Podcast

INTRO

In episode 80, our hosts take a deeper look at The SG Shochu from The SG Group, lead by internationally recognized bartender, Shingo Gokan.

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 and Christopher are big fans of everything Shingo Gokan is doing and The SG Shochu is no exception.

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

SHOW NOTES

Shingo Gokan

It’s hard to imagine another Japanese bartender who has had more international influence over the past 15 years than Shingo Gokan. Winning the 2012 Bacardi Legacy Cocktail Competition put him on the map, but since that time he’s grabbed the bull by the horns and turned that notoriety in to a stellar career. Between running NYC’s Angel’s Share during its heyday to opening the first speakeasy in Shanghai to winning awards around the world, he’s truly one of the most decorated modern bartenders globally.

Shingo’s SG Group now has perhaps a dozen bars (it’s honestly hard to keep track) in 3 countries on 2 continents. Today the majority are clustered in a single neighborhood in Tokyo, on a hill just northwest of Shibuya Station. Sip & Guzzle, SG Low, SG Club, and Bellwood among others. There is sitll a nice collection in Shanghai, China as well including his flagship Speak Low. Not that long ago El Lequio opened in Okinawa, but the most recent entry as of this writing is Sip & Guzzle in the West Village, Manhattan.

However, Shingo and his powerhouse bar group are never content to sit on their laurels. They recently released The SG Shochu internationally.

The SG Shochu

This trio (for now) of Honkaku Shochu were developed by Shingo and his team in cooperation with three of the titans of the shochu industry in Japan. The SG Shochu (“The” is intentional) line was designed with cocktails in mind and each of the three expressions was formulated to express completely differently from its stablemates.

SG KOME The SG Shochu Kome is a 40% ABV rice shochu created in collaboration with Takahashi Distillery in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto. This Kuma Shochu is made with 100% locally grown rice and sake yeast, giving it a beautiful bright, floral and fruity aroma. This vacuum distilled rice shochu made with premium sake yeast and only lightly filtered has beautiful aroma and a lush mouth feel.

SG IMO The SG Shochu Imo is a 38% ABV purple sweet potato shochu formulated in collaboration with Satuma Distillery in Kagoshima Prefecture. This Satsuma Shochu is made with locally grown sweet potatoes and blended into a beautifully aromatic flavor bomb.

SG MUGI The SG Shochu Mugi is a 40% ABV 100% barley shochu created in collaboration with the granddaddy of all barley shochu makers, Sanwa Shurui. The only barrel aged among the trio, this presents almost like a light whisky, but with all of koji flavor and barley aroma you’d expect from a prefectly blended barley shochu from Sanwa.

A Bartender’s Dream

If there’s been a constant refrain from bartenders over the years with regard to shochu’s utility as a cocktail base it would be “but the low alcohol” … and The SG Shochu completely strips that from the equation with 38-40% ABV honkaku shochu that gives you all of the flavor with more of the booze to give drinks the structure they deserve.

If there is a knock on The SG Shochu as it comes to market, it has to be the price. In gorgeous bespoke glass, premium labels, and high ABV, it faces a tough headwind in a world where <$1/oz is expected from virtually all bars around the US at least. But this is where Shingo’s star power may be just what the brand needs. They do not appear to be targeting your local neighborhood cocktail bar, but some of the top bars in the world that can absorb a more expensive base spirit if its going to make the drink shine.

Much More to Explore

As you can probably tell, we are huge fans of Shingo and the SG Group. Our hope is that The SG Shochu serves as a vangaurd for driving shochu into the stratosphere outside of Japan.

Kanpai!

INTRO

In episode 79 our hosts are back in the studio to talk about gateway shochu brands and simple service styles to help introduce these spirits to unfamiliar drinkers.

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 and Christopher never tire of introducing these spirits to new fans.

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

SHOW NOTES

Gateway Shochu

Given how unfamiliar a single pot distilled spirit made from agricultural products that many outside of Japan do not usually drink (think sweet potatoes, radishes, carrots, and seaweed), we decided to introduce 6 brands that may be good gateway shochu for those unfamiliar with the category or that those of you who are already fans of the category can use to introduce your friends and fmaily.

Stephen’s 3 brands were:

iichiko (100% barley shochu, Sanwa Shurui, Oita Prefecture, 25% ABV) The best selling barley shochu brand in the world, iichiko was literally Stephen’s gateway shochu. The first one that he ever tried and he still drinks it today.

Kawabe (100% rice shochu, Sengetsu Distillery, Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, 25% ABV) This vacuum distilled rice shochu made with premium sake yeast and only lightly filtered has beautiful aroma and a lush mouth feel.

