May 18, 2024 • 29 mins
Episode 166. If we think about sake, usually an image of a glass bottle pops to mind. But if we scratch the surface of exploring how sake is packaged and shipped, there is a world of variety out there you may not have considered! This leads us to our latest series we are calling "Funky Packaging" - think of it as sake beyond the glass bottle. Cups, bags, pouches, and today's inaugural packaging - the Tetra Pak Juice Box. Could this form factor we know from our school lunchbox be a good one for sake? In this episode, John and Tim think INSIDE the box to explore what is going on with sake in juice box packaging. Is the sake worth the squeeze? Let's find out together!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
John Puma (00:21):
Hello everybody.
And welcome to Sake Revolution.
This is America's first sakepodcast.
I'm your host, John Puma fromthe Sake Notes.
Reddit's r slash sake community.
Timothy Sullivan (00:34):
And I'm your host, Timothy Sullivan.
I'm a Sake Samurai.
I'm a sake educator, as well asthe founder of the Urban Sake
website.
And every week, John and I willbe here tasting and chatting
about all things sake, doing ourbest to make it fun and easy to
understand.
John Puma (00:50):
Hello, Tim.
Good to see you.
Timothy Sullivan (00:52):
Hey, hi, John.
How you doing?
John Puma (00:54):
I'm all right.
I'm all right.
Timothy Sullivan (00:56):
I heard a rumor, a little birdie told me
that someone is heading back toJapan.
Is that true?
John Puma (01:03):
It is
Timothy Sullivan (01:04):
Oh my god, you can't stay away, can you?
John Puma (01:07):
Nope, no, no, no.
So yeah, so we were there lastautumn obviously, you know this
because we hung out with you andWe have a prior commitment this
autumn so we can't go This iscoming autumn.
So the logical move is to movethe trip to spring.
(01:28):
So we're going to be going inspring and just, uh, a few,
well, just a few short weeks,really, uh, about a month and
change.
Timothy Sullivan (01:36):
blossom time.
John Puma (01:38):
I think we're going to miss him, but you never know.
Timothy Sullivan (01:41):
you never know.
Head up north, you'll have abetter chance.
John Puma (01:44):
Well, unfortunately, the trip is going to be more
down south.
We're going to be visiting Kochiand, uh, yeah, and Tokushima.
Yeah, it's going to be fun.
Timothy Sullivan (01:55):
that's great.
You guys love getting off thebeaten path a little bit, don't
you?
John Puma (01:59):
We do.
So like, you know, like our, theway we always do it is like week
one is a little off the beatenpath.
We'll go someplace, some othercities, hopefully discover
something.
Um, and then the second week wego up to Tokyo and do the Tokyo
stuff.
Uh, cause you know, you can, youcan explore Tokyo forever.
A wise man once said that Tokyois like 15 or 20 manhattans and
(02:22):
never get tired of exploring it.
And, um, I think he's right.
So yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (02:27):
the person who said that has obviously never
tried to find a good bagel inTokyo.
I'm going to stand up forManhattan here.
John Puma (02:35):
All right.
I don't know.
All right.
But, but I'm sure there are,there are things in Tokyo that
you can't get good versions ofin New York.
Timothy Sullivan (02:44):
Touché.
John Puma (02:46):
Hmm.
Timothy Sullivan (02:46):
Touché.
All right.
So have, breaking news.
We are going to be startinganother new series today.
John Puma (02:56):
Really?
That's good.
We hadn't, we hadn't started anew series in at least a week.
So that's nice.
Timothy Sullivan (03:02):
at least seven days.
Yes.
So can I make the bigannouncement?
John Puma (03:10):
by all means.
Timothy Sullivan (03:12):
So we are going to be doing a series I
have dubbed.
This was kind of a workingtitle, but it's gone into the
realm of actual title.
Uh, we're going to be looking atsake that has Funky packaging.
John Puma (03:29):
funky packaging.
Okay.
Funky package.
So this is it.
This is the funky packagingshow.
Timothy Sullivan (03:35):
This is the funky packaging series.
So this
John Puma (03:38):
And this is our first episode of funky packaging Sake
Revolution.
And that's officially what we'recalling it, funky packaging.
Timothy Sullivan (03:46):
I'm open to other suggestions, Puma.
John Puma (03:49):
No, no, I, I'm happy to have you lead.
I just wasn't sure where we weregoing with the funky packaging.
Timothy Sullivan (03:55):
Yeah.
John Puma (03:57):
And I think that after we talk about what we're
doing today with our inaugural
Timothy Sullivan (04:02):
Funk.
John Puma (04:03):
episode, our inaugural funk, uh, I think that
people will, um, agree thatfunky packaging is probably the
most accurate descriptor wecould use.
Timothy Sullivan (04:14):
So what's, what's traditional packaging?
First of all.
What's non funky?
A bottle.
Right.
So we're going to be focusing onsake packaged in non traditional
bottles, so
John Puma (04:30):
Mm hmm.
Timothy Sullivan (04:31):
things like packs and pouches and all kinds
of stuff.
So we have a wonderful, fun,funky package to start with and
I don't know any other way todescribe this
John Puma (04:50):
No, please, Tim, go ahead.
Timothy Sullivan (04:52):
well, it, it looks like a juice box.
John Puma (04:57):
Yes, it does.
Timothy Sullivan (04:59):
Yes.
John Puma (05:00):
Yes, it
Timothy Sullivan (05:00):
There's a straw.
It's a small rectangular TetraPak box.
There's a straw attached to theback in a little plastic sleeve.
And there's a foil little thingon the top to punch the straw
through and sip out of like ajuice box.
(05:20):
I think we've all had thatexperience, right?
John Puma (05:23):
Tim, this is, this is very much a, this is a juice
box.
Timothy Sullivan (05:27):
Yes, it is.
It's It's a
John Puma (05:30):
pulling no punches.
Tim, this is so much a juice boxthat I'm like shocked that
they're allowed to sell it
Timothy Sullivan (05:38):
yes.
John Puma (05:39):
in the U.
S.
because it resembles, it soclosely resembles, you know, a
juice box for, for, you know.
Uh,
Timothy Sullivan (05:48):
Yes.
So John, this is, this type ofpackaging is what's known as a
tetrapak.
Have you heard of that before?
John Puma (05:56):
just now.
Timothy Sullivan (05:57):
Okay, so Tetra Pak can be used, you've seen it,
you've seen this style ofpackaging for juice boxes, but
have you ever seen like the, um,milk or almond milk at the
grocery store that's in thistype of paper pack?
John Puma (06:11):
Yes, actually I
Timothy Sullivan (06:12):
Yeah.
So it's used for many differenttypes of food.
beverage.
And Tetra Pak is one brand ofthis style of packaging.
And I was wondering, like, I'dnever even thought about Tetra
Pak before.
And I was wondering, like, whatis it made out of?
(06:33):
And I did a little research andwent down a little rabbit hole
and it's actually very, veryinteresting.
So the layer that is On theinside of this package, the
layer that actually touches thesake is polyethylene, which is a
food safe plastic.
John Puma (06:55):
Okay.
