January 31, 2025 • 32 mins
Episode 176. With 2024 over and done, it's time to take a look back at the sake year that was. Join us this week for some casual sipping and some discussion on the highlights, surprises and challenges of this past year's sake adventures. Tim and John both let us know their favorite episodes from the past year and we also take a guess at the most downloaded episode from 2024. It's also the moment of truth to review our "Sake Revolution Resolutions" - Did we achieve our goals? Whatever the outcome, we look forward to another year of great sake and many kanpais. Wishing you good sake in 2025! #SakeRevolution
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Episode Transcript
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John Puma (00:22):
Hello, everybody, and welcome to Sake Revolution.
This is America's First SakePodcast, and I'm your host, John
Puma, from the Sake Notes.
Also, I'm The administrator overat the Internet Sake Discord.
And I also run the Reddit rslash sake community.
Timothy Sullivan (00:39):
And I'm your host, Timothy Sullivan.
I'm a sake samurai, I'm theDirector of Education at the
Sake Studies Center, and I'malso the founder of the Urban
Sake website.
And every week, John and I willbe here tasting and chatting
about all things sake, and doingour best to make it fun and easy
to understand.
John Puma (00:56):
Well, hello there, Tim.
Timothy Sullivan (00:57):
Happy New Year, John!
John Puma (00:59):
Happy new year.
It is, it is 20 and 25.
We're here.
We're doing it
Timothy Sullivan (01:05):
hard to believe, but it is 2025 and we
have a new year of SakeRevolution ahead of us.
And as we are want to do, we'regoing to take a look back at
last year and look forward tothis year.
And I like these episodes.
It's a kind of a fresh start.
What do you think?
John Puma (01:25):
And I mean, I usually like these episodes, but I, you
know, we'll get to that in aminute.
Anyway,
Timothy Sullivan (01:34):
Yeah, so what we usually do for our year in
review episode is talk a littlebit about, uh, the episodes we
released, maybe some reactionsto them, and we have our famous,
or maybe infamous, Revolutionresolutions every year.
Infamous.
Mmm.
John Puma (01:56):
yeah, yeah, we do.
We absolutely have.
I have information in front ofme.
I imagine you have similarinformation in front of you.
You probably have moreinformation for you right now
because I know for a fact thatyou went and looked at the stats
and I resisted the urge so thatI would not be feigning
surprise.
That'd all be authentic.
Timothy Sullivan (02:17):
That's right.
So, looking back at 2024, uh, doyou have any idea, any guess
what our most listened toepisode of 2024 was?
John Puma (02:30):
So I'm taking a look.
And so most listen to it.
So that, you know, the olderones have an advantage because
they've been around the longest.
So I want to say sake andcheese.
Timothy Sullivan (02:45):
Ooh, that's a very good guess, but that's
wrong
John Puma (02:48):
Oh, oh, you know, I was, maybe I was being hopeful.
Because, you Myshell was on thatepisode.
So you want to, you want, youwant, you want things to be good
for her.
Uh, yeah.
Okay.
So that's not, it's not thatone.
So, uh, which one is it?
Timothy Sullivan (03:02):
So, the most listened to episode of 2024 was
Serious Baggage, Bringing BackSake from Japan.
So that was our suitcase importepisode, uh, episode 163.
John Puma (03:15):
No kidding.
Wow.
I am legitimately surprised.
I did not see that coming.
It's an older one.
So it does have that advantageof time.
Uh, and it is a fun topic and alot of people are going to
Japan.
I think in 2025, they areexpecting to break the record.
Okay.
Again, because I think theybroke it in 2024, uh, for, for
(03:38):
tourists.
And I love the idea that peopleare going to Japan and wanting
to bring back sake.
Cause I think that that convertsinto people who, when they get
here, want to drink sake here.
Right.
Does that make sense?
Okay.
Timothy Sullivan (03:53):
And, I mean, I think you're 100 percent right.
When you look at it, the numberof people who are traveling to
Japan, I get emails regularlyfrom people, from students, from
friends of friends, fromcolleagues who are like, Oh, I'm
going to Japan for the firsttime.
I want a sake experience whileI'm there.
What should I do?
John Puma (04:11):
Hmm.
Timothy Sullivan (04:12):
all the time.
So it's, it's great.
And I think that really tiesinto that episode being popular.
