INTRO
In episode 84, Christopher Pellegrini 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 Christopher Pellegrini, anyway?
Christopher Pellegrini is a native of Bristol, Vermont, who developed an interest in and relationship with beverage alcohol from a very young age when he served as the ad hoc bartender at his parent’s dinner parties. He quickly learned guest’s preferences and how to make drinks to order.

From there it was a relatively short leap to high school home brewer (we believe the statute of limitations has run out) and subsequently a commercial brewer at Otter Creek Brewery in Middlebury, Vermont, where Christopher legally could make beer, but was not old enough to drink it.
College dreamed interrupted his brewing career where he focused on cross country running at a liberal arts college in Ohio. After a year in Spain he found himself teaching in South Korea where he met a young woman who wanted to live in Japan and the rest, as they say, is history. Christopher Pellegrini and his better halve have now been denizens of Tokyo for about 23 years.
Shochu Discovery
Shortly after moving to Tokyo, Christopher discovered shochu on a rainy day in a tiny sake bar when the bored bartender decided to trip up the foreigner. After tasting through a flight of Honkaku Shochu, Christopher’s attention was good and got. Within weeks he was on a plane to Kagoshima and knocking on distillery doors. His early attempts at education were rejected. Nobody wanted him poking around their distilleries.
Through friendships he made at shochu bars in Kagoshima City he eventually was able to find some introductions started visiting distilleries. As of today he has poked his head around hundreds of distilleries across Kyushu and Okinawa.

As an educator, before long he had the itch to introduce the wonders of Honkaku Shochu and Ryukyu Awamori to others. His shochu meetups in Tokyo began drawing dozens of guests and he eventually became a local Airbnb Host, teaching shochu and awamori to overseas visitors.
The Shochu Handbook
Eventually Christopher realized that his reach was limited in Tokyo, which brought him to write and publish The Shochu Handbook, the first English language guide to shochu. The book now in its second edition and remains required reading for anyone interested these beautiful spirits.

Much More to Explore
To learn even more about Christopher Pellegrini, listen to the catalog of this podcast, his episodes on Sake on Air, watch the archived livestreams on our Japan Distilled YouTube channel. You may also want to dig around Japanese TV, movies, and commercials as he’s been acting professionally for a long time. Oh, and follow him on instagram @christopherpellegrini.
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