Timothy Sullivan (06:55):
And then they have a layer of paper, then
another layer of polyethylene,and then in the middle, is
aluminum, then another aluminum,like aluminum foil, and then
another layer of polyethylene,and then cardboard, and then on
the outside, another layer ofpolyethylene.
(07:17):
So the polyethylene plastic islike the glue between the layers
of cardboard, foil, and paper.
So it's just like sandwichedlayers that make this very food
safe kind of packaging.
And then, you know, if you, undothe flaps a little bit, you can
see how it is like a flap.
John Puma (07:39):
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (07:40):
It starts out flat and they sealed at both
ends and then they fold down thesides to make this rectangular
John Puma (07:46):
squared off.
Timothy Sullivan (07:48):
Yeah.
So, uh, I thought that wasreally interesting.
And apparently if the contents,I think if they're pasteurized,
you can keep things for a longtime in this type of packaging.
John Puma (08:00):
Makes sense.
So yeah, You mentioned that Theoutside is also polyethylene and
that has that, that, that it'sgot that like kind of waxy
finish that you, that again, youmay associate with, with juice
boxes and all these other, butyeah, like you mentioned also
the, uh, like, uh, almond milkboxes and stuff like that.
So.
(08:20):
Yeah, I definitely, this is a,this is a familiar.
So what you're telling me isthat the outside of this is
equivalent to the inside of thisand that in between there's
cardboard and aluminum and moreof this.
Okay.
I'm trying to keep it, trying tokeep it safe.
Timothy Sullivan (08:33):
yeah, so I think if we were to cut this
open, you would see very thinlayers of these things kind of
all sandwiched together, but itallows them to make kind of a
tube out of this material andthen they can seal one end, put
the sake in, seal the other end,and then fold down the sides to
make this rectangular shape.
so it's very, um, low cost,weight as compared to a
(08:55):
traditional glass bottle.
John Puma (08:57):
Mm-Hmm.
Timothy Sullivan (08:57):
it, it's, it's environmentally friendly in that
way that it's, it's not as heavyas a glass bottle would be to
transport the same amount ofsake.
But I think there is a littlebit of a bugaboo with this.
John Puma (09:10):
A bugaboo.
Timothy Sullivan (09:11):
I've read, that these are not recyclable.
John Puma (09:15):
Oh, so you think cardboard, you think recyclable.
Then you find out thatapparently polyethylene
cardboard, aluminum,polyethylene, cardboard, in a,
sandwich may not be
Timothy Sullivan (09:28):
Yes.
John Puma (09:28):
the most okay.
Timothy Sullivan (09:29):
So it's a, it's a trade off, I think
John Puma (09:33):
I don't know.
This last bottle is lookingbetter and better.
Timothy Sullivan (09:37):
you know, I, I've always heard that when it
comes to like beingenvironmentally friendly, like
going more old school is alwaysthe way to go because those
glass bottles can be recycled.
They can be broken down andremade into glass.
And it's like a truly reusablematerial and it's completely
food safe.
but.
(09:58):
There's demand for these typesof, juice box tetrapaks as well.
Now let's talk about theparticular, there's a few of
these tetrapak sakes, and wepicked one that was especially
cute, right?
John Puma (10:15):
And, and especially available in the U.S.
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (10:19):
Which is something we, we really strive
to feature
John Puma (10:23):
Yes, yes.
And yes.
We, we go for U.S.
Stuff and we go for cute stuff.
And we got both Mm-Hmm.
Timothy Sullivan (10:30):
Yes.
Now this, package iscalled,maneki wanko o, or the
lucky dog character.
And there's an illustration ofthe dog and it says lucky dog
sake.
And it's on like a aqua greenishbackground.
And if you want to see a photoof the lucky dog tetrapak sake,
(10:52):
visit SakeRevolution.Com.
And we looked online and wedon't know a lot about the sake
that's in here, but John, whydon't you give us the stats that
we do know?
about the lucky dog sake.
Yeah,
John Puma (11:04):
We do know that the Lucky Dog Sake is a, uh,
Futsushu.
So that's a table sake, regularsake.
it is from Hyogo Prefecture, sothis mystery brewery is in Hyogo
Prefecture.
Um, the brewing water is,Miyamizu and, uh, Tim, we want
to refresh, the memories of ourlisteners on what Miyamizu means
(11:24):
exactly.
Timothy Sullivan (11:25):
Miyamizu is the most famous water source, I
think, in Japan.
It's in Hyogo Prefecture, andit's used by many of the
breweries in the Nadaneighborhood of Hyogo, and
that's where a lot of big Sakebrands are located, uh, like
Hakutsuru, the biggest breweryin Japan is located there, for
example.
(11:45):
And, um, it is a water that'sknown for being higher in
mineral content.
So it's for the Japanese, typesof brewing water they have, this
is considered a harder water ormore mineral rich.
And that generally produces abolder style of sake.
John Puma (12:02):
Well so a bolder style sake with a with a sake
meter value the measure of dryto sweet of plus four and The
alcohol percentage is a thirteenpoint two.
So again limited information,but that's what we've got now
before we go into Any further,Tim.
Um, so, uh, this, this, thislabel and this mascot here and
(12:22):
the, the name here, the, thelucky dog, I'm not familiar with
any lucky dogs.
I am familiar with the, thelucky cat seen very prominently
in, in many Japanese,establishments.
So, um, what's the story withthis?
Timothy Sullivan (12:41):
Yeah.
If you don't know what a luckycat is, the Japanese term is
maneki neko, N E K O.
Maneki neko is a lucky cat.
It's.
If you start looking for it,you're going to see it
everywhere.
It's a cat that is often alittle statue of a cat that is
called the beckoning cat.
(13:02):
And usually one of the paws iseither stationary and raised up,
Or it's, it's bouncing up anddown and it is beckoning you
into the shop.
So it is a, uh, a cat statuethat you see all over Japan,
about bringing business,beckoning business into your,
(13:25):
place of work.
So they're all over the place.
You see them, especially inrestaurants, don't you?
John Puma (13:29):
yeah.
Oh, absolutely.
They're everywhere.
It's rotten with them.
Timothy Sullivan (13:34):
Yeah, so this, the, uh, Mani Ko is a play on
words actually from maneki Neko.
So neko means cat, and that'sthe traditional one.
Uh, the Japanese word for barklike a dog bark is w Wan wan
wan.
So, and ko is a suffix forsomething that's diminutive or
John Puma (13:58):
yeah.
So little, little bark.
Timothy Sullivan (14:01):
Little bark.
John Puma (14:02):
All right.
So
Timothy Sullivan (14:03):
little bark.
John Puma (14:04):
lucky little bark.
Timothy Sullivan (14:05):
I
John Puma (14:05):
was a little concerned because when you said,
you know, Maneki Neko, and thenyou were like, and this one,
Wanko, and I'm like, well,that's not what I know the word
for dog in Japanese.
And that ain't it.
Timothy Sullivan (14:15):
Right, so this is a Lucky Dog play on words
from the Lucky Cats, and it is avery cute illustration on the
label.
Um, and it is a juice box andthere is a little straw in the
back.
John Puma (14:34):
There is a little straw.
It is, when we tell you this isa juice box, like there's, you,
there's no exaggeration.
It is straight up a juice box.