John Puma (04:18):
Great.
Now I have a question for you.
We don't have to go too in depthin it, but do you have like a
standard response to that?
Or do you then have follow upquestions that like, well, what
are you into?
Have you had sake before?
That kind of stuff?
Timothy Sullivan (04:33):
I do not, I do not have any follow up
questions.
I have a Google Doc
John Puma (04:37):
Okay.
You've got the doc.
All right.
is it a, is it a, like a Googlelike map or is it just like a
list?
Timothy Sullivan (04:44):
it is just a list.
And it's just Tokyo and Kyoto,which is where most people go on
their first trip.
And I just list, this is a bar Irecommend.
This is a retail shop Irecommend.
Uh, this is a high endrestaurant I recommend.
And You know, if you're in Tokyoand you want to visit a brewery,
I recommend this place.
(05:04):
So it's like, uh, you know,it's, it's my greatest hits.
Um, but it's things that areeasy to get to on, not off the
beaten path at all.
And, you know, uh, it's justeasy to have it all in one doc.
So I just send that to peopleand say, here's, here's what I
recommend.
It's very, very, very, uh, goodidea.
John Puma (05:24):
Excellent.
Nice.
I like it.
I'm going to have to take a lookat that list and you know, see
how I feel about, uh, whatyou've decided, what you've
decided to recommend to peopleand when, what, what heavy
hitters have made the list,which ones got left out?
I need the answers to this, Tim.
Timothy Sullivan (05:42):
Yes, well, maybe we should I think that's a
great topic for a future episodelike Tim and John's personal
Japan
John Puma (05:50):
we curate the list.
Oh, I love it.
And we can make like an officialsake revolution list.
Oh I love it when the ideas justwrite themselves.
Uh, so, so that, so we have themost listened to episode of the
year.
That's great.
Uh, what other fun tidbits didyou learn?
(06:12):
Oh, well,
Timothy Sullivan (06:13):
Well, I also wanted to ask you, regardless of
downloads, what is your favoriteepisode from 2024, John?
John Puma (06:23):
Honestly, I think my favorite episode is probably the
Kikusui Funaguchi Smart Pouchepisode, Funky Packaging,
episode 167, because it was justso silly and so much fun to do.
It was one of our first FunkyPackaging episodes, and just the
(06:45):
idea of this giant, Capri Sunpouch was just, it was, it was
ridiculous and fun to have inthe house.
It was ridiculous and fun topour out of.
Uh, I just had a really goodtime with that one.
I, I laughed and laughed andlaughed.
What about you?
Timothy Sullivan (07:01):
Well, I think that my favorite episode of the
year was Sake Revolution Livefrom Brooklyn Kura.
John Puma (07:09):
right.
Okay.
I feel like that's cheating, butokay.
Timothy Sullivan (07:12):
Why, why is it cheating?
John Puma (07:14):
I know it's not cheating because I didn't think
of it first.
Timothy Sullivan (07:19):
Yeah, I mean, doing the live episode with
Shinobu from Katosake Works,Brandon from Brooklyn Kura, it
was a whole lot of work, but wehad a live audience, and we had
a lot of fun, and it was greatgetting that immediate feedback,
and I just loved it! So thatwas, that was my favorite
(07:39):
episode.
John Puma (07:40):
there is something special about having a live
audience.
I will say that is, um, it'sdifferent.
No offense to, to being on thezoom with you, Tim, but I think
that there is definitelysomething special about being in
a room with, with, uh, dozens offans.
Timothy Sullivan (08:00):
Yeah, and Brandon and Shinobu were so
Funny right off the cuff, youknow, they're so entertaining
and it was not like any craftyediting work on our part.
It was just their, their genuinepersonalities really came
through and getting the audiencereactions on audio was also
really great.
(08:22):
Yeah.
And that was episode 173 foranyone who wants to go back and
listen.
John Puma (08:27):
Yeah, highly recommended.
That was a lot of fun.
Timothy Sullivan (08:31):
Right on.
John Puma (08:32):
So I guess now is the time that I've kind of been
dreading the sake, theaccountability, accountability.
Don't we all hate that now?
Um, yeah.
Um, accountability.
And I gotta, I gotta pay thepiper, I think.
But let's, let's overview here.
For 2024, we both made SakeRevolution Resolutions.
