More to Explore

These show notes just scratch the surface, but should serve as a useful aid as you listen to the episode itself. As always, please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about the toji guilds.

Oh, and what were we sipping on? Rare that we both sip on the same thing. We were enjoying I-don from Toji no Sato Kasasa Distillery. Available only through lottery in Japan.

Kanpai!

EPISODE INTRO

In episode 38 of the Japan Distilled podcast, your hosts Christopher Pellegrini and Stephen Lyman dive into national mold of Japan. Without koji (aspergillus oryzae, kawachi, or awamori) there would not be a Japanese culinary tradition as we understand it today. Nor would there be the Japanese spirits we all know and love.

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 have been fermentation geeks for a very long time.

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

What is koji?

Koji is the national mold of Japan. Without it there wouldn’t be soy sauce, miso, mirin, sake, shochu, or awamori as we know them. It’s a critical ingredient in Japanese fermentation traditions. Originally introduced to Japan as part of the Chinese yeast balls, or jiuqu, koji was isolated by Buddhist monks for sake production as early as the 700s CE and possibly earlier.

Koji is a mold that grows in hot, humid environments, as do most molds, but this is a productive mold. During its fermentation process it releases generous amounts of two key enzymes: amylase and protease. Amylase saccharifies starches, such as rice or barley, and protease breaks down proteins to create amino acids (umami).

When used to make beverage alcohol, the amylase replaces malting as would be used in beer or whisky production. To learn more about the differences, please listen to episode 27 on Malt v. Koji.

Production

The mold is purchased from one of several mold factories throughout Japan. The spores are spread on freshly steamed barley or rice for most spirits production, though koji can be grown on virtually any starch source. Soba, corn, sweet potatoes, and soy beans have all been used as substrates various fermentations.

Once the spores are inoculated on the starch source, careful temperature and humidity must be controlled to give the koji an opportunity to infiltrate to feed and create the desired enzymes. In addition to protease and amylase, heat is generated so the fermentation must be cooled to maintain optimum temperature. The mold is most active from a range of about 30-42 degrees Celsius (86-108 Fahrenheit).

Koji Types

Three kinds of koji are used for alcohol production. Nearly all sake is made with yellow koji, which has been used in alcohol fermentations in Japan for over 1,300 years. The yellow variety requires assistance from the addition of acidity to protect the fermentation. This was traditionally done with lactic acid bacteria, but more recently commercial acid is added to modern sake fermentations.

Black koji is native to Okinawa and has been used to make Awamori for as many as 600 years since distilling technology first arrived on the islands. Today black koji is the only type permitted for making Ryukyu Awamori. This mold creates natural citric acid when the proper temperature range is maintained during inoculation. This helps protect the ferment in the hot, humid climate of Okinawa. Spirits made with black koji tend to have deep, earthy, umami-laden flavors and aromas.

Finally, white koji is recent to the party. This mutation of the black variety was discovered in a laboratory in Kumamoto in 1918. Today a majority of honkaku shochu is made using white koji, though yellow and black are still commonly used. This white variety also creates copious citric acid when the inoculation is properly temperature controlled. White koji tends to be more reserved, allowing the flavors and aromas of the base ingredients to shine through.

Much More to Explore

These show notes just scratch the surface, but should serve as a useful aid as you listen to the episode itself. As always, please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about koji.

KANPAI!

EPISODE INTRO

In the 37th episode of the Japan Distilled podcast, your host Stephen Lyman has a wide ranging conversation with Elliot Faber of Sundays Spirits in Hong Kong. His journey from Calgary to Scotland to Hong Kong is a winding road of adventure, opportunity, and hard work.

CREDITS

Theme Song: Begin Anywhere by Tomoko Miyata (http://tomokomiyata.net/)

Mixing and Editing: Rich Pav (https://www.uncannyjapan.com/)

HOST

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 has been communicating online with Elliot Faber for a long time. This was their first time actually speaking.

If you have any comments or questions about this episode or any other, please reach out to Stephen or Christopher via Twitter. We would love to hear from you. 

SHOW NOTES

What is Sundays Spirits?

Sundays Spirits was born out of the long time collaboration between Elliot Faber, chef Matt Abergel, and Lindsay Jang. Matt and Lindsay’s izakaya, Yardbird, opened in Hong Kong in 2011 and they immediately brought Elliot on as their beverage director.

Elliot relocated from Canada to Hong Kong to join the team and since then they have all been relentlessly dedicated to expanding their restaurant group and eventually opening two different beverage alcohol companies. Sunday’s Distribution is a Hong Kong-based importer and distributor for world alcohols while Sundays Spirits is a brand portfolio of beverage alcohols created in collaboration with Japanese sake and spirits makers.

Sake Chops

In just a few short years, Elliot has become a globally recognized expert on Japanese alcohol, but particularly sake. His book, Sake: The History, Stories, and Craft of Japan’s Artisinal Breweries is one of the most beautiful books on the subject we’ve ever seen. In 2016, he was recognized as a Sake Samurai by the Japan Sake Brewer’s Association. He’s also founded Sake Central, a global community for sake lovers.

Continuing the Journey

Today, Sundays Distribution allows Elliot to share his passion with Hong Kong while Sundays Spirits gives him an opportunity to share his favorite drinks with the world.

KANPAI!