Timothy Sullivan (14:46):
Okay, before we dive into the tasting, John,
I do have, I have, I have to askthis question.
So this, it looks like a juicebox.
It has a straw like a juice box.
Do you have any qualms aboutthis appealing to kids or being
like a, it's a kid friendlyformat.
This is like what you would putin a lunchbox for your toddler
(15:07):
to send them to preschool.
What do you think about that?
John Puma (15:10):
think it's a little weird, Tim.
I think it's a little weird.
Um, yeah, I, I, the last time Iused something like this was
probably at that age and it'sgiven me memories and it's not
of alcohol and it's a littlestrange.
Um, yeah, that's, it's justbizarre to me that this exists
and I'm really happy it doescause it's so strange, but, but
it's so weird.
(15:30):
It's just, you know what I mean?
It's just so like, huh?
They made a sake juice box,didn't they?
Timothy Sullivan (15:38):
yeah, yeah.
I'll give you, um, I'll quoteone sentence out of the
promotional materials for this.
It says, while this is anunusual format in the U.
S., the sake juice box is verycommon in Japan for those eager
to sip delicious nihonshu whiletaking a stroll in the park or a
public place.
(15:58):
And I think that that is true inJapan, but in the U.
S., drinking alcohol in publicparks is very often, like,
illegal.
In
John Puma (16:06):
Frowned upon.
Timothy Sullivan (16:07):
yeah, so Uh, I don't know how that translates
to the U.
S.
market very well.
John Puma (16:14):
yes.
Alcohol being represented inchild friendly containers and
also being drunk in public aretwo things that are frowned upon
here
Timothy Sullivan (16:23):
with a cartoon dog on the,
John Puma (16:24):
with a cartoon.
God, I didn't even add thatcaveat.
Timothy Sullivan (16:30):
So I would, uh, I mean, we can put a pin in
this and just say like, youknow, Hmm, things that make you
go, Hmm, but it's something thatoccurred to me that this is not
usual packaging.
It's definitely funky for thatreason.
John Puma (16:48):
Yeah, it is.
And, and it, but it'sinteresting, right?
It is definitely somethingdifferent is not something you
see every day.
Timothy Sullivan (16:54):
Yes.
Now this lucky dog comes inthis.
180 ml juice box, but it alsocomes in a 900 ml, um, like a
milk, like a milk carton, youknow, like an milk carton
John Puma (17:09):
Right, right.
Does this have a straw?
Timothy Sullivan (17:11):
no straw, but it has a screw.
It has the spout on the side.
John Puma (17:16):
Mm hmm.
Timothy Sullivan (17:17):
Um, you know what I mean?
Like you screw off a littlewhite cap and you pour it out.
So that's a common, that's acommon size in Japan for cooking
sake.
Like you buy, you buy like aliter and it has a little screw
top.
And it looks, the shape lookslike a milk carton.
John Puma (17:36):
Yes, very much so, uh, especially like the modern
milk cartons that, like youmentioned, have like the screw
cap on top instead of the foldout, uh, the fold out that was
common when you and I wereyoung.
Timothy Sullivan (17:47):
Yes.
I never liked the fold out,
John Puma (17:50):
Well, were you, were you bad at, were you bad at it?
I found there's two types ofpeople, people who are good at
opening up that cardboard andpeople who did not like that
cardboard.
Timothy Sullivan (18:02):
Well, I didn't like the, the taste of cardboard
with my milk.
Because there are always little,little bits of cardboard.
Yeah.
Anyway, moving on now, I do wantto say before one last thing,
before we open this and get tosipping, uh, there is actually a
Lucky Dog Sake Instagram.
John Puma (18:25):
All right.
Timothy Sullivan (18:26):
So the Lucky Dog character has their own
Instagram profile, and there'snot a lot of content there right
now, but if you'd like to, youcan follow Lucky Dog sake on
Instagram and we're going to tagthem in this episode.
John Puma (18:39):
Oh, I love it.
I mean, it's, you know, we'rejoking around and having a good
time with it, but real talkthough, we do see, juice boxes,
sake is in Japan.
All the time, right?
If you go to a conveniencestore, it's, it is very normal
to see it.
It's not, you know, we're inAmerica.
It's a little bit different andit's literally like, aha, you
know, kind of thing, but thereit's very common.
Timothy Sullivan (19:00):
All right.
Well, I think the moment oftruth has arrived, JP.
John Puma (19:04):
yes, it has.
Are you ready?
Timothy Sullivan (19:06):
So.
We're gonna, I'm gonna removethe straw from the pouch.
John Puma (19:11):
All right.
Ooh, that came off very easy.
Timothy Sullivan (19:15):
Okay, and
John Puma (19:17):
Um, I got to get it out of the, so you know how you
didn't like the, um, paper.
Milk carton.
I don't like getting the strawout of the little plastic,
sheath that it's in.
I am very bad at that.
I'm struggling as we speak.
Timothy Sullivan (19:34):
So you extend you extend the straw the straw
kind of doubles in length andthen there is a little
Polyethylene
John Puma (19:42):
Yep.
Timothy Sullivan (19:43):
thing and the straw has All right, here we
John Puma (19:47):
we have made, we have done it.
Oh,
Timothy Sullivan (19:53):
Okay,
John Puma (19:53):
the Foley artist gets paid a bonus today.
Timothy Sullivan (19:56):
Okay.
All right, here we go.
John Puma (20:03):
Tim.
I think we have to skip thearoma portion.
I don't think I'm going to stickthe straw up your nose.
I don't know what we're going todo with this.
Timothy Sullivan (20:11):
we're not able to smell this.
We are drinking out of a juicebox with a straw.
John Puma (20:15):
Yes.
All right, here we go.
Timothy Sullivan (20:18):
Hmm.
It tastes, syrupy and theaftertaste has some heat to it.
John Puma (20:30):
of like the aftertaste, I, I'm not, you
know, no, no, no.
Me all, but all things me.
Well, like, um, little less, I'mgetting a little bit less of the
heat that you're describing, butI mean, the, now after, after
the heat, after that, there's anice little kind slide home and
(20:53):
that I like, that's really nice.
And I don't, I don't just likethe, the initial flavor either.
It is, there is some heat, um.
Which is interesting becauseit's only 13 percent alcohol.
So you're really, the heatgenerally is you tasting the
alcohol and yeah, I mean, thisis, it, it is kind of tastes
like sake coming out of a juicebox.
I think that if you were like,you know, if you're out at a
(21:16):
park, have, some like saltysnacks and whatnot, this is
going to, you know, if you're ina country where that's legal,
that, um, that is something youcan totally, I could totally see
somebody doing and totallyhaving a good time with it.
I can see myself doing this.
Timothy Sullivan (21:31):
This tastes like a one cup sake.
Inexpensive one cup sake.
180
John Puma (21:37):
Absolutely.
I mean, it is, it is, it is thatessentially, um, you, you
mentioned this, this is 180,this is 180 milliliters.
That's interesting.
It feels and looks so small.
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (21:52):
13.
2 percent alcohol and by volume180 ml.
John Puma (21:56):
Wow.
All right.
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (21:58):
So this tastes very alcohol added to me.