(08:57):
yours was to do some live shows.
And we accomplished that.
With your favorite show of theyear, which is great.
Now it makes a little moresense.
That was your favorite show ofthe year too.
Timothy Sullivan (09:11):
Yes.
So my revolution resolution for2024, as you just said, was to
do a live show and we made ithappen.
I had this vision for a longtime to be on the stage in the
tap room at Brooklyn Kura, andwe made it happen.
I wasn't sure how it was goingto work.
(09:32):
And I actually have a behind thescenes tidbit that I have not
told you, John, that yes, I haI've been holding onto a secret
about recording
John Puma (09:41):
Mm hmm.
I'm
Timothy Sullivan (09:42):
And the secret is that when we finished
recording, I downloaded theepisode and everything was fine.
But I looked at the memory card,and we were about six minutes
away from running out of space,if we had gone longer.
John Puma (10:00):
hmm.
Ah, so a near, a near disaster,but, but no disaster.
Timothy Sullivan (10:04):
there was no disaster, but it was, there was
a near disaster,
John Puma (10:08):
That would have been bad.
Timothy Sullivan (10:10):
I sometimes, like, bolt up in bed in the
middle of the night sweating,thinking about, like, running
out of space during a liverecording.
So that'll never happen again,but, uh, disaster was averted.
However, uh, it was still myfavorite episode, even if I have
PTSD from, uh, discovering afterthe fact that we almost ran out
(10:30):
of space on the memory card.
John Puma (10:33):
Well, I'm glad we didn't run out of space for them
to record.
Can you imagine going throughand doing that whole episode and
finding out it wasn't recorded?
Timothy Sullivan (10:42):
That, that is stuff of my literal nightmares.
Like that is, that is so scary,but, but we dodged a bullet and
it won't happen again becausenow I'm, I'm scared into triple
checking every time we record.
But,
John Puma (10:55):
excellent.
Timothy Sullivan (10:56):
yes, yes.
So, uh, that was my resolutionand resolution achieved.
John Puma (11:03):
Woo hoo! good for you.
I'm glad you achieved yours.
my resolution, on the other hand
Timothy Sullivan (11:10):
So I went to the videotape, John.
John Puma (11:12):
Hm?
Yep.
Timothy Sullivan (11:14):
John's resolution from 2024 was to do
some sake, formal sake educationthat involved a certificate of
some kind.
John Puma (11:25):
Yeah.
That didn't happen.
Timothy Sullivan (11:27):
I'm I'm, guessing from your lead up
John Puma (11:32):
Hm.
Timothy Sullivan (11:32):
that was not achieved.
So what do you think?
What do you think happened, JP?
John Puma (11:37):
Um, I think I misjudged how much, like,
regular life stuff was going totake place this year, and I
didn't, uh, I didn't focus, andI didn't I, I Didn't get it
done.
I did not get it done.
Makes me sad.
I, um, I wish I did.
I feel bad.
I feel real bad that I didn'tget it done.
But, I feel that, still do thisin 2025.
(12:02):
It's not like I, you know, lostthe ability to, to learn about
sake.
I just, I need to make it apriority
Timothy Sullivan (12:09):
Hmm.
John Puma (12:10):
and do it.
Um, you know, I wish I did, uh,but I didn't, but I can always,
you know, I will never forgivemyself if I continue to not do
this.
So I need to do this.
I need to make sure thishappens.
Timothy Sullivan (12:22):
Well, I might've said this when you made
that resolution, but you do havea, you do have a buddy who
technically is a sake teacherand does give certificates.
So
John Puma (12:32):
Technically, technically,
Timothy Sullivan (12:35):
you, you, you literally, you, you know, you
know, a guy, you
John Puma (12:39):
I do know a guy, I do know a guy.
And I, and I should have, Ishould have called upon you for
that.
And I, I did not, there's a lotof, there's a lot of what a
could a should is about thisone, Tim.
Timothy Sullivan (12:51):
So I guess that leads us to the question
of, are you going to, Repeat for2025 or do you want to go in a
different direction?
John Puma (13:02):
Well, um, for 2025.
I'm going to try and double up,so to speak.
So, I feel like this still needsto happen.
Uh, it is 2024's resolution thatis still dangling and needs to
be addressed., but I think that2025 should potentially have its
(13:23):
own resolution.
have its its own resolution.
