INTRO
In episode 85, Stephen Lyman finally gets around to introducing himself.
CREDITS
Theme Song: Begin Anywhere by Tomoko Miyata (http://tomokomiyata.net/)
Mixing and Editing: Rich Pav (https://uncannyjapan.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 Lyman and Christopher Pellegrini are now joined at the hip, but it has not always been that way.
If you have any comments or questions about this episode, please reach out to Stephen or Christopher via Instagram. We would love to hear from you.
SHOW NOTES
Who the Heck is Stephen Lyman, anyway?
Stephen Lyman is a native of Buffalo, New York, who had a decidedly different path to Japanese spirits expert than his brother from another mother, Christopher Pellegrini. Stephen grew up in a dry family and attended a dry college. He did not have his first real experience with alcohol until he was 24 years old.
Always interested in many things, Stephen Lyman studied history, political science, and economics in undergrad before considering both linguistics and epidemiology for his master degree, eventually earning a PhD in injury epidemiology with a specialization in sports injuries. This work led him to New York City where his inner foodie blossomed.
Shochu Discovery
Stephen Lyman discovered shochu in November 2007 at Izakaya Ten (now Juban – new owners, very similar vibe) on a cold Tuesday evening when he was out with friends. The Japanese waitress introduced the menu explaining that there was a $20 discount on shochu on Tuesday nights. Baffled, Stephen asked what shochu was. She said “Its like Japanese vodka.” As you are probably aware if you listened to our vodka episode, this is NOT the way to convince Stephen to try something. But the discount was too nice to pass up so a bottle of iichiko silhouette was brought to the table.
Stephen and various friends visited Izakaya Ten about 35 times in the next year as he dove in deep to try to learn about shochu, awamori, and izakaya culture. As basically the only American showing much interest in shochu in NY at the time, this lead to introductions to izakaya owners, Japanese bartenders, and eventually shochu makers when they would visit to do sales work.
Once the makers had been met it was only a matter of time before the itch to visit Japan and go to shochu distilleries and drink the spirit with the local food became too strong. In 2012 that trip finally happened and the rest, as they say, his history. He was back in Kyushu the following year to make shochu at Yamatozakura (episodes 34, 35, and 36) and by 2018 he was living in Fukuoka.
The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks
Stephen was given the opportunity to write The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks (Tuttle, 2019) basically by being a pest toward his eventual co-author Chris Bunting, who had written a very handy little pocket travel guide called Drinking Japan (out of print). Stephen wanted Bunting to update the guide with a new edition, but Tuttle claimed travel guides were now on our smart phones (they were probably right).
Nevertheless, they were given the opportunity to write a complete guide to Japanese beverage alcohol instead. Chris Bunting, who had moved back to the UK by that time after years in Tokyo, shared his photography and original notes, and Stephen did his own research, took his own photos, and took on the heavy lifting of putting the book together.
In 2020, completely unexpectedly, the book was nominated for a James Beard Award despite having no marketing budget whatsoever.
Much More to Explore
If you want to know how Stephen Lyman and Christopher Pellegrini actually met, you’ll have to sign up for our Japan Distilled Patreon. That episode is for our patreons only. We are panning a number of other exclusive offerings for patreons as well, though given how busy we’ve been with everything, we haven’t been able to announce much.