Aruten.
This tastes like, yeah,
John Puma (22:04):
I agree.
I mean, it's, it's, yeah, I,I'm, I'm with you.
I think you're absolutely there.
You know, I get a little, I geta little nervous about, Futsushu
sometimes, especially, you know,what we get here.
I think that I, I understandthat in Japan, it's a very
different story
Timothy Sullivan (22:18):
I will say futsushu is hit or miss.
John Puma (22:22):
Ooh.
All right.
Yes.
Timothy Sullivan (22:24):
if you have a well crafted futsushu, even
though it's alcohol added andit's not at a premium level, it
can be absolutely delicious.
I've had more delicious futsushuin Japan than in the U.
S.
John Puma (22:35):
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (22:36):
But, this type of sake has a specific style to
it, and I want to describe kindof some of what I'm tasting.
Um, there's not a lot ofcomplexity to this style of
sake.
Uh, I find that the, the purerice flavor, like the flavor of
whether it's gohyaku mangoku orwhatever rice they're using,
(22:59):
when you add a fair amount ofalcohol, it kind of masks the
true rice flavor to the sake.
And we've, we taste a lot ofsake where we say, Oh, this is
like rice.
This tastes like rice pudding,or this smells like a, uh, you
know, Rice cooker or somethinglike that.
And I just don't get that riceforward note here.
It feels like it's being coveredup.
John Puma (23:20):
I understand what you're saying, and, um, and I
agree.
Uh, I will say, you mentionedthat, like, sometimes, like, uh,
futsushu can be hit or miss.
and I think this, this one'spretty good.
It's, it's, it's pretty hit forme.
It's not, uh
Timothy Sullivan (23:33):
Yeah, this, oh my gosh.
There are a lot of other futsu
John Puma (23:38):
I've had some very unfortunate experiences with
other futsushu and the fact thatI'm sitting here sipping Out of
a juice box was true.
It's I'm still kind of wrappingmy head around that
Timothy Sullivan (23:48):
Yeah.
John Puma (23:49):
But it's yeah, I feel again.
I just I want to have some saltysnacks with this.
That's my pairing notes Likewhen I say salty snacks, I mean
like I want like potato chipsThat level of salty snacks.
We're not, we're not gettingfancy here.
This is,
Timothy Sullivan (24:05):
This is not fancy and it's not bad either.
It's like, it's a veryserviceable.
futsushu, sake, and I, I thinkthis would be very good, even
colder.
Like I got it out of the fridgeand it's in the tetra pack.
If you have a sake, if you havea futsushu, I've found that
sometimes over chilling it,getting it nice and cold makes
(24:28):
it Taste a little crisper on thepalate.
It's a little trick you can dowith, uh, some futsushu sakes.
John Puma (24:36):
Hmm.
Uh, I did the same thing youdid.
We took our juice boxes out ofthe fridge before we started
recording.
So it's kind of been sittinghere for probably about like 20
minutes until we got to it.
so it probably had a few minutesto, to catch up and get a little
warmer.
Timothy Sullivan (24:50):
Yeah, but to be, to be honest, I, I feel I
won't be drinking a lot of juicebox sake in the future.
John Puma (24:58):
Tim.
Timothy Sullivan (24:59):
I'm very fancy.
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, It isfun.
It's funky.
It's interesting.
And this is a, this is a reallyserviceable futsushu.
John Puma (25:13):
Yeah.
I think that, I think you'reright there.
Um, and think that if you're,you know, find yourself in a
situation where this is, This iswhat's around.
You've got some, some fun foodto go with it.
I think it's, it's gonna, it'sgoing to be a fun thing to
drink.
I just, you know, don't be tooovert with the, the nice police
officers when they walk by, butmaybe just do this in the
(25:37):
privacy of your own home.
That might be the.
Safest thing to do.
Timothy Sullivan (25:41):
So, any, any final thoughts on Lucky Dog,
John Puma (25:46):
Lucky dog.
The dog is lucky.
This is a lucky dog.
I'm lucky that this turned outand tasty.
Um,
Timothy Sullivan (25:55):
you're lucky to have a new series on
John Puma (25:57):
and I'm lucky to have a new series.
I'm dying to see where this goesbecause like the first one
Alright Tim, we're doing a newseries.
Wonderful.
What is it?
So there's a juice box and what?
So I'm you know, I thoughtyou're gonna be like, all right,
we're gonna start withsomething, then not everybody's
seen but is It's not the usualbottle.
(26:18):
I was thinking maybe you startwith like a one cup or something
like that But no, we're right orwe're having Next week it's
Capri Sun.
I don't know, do you, Tim, doyou remember Capri
Timothy Sullivan (26:29):
Of course,
John Puma (26:30):
okay.
Timothy Sullivan (26:31):
I was not good with getting the, caprice on
getting the straw
John Puma (26:35):
No, nobody was, no.
And, and the, and you caneasily, with Capri Sun, you can
easily overcompensate and stabstraight through to the other
side.
And then your Capri Sun juice isall over your lap and the floor.
And then, you know, maybe it wasjust me, but,
Timothy Sullivan (26:53):
Yeah.
Well, I, I don't think that thelucky dog has that problem.
This was easy to use and easy toget the straw in and it's, it's
functioning very, very well.
John Puma (27:04):
Yeah.
I, you know, this is, you know,I, I put that straw in, I
thought I was going to get someorange juice and, and, um, and I
didn't.
Timothy Sullivan (27:11):
Have you ever had that experience where you,
you pick up a glass and youthink it's milk and it's orange
juice and you sip it?
That's, That's, kind of whereyou, did you have that
experience?
John Puma (27:20):
I have had that experience.
Timothy Sullivan (27:24):
Yeah.
All right.
Well, this was a lot of fun andI think a very successful launch
to our funky packaging series.
John Puma (27:32):
I think so.
I cannot wait to see what elseis funky out there.
Timothy Sullivan (27:36):
All right, John, it was great to taste with
you.
Thank you so much for gettingfunky with me here with this
packaging.
John Puma (27:43):
Oh, anytime, Tim.
I love getting funky with you.
Timothy Sullivan (27:46):
All right.
All right.
And a special thank you to allof our listeners.
Thanks for tuning in.
Do let us know what you thinkabout this new series.
We'd love to hear from you.
And a special hello and thankyou as well to all of our
patrons.
Thank you so much for supportingour show.
Without you, we would not beable to make Sake Revolution
happen.
And we're so grateful to you.
(28:06):
If you'd like to learn moreabout supporting our show,
please visitPatreon.com/SakeRevolution to
learn more.
John Puma (28:13):
If you have a moment, please go and review our show on
your podcast platform of choiceout there on Apple podcasts, on.
What are people using thesedays?
Spotify?
Yeah, Apple Podcasts, Spotify,wherever you listen to your
podcast, putting a review up,giving us a little thumbs up, a
little rating.
It really does help, people findthe show.
(28:34):
So, so please, please go aheadand tell people what you think.
Um, we really appreciate it.
So Tim, I hope you're ready forthis one.
I hope you're ready for thisfinish.
Timothy Sullivan (28:42):
you're not going to say raise your glass.
John Puma (28:44):
Now I'm not.