Timothy Sullivan (13:26):
Now, when you say double up, that made me
think of getting twocertificates in
John Puma (13:30):
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
no.
I mean, two resolutions.
Um, yeah, yeah, two resolutions,uh, is what I'm looking to do.
and so one of them is, is aholdover where we're going to
try to get that, try to get thatcertificate.
and then the second one, well,we'll, we'll wait until we're
talking about 2025, which Iguess, It's a great segue.
(13:54):
How about that?
so yeah, for 2025, my goal, it'sa, it's a, it's a, it's a
comparably easy one, but I wantto, record, and by that I mean,
jot down, take a photo,something of every single sake
that I have this year.
Timothy Sullivan (14:16):
Oh my God.
That is, that's not easy.
That's, that's a
John Puma (14:20):
doable.
It's doable.
We
Timothy Sullivan (14:22):
Yes.
John Puma (14:24):
have a camera in our pocket.
So this is possible.
It's definitely something onecan do.
Timothy Sullivan (14:31):
It's possible.
when I was a newbie, young,little sake nerd out there in
the world, I tried to do that.
And I know that if you go to asake event and you have one,
two, three, maybe more sakes, itgets increasingly difficult to
remember to get the camera outand get non blurry photos of the
(14:54):
Haha,
John Puma (14:56):
Uh, I never said that pictures would be in focus,
number one, and I also neversaid they would all be photos.
I just need to have a record ofsome sort.
So if I, if I go someplace and Ihave something and nobody told
me what it was, I needed towrite down, like, some, I don't
know what this was.
It counts.
Timothy Sullivan (15:12):
All right.
I support you.
I support you in thatresolution.
I think that's wonderful.
John Puma (15:18):
I will have you know, as we record this, I've, um,
I've gotten off to a decentstart on this.
I've only decided that that'swhat I'm going to do a few days
ago, and so I've been doing itsince then.
So, you know, we'll see how itgoes.
Hopefully I can make thishappen.
Even, I think even if I can getthe majority, it'll be great.
Timothy Sullivan (15:36):
so are you going to be keeping a tasting
notebook or a Google photoalbum?
The only reason I ask is becauseI want to hold your feet to the
fire and I want to get theaccountability piece.
So how can we, how can we viewthis?
Hmm.
John Puma (15:53):
to be, for the moment, it's gonna be just a
photo album, uh, as much as Ican.
And then in some cases, if Ineed to just make like a, yeah,
make a note at some place,that'll be a different thing.
I'm worried about what happenswhen I go to Japan.
That's because things get out ofhand there in a hurry.
And like, joy of sake, that canbecome a little fraught.
Timothy Sullivan (16:13):
Oh, yeah.
I think we can give you a passon a few occasions.
You can
John Puma (16:17):
I got I got two day passes.
Timothy Sullivan (16:19):
you get two day pass.
Yes.
And I know from, uh, John Puma'sdays as the sake notes in full
swing, you are a very giftedphotographer of sake bottles
John Puma (16:30):
Yeah, um, you know, with with a real camera, I I've
never been able to replicatethat with a phone,
unfortunately.
But I also I also want to getmore into that, to be completely
honest.
I want to get back into, uh,into photographing the bottles
in a, in a fun way.
I think I do, or I think I didhave a, uh, a knack for that.
I miss it a little bit.
(16:51):
Maybe that should have been myresolution was just right to
take more photos of sakebottles.
I said, I had to go all in onthis.
What are you going to do?
Timothy Sullivan (17:01):
Well, that sounds like a great revolution
resolution for 2025, and you'vegot double trouble this year,
JP, so
John Puma (17:11):
Yeah.
Yeah.
But that enough about me, um,and my failures and, and my
attempts at, uh, At Redemption,
Timothy Sullivan (17:20):
Redemption.
Yes.
John Puma (17:21):
about you?
What are you doing for 2025?
Timothy Sullivan (17:23):
Okay, so my resolution for 2025, I'm calling
it Back to Basics.
John Puma (17:30):
Mm.
Timothy Sullivan (17:31):
So, I think back to our very first episodes
that we did on this podcast, andwe covered a lot of topics that
are really good for beginners.