Daiyame (sweet potato shochu, Hamada Distillery, Kagoshima Prefecture, 25% or 40% ABV available) This is one of the modern style of sweet potato shochu made with a vacuum still and intended to play well with sparkling water in a highball. Daimaye may be a prefect gateway shochu for sweet potato, because it has none of the funk we know and love in traditional sweet potato shochu. Instead it tastes of lychee and lychee only.

Christopher’s 3 brands were:

Aokage (100% barley shochu, Yanagita Distillery, Miyazaki Prefecture, 25% ABV) Aokage is a full bodied (read: atmospheric distilled) barley shochu that expresses as a roasted barley shochu, but the grain itself is not roasted. Robust, but with highly familiar flavor and aromas reminiscent of dark chocolate and coffee.

Shigemasu (sake lees shochu, Takahashi Shoten Brewery, Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture, 30.5% ABV) Shigemasu is a vacuum distilled sake lees, or kasutori, shochu made with premium daiginjo sake lees, which are re-fermented over yellow koji-inoculated steamed rice for 4 days before distillation. A ginjo-bomb.

Nankai (kokuto sugar shochu, Machida Distillery, Amami Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, 24%) This vacuum distilled kokuto sugar shochu is privately bottled for the US market and imported directly to Los Angeles, but is beginning to gain a larger footprint in the US. Very easy drinking and a nice representation of the style. If higher proof or barrel aging are more your thing, Nankai Gold (43% ABV) is a thing of beauty, though its priced a fair amount above the main Nankai brand due to the angel’s share and higher excise taxes on higher proof spirits.

Simple Serves

If you have listened long enough you know that Christopher and Stephen adore traditional shochu service, but we have also realized that this is not always the best way forward when trying to create new fans. Therefore, we have a few recommended service styles that should be easy and fun.

Boilermaker The classic shot and a beer. In this case, a crisp Japanese lager (Orion from Okinawa or Sapporo from Hokkaido would be our top choices) along with a big full bodied shochu or awamori. Our current obsession is Yokka Koji from Chuko Distillery served as a frozen shot. So good. But really anything works, though freezing the bottles definitely makes for a more memorable experience.

Highball This should come as a surprise to nobody, because highballs have become extremely popular, but this was not even really considered a standard service style a decade ago. Today every izakaya in Japan has sparkling water available for shochu dilution.

Simple Cocktail Riffs Even at 25% ABV, many shochu stand up as a low alcohol cocktail alternatives for base spirits. Stephen loves putting sweet potato shochu or roasted barley shochu as a gin replacement in his negronis. Much less booze with great flavor. Shingo Gokan has started serving sweet potato shochu martinis at his bars. Christopher introduces a riff on an iceless tea punch on the episode as well.

Pre-diluted, served chilled. Ever since episode 33 when Joshin Atone described shochu as a “risky spirit” Stephen’s been thinking about this challenge. What he’s recently hit on is a riff on a very traditional serve. The “maewari” or pre-diluated shochu serve. Typically maewari is heated before service or poured over ice in Japan, but in this case Stephen recommends chilling the bottle and serving it in a white wine glass. This works great for food pairing experiences. Just need to play with the ratios for each brand to find where it expresses best.

Much More to Explore

Quick question. What are your favorite gateway shochu or simple serves for these spirits?

Kanpai!

INTRO

In episode 78 our host Stephen Lyman is joined by co-author of The Bartender’s Pantry, bartender, bar owner, introvert, and writer Jim Meehan.

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 and Christopher have a deep admiration for people who are successful in hospitality.

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 Jim Meehan

Jim’s bar tending career has spanned nearly 30 years from Madison, Wisconsin to NYC to Portland, Oregon. His 3rd book, The Bartender’s Pantry (released June 11, 2024), co-written with Emma Janzen (episode 71) is a must-have for any home bartender.

Jim began bar tending as a college student in Madison, Wisconsin where he fell in love with hospitality. He realized NYC was the epicenter for craft cocktails so moved there in 2002. Soon hew as working at the legendary Pegu Club and Gramcery Tavern before opening his own bar, PDT (Please Don’t Tell).

PDT put Jim firmly on the map as one of the bright young stars of the NY bar scene, which led to his first book, The PDT Cocktail Book (2011). His 2nd book, Meehan’s Bartender Manual, won a James Beard Award.

Today he and his family live in Portland, Oregon where he helped Japanese outdoor company Snow Peak open Takibi, an izakaya on the ground floor of their US headquarters (currently closed due to a kitchen fire). Rather than try to create a Japanese spirits focused bar program in Portland, he opted for the “spirit” of a Japanese bar experience, focusing on locally sourced drinks and Japanese accents.

Much More to Explore

As always, there is more to learn from listening to the episode or following Stephen, Christopher, and Jim on social media. You can find Jim @mixography on Instagram or at his website, mixographyinc.com.

Kanpai!