Timothy Sullivan (28:45):
All right.
I'm ready.
I'm ready.
John Puma (28:47):
All right, Tim, raise your cup.
Nope.
Raise your juice box.
Remember to keep drinking sakeout of a straw and Kanpai!
Timothy Sullivan (28:59):
All right.
Keeping it funky.
I like that.
Hello everybody.
And welcome to Sake Revolution.
This is America's first sakepodcast.
I'm your host, John Puma fromthe Sake Notes.
Reddit's r slash sake community.
Timothy Sullivan (00:34):
And I'm your host, Timothy Sullivan.
I'm a Sake Samurai.
I'm a sake educator, as well asthe founder of the Urban Sake
website.
And every week, John and I willbe here tasting and chatting
about all things sake, doing ourbest to make it fun and easy to
understand.
John Puma (00:50):
Hello, Tim.
Good to see you.
Timothy Sullivan (00:52):
Hey, hi, John.
How you doing?
John Puma (00:54):
I'm all right.
I'm all right.
Timothy Sullivan (00:56):
I heard a rumor, a little birdie told me
that someone is heading back toJapan.
Is that true?
John Puma (01:03):
It is
Timothy Sullivan (01:04):
Oh my god, you can't stay away, can you?
John Puma (01:07):
Nope, no, no, no.
So yeah, so we were there lastautumn obviously, you know this
because we hung out with you andWe have a prior commitment this
autumn so we can't go This iscoming autumn.
So the logical move is to movethe trip to spring.
(01:28):
So we're going to be going inspring and just, uh, a few,
well, just a few short weeks,really, uh, about a month and
change.
Timothy Sullivan (01:36):
blossom time.
John Puma (01:38):
I think we're going to miss him, but you never know.
Timothy Sullivan (01:41):
you never know.
Head up north, you'll have abetter chance.
John Puma (01:44):
Well, unfortunately, the trip is going to be more
down south.
We're going to be visiting Kochiand, uh, yeah, and Tokushima.
Yeah, it's going to be fun.
Timothy Sullivan (01:55):
that's great.
You guys love getting off thebeaten path a little bit, don't
you?
John Puma (01:59):
We do.
So like, you know, like our, theway we always do it is like week
one is a little off the beatenpath.
We'll go someplace, some othercities, hopefully discover
something.
Um, and then the second week wego up to Tokyo and do the Tokyo
stuff.
Uh, cause you know, you can, youcan explore Tokyo forever.
A wise man once said that Tokyois like 15 or 20 manhattans and
(02:22):
never get tired of exploring it.
And, um, I think he's right.
So yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (02:27):
the person who said that has obviously never
tried to find a good bagel inTokyo.
I'm going to stand up forManhattan here.
John Puma (02:35):
All right.
I don't know.
All right.
But, but I'm sure there are,there are things in Tokyo that
you can't get good versions ofin New York.
Timothy Sullivan (02:44):
Touché.
John Puma (02:46):
Hmm.
Timothy Sullivan (02:46):
Touché.
All right.
So have, breaking news.
We are going to be startinganother new series today.
John Puma (02:56):
Really?
That's good.
We hadn't, we hadn't started anew series in at least a week.
So that's nice.
Timothy Sullivan (03:02):
at least seven days.
Yes.
So can I make the bigannouncement?
John Puma (03:10):
by all means.
Timothy Sullivan (03:12):
So we are going to be doing a series I
have dubbed.
This was kind of a workingtitle, but it's gone into the
realm of actual title.
Uh, we're going to be looking atsake that has Funky packaging.
John Puma (03:29):
funky packaging.
Okay.
Funky package.
So this is it.
This is the funky packagingshow.
Timothy Sullivan (03:35):
This is the funky packaging series.
So this
John Puma (03:38):
And this is our first episode of funky packaging Sake
Revolution.
And that's officially what we'recalling it, funky packaging.
Timothy Sullivan (03:46):
I'm open to other suggestions, Puma.
John Puma (03:49):
No, no, I, I'm happy to have you lead.
I just wasn't sure where we weregoing with the funky packaging.
Timothy Sullivan (03:55):
Yeah.
John Puma (03:57):
And I think that after we talk about what we're
doing today with our inaugural
Timothy Sullivan (04:02):
Funk.
John Puma (04:03):
episode, our inaugural funk, uh, I think that
people will, um, agree thatfunky packaging is probably the
most accurate descriptor wecould use.
Timothy Sullivan (04:14):
So what's, what's traditional packaging?
First of all.
What's non funky?
A bottle.
Right.
So we're going to be focusing onsake packaged in non traditional
bottles, so
John Puma (04:30):
Mm hmm.
Timothy Sullivan (04:31):
things like packs and pouches and all kinds
of stuff.
So we have a wonderful, fun,funky package to start with and
I don't know any other way todescribe this
John Puma (04:50):
No, please, Tim, go ahead.
Timothy Sullivan (04:52):
well, it, it looks like a juice box.
John Puma (04:57):
Yes, it does.
Timothy Sullivan (04:59):
Yes.
John Puma (05:00):
Yes, it
Timothy Sullivan (05:00):
There's a straw.
It's a small rectangular TetraPak box.
There's a straw attached to theback in a little plastic sleeve.
And there's a foil little thingon the top to punch the straw
through and sip out of like ajuice box.
(05:20):
I think we've all had thatexperience, right?
John Puma (05:23):
Tim, this is, this is very much a, this is a juice
box.
Timothy Sullivan (05:27):
Yes, it is.
It's It's a
John Puma (05:30):
pulling no punches.
Tim, this is so much a juice boxthat I'm like shocked that
they're allowed to sell it
Timothy Sullivan (05:38):
yes.
John Puma (05:39):
in the U.
S.
because it resembles, it soclosely resembles, you know, a
juice box for, for, you know.
Uh,
Timothy Sullivan (05:48):
Yes.
So John, this is, this type ofpackaging is what's known as a
tetrapak.
Have you heard of that before?
John Puma (05:56):
just now.
Timothy Sullivan (05:57):
Okay, so Tetra Pak can be used, you've seen it,
you've seen this style ofpackaging for juice boxes, but
have you ever seen like the, um,milk or almond milk at the
grocery store that's in thistype of paper pack?
John Puma (06:11):
Yes, actually I
Timothy Sullivan (06:12):
Yeah.
So it's used for many differenttypes of food.
beverage.
And Tetra Pak is one brand ofthis style of packaging.
And I was wondering, like, I'dnever even thought about Tetra
Pak before.
And I was wondering, like, whatis it made out of?
(06:33):
And I did a little research andwent down a little rabbit hole
and it's actually very, veryinteresting.
So the layer that is On theinside of this package, the
layer that actually touches thesake is polyethylene, which is a
food safe plastic.
John Puma (06:55):
Okay.
Timothy Sullivan (06:55):
And then they have a layer of paper, then
another layer of polyethylene,and then in the middle, is
aluminum, then another aluminum,like aluminum foil, and then
another layer of polyethylene,and then cardboard, and then on
the outside, another layer ofpolyethylene.
(07:17):
So the polyethylene plastic islike the glue between the layers
of cardboard, foil, and paper.