And I've listened back to someof those episodes, and I
honestly think we should revisitsome, uh, episodes that we did
at the beginning, introducingbasic concepts.
(17:54):
I think we're a little morecomfortable podcasters now, we
have some more sake and lifeexperience under our belt, and I
think that we could do some,revisiting of really important,
back to basic episodes, and,that's my goal for this year is
to, re examine some of our Sake101 episodes, and see if we can
(18:17):
breathe any fresh perspectivesinto them and bring a few back
to the pod this year.
John Puma (18:22):
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
So it's a sake 201?
Or 102 maybe?
I don't know.
We're just
Timothy Sullivan (18:30):
just, you know, things like talking about
nigori or what junmai is, oraruten, alcohol added sake.
Like, I think we did reallygood.
Basic comprehensive episodes onthose but there's a few that I
think we could add some more torevisit and just look at in A
fresh light from five years downthe road.
(18:52):
Yeah
John Puma (18:53):
It's been five years, hasn't it?
Oh my goodness.
Timothy Sullivan (18:56):
It has been five years, yeah, so That is my
resolution
John Puma (19:01):
Excellent.
Uh, well, I'm glad, I'm gladthat we've got this figured out
and we know what we're going tobe trying to do.
and, you know, this is anepisode of Sake Revolution and
we would not, it would not beproper for us to, to do this
without tasting some sake.
So we need to get on that, Tim.
(19:23):
we have, we have each brought abottle of sake that we're going
to independently taste.
So Tim does not have what I'mhaving and I do not have what
Tim's having, but I'm relativelyconfident that we have both had
what one another having at onepoint or another.
Timothy Sullivan (19:37):
Yes.
And the sakes that we picked,uh, this was dealer's choice.
And the sakes that we pickedeither tie to our 2024 in some
way or tie to our hopes for2025.
So, uh, if you'll allow me,John, I'll go ahead and kick off
the tasting.
So, the sake that I have broughtwith me is a sake from Sake
(20:03):
Revolution, episode From episodenumber two, uh, I brought one of
our all time favorites back fromepisode two.
This is Kudoki Jozu JunmaiGinjo, and this is from Kaminoe
Shuzo.
(20:23):
And they're in YamagataPrefecture.
this is a sake that you and Iboth love and have tasted many
times together.
And one of the fun Throwbacks toepisode two was all the fun
names we came up with totranslate Kudoki Jozu into
English.
(20:43):
Kudoki Jozu good at flirting orskillful at flirting or lover
boy or whatever you want to say.
and it was just such a funepisode and this ties in with my
back to basics idea that I wantto look at those early episodes
we did, see if we can revisitany of them and bring a little
bit more to the table.
So I'm going to be tasting.
(21:04):
Kudoki Jozu
John Puma (21:05):
sounds great.
I've got, a sake that I've, I'vebeen a big fan of for a long
time, but until relativelyrecently was this one was not
available in the U.
S.
Um, and it is now.
So I took full advantage ofthis, of this, I took full
advantage of this new change andI have, Emishki's World Peace,
(21:26):
because why don't we all likesome peace?
in 2025.
Um, in the
Timothy Sullivan (21:32):
Yes.
Make mine a double.
John Puma (21:35):
Okay.
Uh, yeah.
So, um, that's what I've got.
And, Tim, you want to give usthe stats on your Kudoki Jozu?
Josu?
Timothy Sullivan (21:46):
Yes.
So this is Kudoki from KaminoeShuzo in Yamagata.
we have a classification ofJunmai Ginjo.
The SMV or sake meter value isplus one.
The acidity is 1.
2.
And we have an alcoholpercentage of 16.
5%.
John Puma (22:07):
for my Imishiki world peace, Imishiki Brewing Company
over in Shiga Prefecture.
This is a Junmai ginjo, genshu.
the rice variety is YamadaNishiki.
That's been milled down to 50%.
They're using Hanakobo on thisone, Tim.
So a flower yeast.
I tried to get some moreinformation, dig a little deeper
(22:27):
into what kind of flour.
That didn't go very far.
So, flower yeast.
SMV, that measure of dry tosweet, is minus 7.
So it's going to be a littlesweet.
Acidity is 1.
6, which is a little high.
So it might balance out thesweetness.
And the alcohol percentage is16%.
Timothy Sullivan (22:48):
Alrighty.