INTRO

In episode 77 our host Stephen Lyman sits down to chat with lawyer turned chef turned lobbyist John McCarthy to discuss the end of the soju label rule for NY and CA. Of course, they also talk shochu, hospitality, and plenty else.

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 and Christopher absolutely dispise the soju label rule that has guided beverage alcohol service in California and NY for far too long. So glad that it’s gone.

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

SHOW NOTES

Lawyer Turned Chef Turned Lobbyist

Special Guest John McCarthy

John McCarthy graduated from law school and immediately began working long hours and difficult cases. Over nearly 2 decades of law practice he realized he would rather be doing something else and that was cooking. Trained at the French Culinary Institute, Chef Johnny Mac worked for Wylie Dufrense at the legendary WD50 before setting off on his own when he opened The Crimson Sparrow in Hudson, NY.

The Crimson Sparrow was without a doubt one of the best culinary experiences available in the United States while it was open, but it sadly closed a year before the pandemic. Chef John opened the modern izakaya Oka in Manhattan, which was a great time while it lasted.

During the pandemic John became an officer with the New York Japanese Restaurant Association where he worked tirelessly to provide guidance to Japanese restaurant and bar owners on how to navigate NY’s constantly evolving COVID guidelines for restaurants.

Along side that work he was retained by the Japanese Sake and Shochu Makers to lobby both the NY and CA legislatures to change their soju label rules.

Soju Label Rule (California)

In 1998 Korean lobbyists successfully got a carve out for Korean Soju in the California liquor licensing rules so that soju could be sold with a beer and wine license if <25% ABV. Japanese lobbyists quickly gained approval for Honkaku Shochu labeled as soju to be sold under the same carve out.

As we discussed in Episode 40 about Silly Liquor Laws, this has resulted in 25 years of market confusion, because shochu packaged as soju for the US market has been sold in all 50 states (or at least those that have any shochu at all).

John worked with 2 key legislators (one for Torrance and one for Little Tokyo) to get this rule changed. Today shochu <25% ABV can be sold as shochu rather than soju under California’s label rule. The soju label rule is dead and gone at long last.

Soju Label Rule (New York)

Korean lobbyists followed their success in CA to get NY to pass a similar rule. Japanese lobbyists were not able to follow through in this state until John McCarthy joined the fight. John actually had this law overturned before California by working with a state representative with offices across from the former Crimson Sparrow location. The NY soju label law is also relegated to the dustbin of history.

Much More to Explore

John can be found on Instagram @chefjdmc3 or you can see his other talent – painting – @sparrow_suzume_art.

Kanpai & Aloha!

INTRO

In episode 76 our host Stephen Lyman sits down with chef turned distiller Hamish Nugent of Reed & Co. Distillery to talk trial and error, success, and the very first Australian Shochu.

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. He’s also producing a documentary about shochu, The Spirit of Japan, expected to arrive at festivals in 2024.

Stephen and Christopher enjoy seeking out new and interesting shochu distilleries around the world. Their curiosity is definitely peeked by the first Australian Shochu!

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

SHOW NOTES

Australian Shochu

Special Guest Hamish Nugent

Growing up on a biodynamic farm in coastal Australia, it might not be all the surprising to find that Hamish Nugent’s escape from that rural life was through the kitchen. What is less expected is that he and partner Rachel Reed would create the first ever commercial Australian Shochu.

In Bright, Victoria, a ski village of about 2,500 souls, Rachel and Hamish have been successful with hospitality across a number of restaurants and bars, most notably, Tani. Sadly, Tani has now closed, but they now have opened the Reed & Co. Distillery, which includes, of course, a distillery, but also a taproom, restaurant, and bar.

Reed & Co. Distillery

Hamish and Rachel discovered koji during their careers as chefs after being exposed to Japanese culinary traditions through a mentor. The interest grew into making their own soy sauce and miso and even using koji to quick cure meat (an entire side of beef?!?!? – Oh, Australia, don’t ever change). When they decided to open their distillery in 2016, koji spirits were a natural focus, though in this they were humbled.

All they had learned about how to use koji to cure food and create umami in the kitchen did not translate directly to the still. Their early experiments were very mushroom forward, which would be interesting for a first sip, but might not lead you to want another. Nevertheless, they began laying down thousands of liters of shochu and needed something to do with it so they created both a yuzu and a chilli liqueur.

Much more recently, they have released their very first authentic shochu, which also it turns out is the first Australian Shochu, simply called Reed & Co. Distillery Rice Shochu. At 30% ABV and 100% vacuum distilled rice, it should be a nice gateway for the Australian consumer. Retails for $55 AUS for 500ml if you can track it down.

Much More to Explore

If you would like to learn more about Reed & Co. Distillery please visit their website or find them on social media @reedandcodistillery on Instagram and perhaps elsewhere.

Kanpai!