So it's just like sandwichedlayers that make this very food
safe kind of packaging.
And then, you know, if you, undothe flaps a little bit, you can
see how it is like a flap.
John Puma (07:39):
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (07:40):
It starts out flat and they sealed at both
ends and then they fold down thesides to make this rectangular
John Puma (07:46):
squared off.
Timothy Sullivan (07:48):
Yeah.
So, uh, I thought that wasreally interesting.
And apparently if the contents,I think if they're pasteurized,
you can keep things for a longtime in this type of packaging.
John Puma (08:00):
Makes sense.
So yeah, You mentioned that Theoutside is also polyethylene and
that has that, that, that it'sgot that like kind of waxy
finish that you, that again, youmay associate with, with juice
boxes and all these other, butyeah, like you mentioned also
the, uh, like, uh, almond milkboxes and stuff like that.
So.
(08:20):
Yeah, I definitely, this is a,this is a familiar.
So what you're telling me isthat the outside of this is
equivalent to the inside of thisand that in between there's
cardboard and aluminum and moreof this.
Okay.
I'm trying to keep it, trying tokeep it safe.
Timothy Sullivan (08:33):
yeah, so I think if we were to cut this
open, you would see very thinlayers of these things kind of
all sandwiched together, but itallows them to make kind of a
tube out of this material andthen they can seal one end, put
the sake in, seal the other end,and then fold down the sides to
make this rectangular shape.
so it's very, um, low cost,weight as compared to a
(08:55):
traditional glass bottle.
John Puma (08:57):
Mm-Hmm.
Timothy Sullivan (08:57):
it, it's, it's environmentally friendly in that
way that it's, it's not as heavyas a glass bottle would be to
transport the same amount ofsake.
But I think there is a littlebit of a bugaboo with this.
John Puma (09:10):
A bugaboo.
Timothy Sullivan (09:11):
I've read, that these are not recyclable.
John Puma (09:15):
Oh, so you think cardboard, you think recyclable.
Then you find out thatapparently polyethylene
cardboard, aluminum,polyethylene, cardboard, in a,
sandwich may not be
Timothy Sullivan (09:28):
Yes.
John Puma (09:28):
the most okay.
Timothy Sullivan (09:29):
So it's a, it's a trade off, I think
John Puma (09:33):
I don't know.
This last bottle is lookingbetter and better.
Timothy Sullivan (09:37):
you know, I, I've always heard that when it
comes to like beingenvironmentally friendly, like
going more old school is alwaysthe way to go because those
glass bottles can be recycled.
They can be broken down andremade into glass.
And it's like a truly reusablematerial and it's completely
food safe.
but.
(09:58):
There's demand for these typesof, juice box tetrapaks as well.
Now let's talk about theparticular, there's a few of
these tetrapak sakes, and wepicked one that was especially
cute, right?
John Puma (10:15):
And, and especially available in the U.S.
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (10:19):
Which is something we, we really strive
to feature
John Puma (10:23):
Yes, yes.
And yes.
We, we go for U.S.
Stuff and we go for cute stuff.
And we got both Mm-Hmm.
Timothy Sullivan (10:30):
Yes.
Now this, package iscalled,maneki wanko o, or the
lucky dog character.
And there's an illustration ofthe dog and it says lucky dog
sake.
And it's on like a aqua greenishbackground.
And if you want to see a photoof the lucky dog tetrapak sake,
(10:52):
visit SakeRevolution.Com.
And we looked online and wedon't know a lot about the sake
that's in here, but John, whydon't you give us the stats that
we do know?
about the lucky dog sake.
Yeah,
John Puma (11:04):
We do know that the Lucky Dog Sake is a, uh,
Futsushu.
So that's a table sake, regularsake.
it is from Hyogo Prefecture, sothis mystery brewery is in Hyogo
Prefecture.
Um, the brewing water is,Miyamizu and, uh, Tim, we want
to refresh, the memories of ourlisteners on what Miyamizu means
(11:24):
exactly.
Timothy Sullivan (11:25):
Miyamizu is the most famous water source, I
think, in Japan.
It's in Hyogo Prefecture, andit's used by many of the
breweries in the Nadaneighborhood of Hyogo, and
that's where a lot of big Sakebrands are located, uh, like
Hakutsuru, the biggest breweryin Japan is located there, for
example.
(11:45):
And, um, it is a water that'sknown for being higher in
mineral content.
So it's for the Japanese, typesof brewing water they have, this
is considered a harder water ormore mineral rich.
And that generally produces abolder style of sake.
John Puma (12:02):
Well so a bolder style sake with a with a sake
meter value the measure of dryto sweet of plus four and The
alcohol percentage is a thirteenpoint two.
So again limited information,but that's what we've got now
before we go into Any further,Tim.
Um, so, uh, this, this, thislabel and this mascot here and
(12:22):
the, the name here, the, thelucky dog, I'm not familiar with
any lucky dogs.
I am familiar with the, thelucky cat seen very prominently
in, in many Japanese,establishments.
So, um, what's the story withthis?
Timothy Sullivan (12:41):
Yeah.
If you don't know what a luckycat is, the Japanese term is
maneki neko, N E K O.
Maneki neko is a lucky cat.
It's.
If you start looking for it,you're going to see it
everywhere.
It's a cat that is often alittle statue of a cat that is
called the beckoning cat.
(13:02):
And usually one of the paws iseither stationary and raised up,
Or it's, it's bouncing up anddown and it is beckoning you
into the shop.
So it is a, uh, a cat statuethat you see all over Japan,
about bringing business,beckoning business into your,
(13:25):
place of work.
So they're all over the place.
You see them, especially inrestaurants, don't you?
John Puma (13:29):
yeah.
Oh, absolutely.
They're everywhere.
It's rotten with them.
Timothy Sullivan (13:34):
Yeah, so this, the, uh, Mani Ko is a play on
words actually from maneki Neko.
So neko means cat, and that'sthe traditional one.
Uh, the Japanese word for barklike a dog bark is w Wan wan
wan.
So, and ko is a suffix forsomething that's diminutive or
John Puma (13:58):
yeah.
So little, little bark.
Timothy Sullivan (14:01):
Little bark.
John Puma (14:02):
All right.
So
Timothy Sullivan (14:03):
little bark.
John Puma (14:04):
lucky little bark.
Timothy Sullivan (14:05):
I
John Puma (14:05):
was a little concerned because when you said,
you know, Maneki Neko, and thenyou were like, and this one,
Wanko, and I'm like, well,that's not what I know the word
for dog in Japanese.
And that ain't it.
Timothy Sullivan (14:15):
Right, so this is a Lucky Dog play on words
from the Lucky Cats, and it is avery cute illustration on the
label.
Um, and it is a juice box andthere is a little straw in the
back.
John Puma (14:34):
There is a little straw.
It is, when we tell you this isa juice box, like there's, you,
there's no exaggeration.
It is straight up a juice box.
Timothy Sullivan (14:46):
Okay, before we dive into the tasting, John,
I do have, I have, I have to askthis question.
So this, it looks like a juicebox.
It has a straw like a juice box.
Do you have any qualms aboutthis appealing to kids or being
like a, it's a kid friendlyformat.
