It was time to lay the groundwork for our up-and-coming explorations into the worlds of shochu and awamori. Welcome to Shochu 101 – class is in session.

After picking the brains of a few bartending alchemists on the subject, we decided to put the Shochu Pro himself, Mr. Christopher Pellegrini, in the hotseat for 60 minutes in order to break down the fundamentals of both shochu and awamori. For those unacquainted the Japan’s indigenous distillates, this is a great place to start. Hopefully by the end we’ll have your interest piqued enough to inspire a shochu-filled holiday to come!

What (can) shochu and awamori be made from? What are the 4 geographical indications for shochu and awamori and why? Is the word “honkaku” important? How did California pave the way for shochu’s market penetration in the U.S. while simultaneously setting communication around the beverage back a generation (or more)?

It’s all of this (and more!) that we’ve got lined up for this semi-holiday edition of Sake On Air. We’re all hoping to get some much-needed rest and respite over the holidays, so while we plan to keep content flowing intermittently, if it feels like we’re a bit quiet in the coming weeks, it’s because we just need a bit of time in order to brew up some great things for 2019.

A HUGE thanks to our listeners for all of your support in 2018. You are what make this all worthwhile and inspire us to do better each and every time in the studio. It’s only been about three months since we really got this show off the ground. We have a lot in store and we can’t wait to share more sake excitement in the coming year.

As always, @sakeonair is where you can find us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. You can also follow along on Soundcloud.

If you have time over the holidays as you soak up some tasty sake beverages, please do reach out to us at [email protected]. Of course, a nice review is always welcome, as well.