This is like what you would putin a lunchbox for your toddler
(15:07):
to send them to preschool.
What do you think about that?
John Puma (15:10):
think it's a little weird, Tim.
I think it's a little weird.
Um, yeah, I, I, the last time Iused something like this was
probably at that age and it'sgiven me memories and it's not
of alcohol and it's a littlestrange.
Um, yeah, that's, it's justbizarre to me that this exists
and I'm really happy it doescause it's so strange, but, but
it's so weird.
(15:30):
It's just, you know what I mean?
It's just so like, huh?
They made a sake juice box,didn't they?
Timothy Sullivan (15:38):
yeah, yeah.
I'll give you, um, I'll quoteone sentence out of the
promotional materials for this.
It says, while this is anunusual format in the U.
S., the sake juice box is verycommon in Japan for those eager
to sip delicious nihonshu whiletaking a stroll in the park or a
public place.
(15:58):
And I think that that is true inJapan, but in the U.
S., drinking alcohol in publicparks is very often, like,
illegal.
In
John Puma (16:06):
Frowned upon.
Timothy Sullivan (16:07):
yeah, so Uh, I don't know how that translates
to the U.
S.
market very well.
John Puma (16:14):
yes.
Alcohol being represented inchild friendly containers and
also being drunk in public aretwo things that are frowned upon
here
Timothy Sullivan (16:23):
with a cartoon dog on the,
John Puma (16:24):
with a cartoon.
God, I didn't even add thatcaveat.
Timothy Sullivan (16:30):
So I would, uh, I mean, we can put a pin in
this and just say like, youknow, Hmm, things that make you
go, Hmm, but it's something thatoccurred to me that this is not
usual packaging.
It's definitely funky for thatreason.
John Puma (16:48):
Yeah, it is.
And, and it, but it'sinteresting, right?
It is definitely somethingdifferent is not something you
see every day.
Timothy Sullivan (16:54):
Yes.
Now this lucky dog comes inthis.
180 ml juice box, but it alsocomes in a 900 ml, um, like a
milk, like a milk carton, youknow, like an milk carton
John Puma (17:09):
Right, right.
Does this have a straw?
Timothy Sullivan (17:11):
no straw, but it has a screw.
It has the spout on the side.
John Puma (17:16):
Mm hmm.
Timothy Sullivan (17:17):
Um, you know what I mean?
Like you screw off a littlewhite cap and you pour it out.
So that's a common, that's acommon size in Japan for cooking
sake.
Like you buy, you buy like aliter and it has a little screw
top.
And it looks, the shape lookslike a milk carton.
John Puma (17:36):
Yes, very much so, uh, especially like the modern
milk cartons that, like youmentioned, have like the screw
cap on top instead of the foldout, uh, the fold out that was
common when you and I wereyoung.
Timothy Sullivan (17:47):
Yes.
I never liked the fold out,
John Puma (17:50):
Well, were you, were you bad at, were you bad at it?
I found there's two types ofpeople, people who are good at
opening up that cardboard andpeople who did not like that
cardboard.
Timothy Sullivan (18:02):
Well, I didn't like the, the taste of cardboard
with my milk.
Because there are always little,little bits of cardboard.
Yeah.
Anyway, moving on now, I do wantto say before one last thing,
before we open this and get tosipping, uh, there is actually a
Lucky Dog Sake Instagram.
John Puma (18:25):
All right.
Timothy Sullivan (18:26):
So the Lucky Dog character has their own
Instagram profile, and there'snot a lot of content there right
now, but if you'd like to, youcan follow Lucky Dog sake on
Instagram and we're going to tagthem in this episode.
John Puma (18:39):
Oh, I love it.
I mean, it's, you know, we'rejoking around and having a good
time with it, but real talkthough, we do see, juice boxes,
sake is in Japan.
All the time, right?
If you go to a conveniencestore, it's, it is very normal
to see it.
It's not, you know, we're inAmerica.
It's a little bit different andit's literally like, aha, you
know, kind of thing, but thereit's very common.
Timothy Sullivan (19:00):
All right.
Well, I think the moment oftruth has arrived, JP.
John Puma (19:04):
yes, it has.
Are you ready?
Timothy Sullivan (19:06):
So.
We're gonna, I'm gonna removethe straw from the pouch.
John Puma (19:11):
All right.
Ooh, that came off very easy.
Timothy Sullivan (19:15):
Okay, and
John Puma (19:17):
Um, I got to get it out of the, so you know how you
didn't like the, um, paper.
Milk carton.
I don't like getting the strawout of the little plastic,
sheath that it's in.
I am very bad at that.
I'm struggling as we speak.
Timothy Sullivan (19:34):
So you extend you extend the straw the straw
kind of doubles in length andthen there is a little
Polyethylene
John Puma (19:42):
Yep.
Timothy Sullivan (19:43):
thing and the straw has All right, here we
John Puma (19:47):
we have made, we have done it.
Oh,
Timothy Sullivan (19:53):
Okay,
John Puma (19:53):
the Foley artist gets paid a bonus today.
Timothy Sullivan (19:56):
Okay.
All right, here we go.
John Puma (20:03):
Tim.
I think we have to skip thearoma portion.
I don't think I'm going to stickthe straw up your nose.
I don't know what we're going todo with this.
Timothy Sullivan (20:11):
we're not able to smell this.
We are drinking out of a juicebox with a straw.
John Puma (20:15):
Yes.
All right, here we go.
Timothy Sullivan (20:18):
Hmm.
It tastes, syrupy and theaftertaste has some heat to it.
John Puma (20:30):
of like the aftertaste, I, I'm not, you
know, no, no, no.
Me all, but all things me.
Well, like, um, little less, I'mgetting a little bit less of the
heat that you're describing, butI mean, the, now after, after
the heat, after that, there's anice little kind slide home and
(20:53):
that I like, that's really nice.
And I don't, I don't just likethe, the initial flavor either.
It is, there is some heat, um.
Which is interesting becauseit's only 13 percent alcohol.
So you're really, the heatgenerally is you tasting the
alcohol and yeah, I mean, thisis, it, it is kind of tastes
like sake coming out of a juicebox.
I think that if you were like,you know, if you're out at a
(21:16):
park, have, some like saltysnacks and whatnot, this is
going to, you know, if you're ina country where that's legal,
that, um, that is something youcan totally, I could totally see
somebody doing and totallyhaving a good time with it.
I can see myself doing this.
Timothy Sullivan (21:31):
This tastes like a one cup sake.
Inexpensive one cup sake.
180
John Puma (21:37):
Absolutely.
I mean, it is, it is, it is thatessentially, um, you, you
mentioned this, this is 180,this is 180 milliliters.
That's interesting.
It feels and looks so small.
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (21:52):
13.
2 percent alcohol and by volume180 ml.
John Puma (21:56):
Wow.
All right.
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (21:58):
So this tastes very alcohol added to me.
Aruten.
This tastes like, yeah,
John Puma (22:04):
I agree.
I mean, it's, it's, yeah, I,I'm, I'm with you.
I think you're absolutely there.
You know, I get a little, I geta little nervous about, Futsushu
sometimes, especially, you know,what we get here.
I think that I, I understandthat in Japan, it's a very
different story
Timothy Sullivan (22:18):
I will say futsushu is hit or miss.
John Puma (22:22):
Ooh.
All right.
Yes.
Timothy Sullivan (22:24):
if you have a well crafted futsushu, even
though it's alcohol added andit's not at a premium level, it
can be absolutely delicious.
I've had more delicious futsushuin Japan than in the U.
S.
John Puma (22:35):
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (22:36):
But, this type of sake has a specific style to
it, and I want to describe kindof some of what I'm tasting.
Um, there's not a lot ofcomplexity to this style of
sake.
Uh, I find that the, the purerice flavor, like the flavor of
whether it's gohyaku mangoku orwhatever rice they're using,
(22:59):
when you add a fair amount ofalcohol, it kind of masks the
true rice flavor to the sake.
And we've, we taste a lot ofsake where we say, Oh, this is
like rice.
This tastes like rice pudding,or this smells like a, uh, you
know, Rice cooker or somethinglike that.
And I just don't get that riceforward note here.
It feels like it's being coveredup.
John Puma (23:20):
I understand what you're saying, and, um, and I
agree.
Uh, I will say, you mentionedthat, like, sometimes, like, uh,
futsushu can be hit or miss.
and I think this, this one'spretty good.
It's, it's, it's pretty hit forme.
It's not, uh
Timothy Sullivan (23:33):
Yeah, this, oh my gosh.
There are a lot of other futsu
John Puma (23:38):
I've had some very unfortunate experiences with
other futsushu and the fact thatI'm sitting here sipping Out of
a juice box was true.
It's I'm still kind of wrappingmy head around that
Timothy Sullivan (23:48):
Yeah.
John Puma (23:49):
But it's yeah, I feel again.
I just I want to have some saltysnacks with this.
That's my pairing notes Likewhen I say salty snacks, I mean
like I want like potato chipsThat level of salty snacks.
We're not, we're not gettingfancy here.
This is,
Timothy Sullivan (24:05):
This is not fancy and it's not bad either.
It's like, it's a veryserviceable.
futsushu, sake, and I, I thinkthis would be very good, even
colder.
Like I got it out of the fridgeand it's in the tetra pack.
If you have a sake, if you havea futsushu, I've found that
sometimes over chilling it,getting it nice and cold makes
(24:28):
it Taste a little crisper on thepalate.
It's a little trick you can dowith, uh, some futsushu sakes.
John Puma (24:36):
Hmm.
Uh, I did the same thing youdid.
We took our juice boxes out ofthe fridge before we started
recording.
So it's kind of been sittinghere for probably about like 20
minutes until we got to it.
so it probably had a few minutesto, to catch up and get a little
warmer.
Timothy Sullivan (24:50):
Yeah, but to be, to be honest, I, I feel I
won't be drinking a lot of juicebox sake in the future.
John Puma (24:58):
Tim.
Timothy Sullivan (24:59):
I'm very fancy.
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, It isfun.
It's funky.
It's interesting.
And this is a, this is a reallyserviceable futsushu.
John Puma (25:13):
Yeah.
I think that, I think you'reright there.
Um, and think that if you're,you know, find yourself in a
situation where this is, This iswhat's around.
You've got some, some fun foodto go with it.
I think it's, it's gonna, it'sgoing to be a fun thing to
drink.
I just, you know, don't be tooovert with the, the nice police
officers when they walk by, butmaybe just do this in the
(25:37):
privacy of your own home.
That might be the.
Safest thing to do.
Timothy Sullivan (25:41):
So, any, any final thoughts on Lucky Dog,
John Puma (25:46):
Lucky dog.
The dog is lucky.
This is a lucky dog.
I'm lucky that this turned outand tasty.
Um,
Timothy Sullivan (25:55):
you're lucky to have a new series on
John Puma (25:57):
and I'm lucky to have a new series.
I'm dying to see where this goesbecause like the first one
Alright Tim, we're doing a newseries.
Wonderful.
What is it?
So there's a juice box and what?
So I'm you know, I thoughtyou're gonna be like, all right,
we're gonna start withsomething, then not everybody's
seen but is It's not the usualbottle.
(26:18):
I was thinking maybe you startwith like a one cup or something
like that But no, we're right orwe're having Next week it's
Capri Sun.
I don't know, do you, Tim, doyou remember Capri
Timothy Sullivan (26:29):
Of course,
John Puma (26:30):
okay.
Timothy Sullivan (26:31):
I was not good with getting the, caprice on
getting the straw
John Puma (26:35):
No, nobody was, no.
And, and the, and you caneasily, with Capri Sun, you can
easily overcompensate and stabstraight through to the other
side.
And then your Capri Sun juice isall over your lap and the floor.
And then, you know, maybe it wasjust me, but,
Timothy Sullivan (26:53):
Yeah.
Well, I, I don't think that thelucky dog has that problem.
This was easy to use and easy toget the straw in and it's, it's
functioning very, very well.
John Puma (27:04):
Yeah.
I, you know, this is, you know,I, I put that straw in, I
thought I was going to get someorange juice and, and, um, and I
didn't.
Timothy Sullivan (27:11):
Have you ever had that experience where you,
you pick up a glass and youthink it's milk and it's orange
juice and you sip it?
That's, That's, kind of whereyou, did you have that
experience?
John Puma (27:20):
I have had that experience.
Timothy Sullivan (27:24):
Yeah.
All right.
Well, this was a lot of fun andI think a very successful launch
to our funky packaging series.
John Puma (27:32):
I think so.
I cannot wait to see what elseis funky out there.
Timothy Sullivan (27:36):
All right, John, it was great to taste with
you.
Thank you so much for gettingfunky with me here with this
packaging.
John Puma (27:43):
Oh, anytime, Tim.
I love getting funky with you.
Timothy Sullivan (27:46):
All right.
All right.
And a special thank you to allof our listeners.
Thanks for tuning in.
Do let us know what you thinkabout this new series.
We'd love to hear from you.
And a special hello and thankyou as well to all of our
patrons.
Thank you so much for supportingour show.
Without you, we would not beable to make Sake Revolution
happen.
And we're so grateful to you.
(28:06):
If you'd like to learn moreabout supporting our show,
please visitPatreon.com/SakeRevolution to
learn more.
John Puma (28:13):
If you have a moment, please go and review our show on
your podcast platform of choiceout there on Apple podcasts, on.
What are people using thesedays?
Spotify?
Yeah, Apple Podcasts, Spotify,wherever you listen to your
podcast, putting a review up,giving us a little thumbs up, a
little rating.
It really does help, people findthe show.
(28:34):
So, so please, please go aheadand tell people what you think.
Um, we really appreciate it.
So Tim, I hope you're ready forthis one.
I hope you're ready for thisfinish.
Timothy Sullivan (28:42):
you're not going to say raise your glass.
John Puma (28:44):
Now I'm not.
Timothy Sullivan (28:45):
All right.
I'm ready.
I'm ready.
John Puma (28:47):
All right, Tim, raise your cup.
Nope.
Raise your juice box.
Remember to keep drinking sakeout of a straw and Kanpai!
Timothy Sullivan (28:59):
All right.
Keeping it funky.
I like that.
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