So I'm going to go ahead andopen mine up first and get it in
the glass.
John Puma (23:02):
Ooh, that pour was delightful, Tim.
Timothy Sullivan (23:05):
All poured.
John Puma (23:08):
Let me, let me catch up to you.
Timothy Sullivan (23:17):
So this is very clear in the glass.
And when I smell this sake, ithonestly is like meeting an old
friend.
It is like a sake I've had manytimes, often with you.
And it is, uh, fruity, light,quite balanced.
It's got, some pineapple, alittle bit of melon, classic
(23:40):
ginjo aromas, and I'm going togive it a taste.
Hmm.
So delightful.
I wish you were here with me,John.
So we could both drink this.
Cause I know you love it.
John Puma (23:51):
I do.
Timothy Sullivan (23:53):
And this is just like classic textbook
Yamagata sake, fruity.
Light to medium bodied, greatbalance, not a trace of
bitterness or sharpness, round,clean on the finish, and lovely,
lovely ginjo fruits.
Like, this is the textbookexample of what a light Yamagata
(24:17):
sake is all about, right?
John Puma (24:19):
Yeah, I mean that's, that's how I remember it.
At least.
Timothy Sullivan (24:22):
Yeah.
John Puma (24:24):
Yeah,
Timothy Sullivan (24:25):
Yeah, so this is absolutely delicious, and I
think that this bottle willdisappear quickly.
After the
John Puma (24:33):
That's, that's The, um, the countdown has begun.
Timothy Sullivan (24:41):
Yes.
That's another prediction for2025.
John Puma (24:44):
this bottle of kudoki jozu goes, it will not last the
day.
Um, so I've got my world peace.
I've got it in my glass and onthe nose.
This is this Tim, this is fruitsalad.
It is, um, the nose is justpurely, um, a wonderful fruit
salad.
You know, if you ever had, uh,if you've ever been to like a
(25:05):
little buffet and they've gotthe little fruit salad and you
take a little bit, you put it inyour bowl and you go back to
your, you go back to your seat,give it a nice little sniff.
This is it.
So I'm, I'm a big fan of that,of that kind of aroma.
It's not a fruit bomb, but fruitsalad,
Timothy Sullivan (25:21):
Yeah.
It says that it uses floweryeast.
So I'm curious if there are anyfloral notes in addition to
fruitiness on the aroma.
I haven't had it recently.
John Puma (25:33):
not a ton to me.
I, I think that the, um, thefruit is, is kind of dominant.
And it's the, it's a, um, you,you know how when, when fruit
salad's been, been sittingthere, it kind of gets a little
bit more, it gets sweeter.
Like the aroma gets a little bitmore, aggressive, a little more
like, um,
Timothy Sullivan (25:52):
I would say, I would say concentrated,
John Puma (25:55):
Concentrated.
Ah, yeah, I like that.
That's a good way to put it.
And it's, yeah, it's like, it's,it's like that.
It's got all of your, you know,your, your, your, your
cantaloupe, your honeydew, um,almost a little cherry in there
too.
Really nice.
Oh, wow.
And then the sip is, um, it'sdelivering on that promise.
Timothy Sullivan (26:16):
Hmm.
John Puma (26:18):
but it's got a little bit more, it's got a little more
body than I was expecting.
So the, the, the aroma had methinking just this, this, you
know, this wild fruit saladsituation.
When I sip on it, it's, it's,it's still very fruity, still
very sweet.
Some more of that, some more ofthat floral comes out on the,
um, on the palate.
(26:39):
Uh, and I do think If thiswasn't, if the acidity wasn't so
high on this, it's not thathigh, but it's higher.
I think it would be kind ofoverpoweringly sweet, but it's,
it's luckily it's balanced outnicely.
You know, one of the things wealways like to say on the show
about, about sake, when we seethese numbers is, is it
balanced?
(27:00):
And then the answer here to meis that it is.
It's a, you know, great sake isalways about balance.
I think they did a nice job withthis.
Timothy Sullivan (27:08):
Yes.
Well, I also want to say that,like, what a great name for that
sake too, World Peace.
John Puma (27:13):
Yeah.
I think that, Tim, my favoriteKudoki Jozu translation from
back when we originally did thiswas the, uh, the, the Google
translate flirtation with MacDaddy, as a, as a translation
for good at flirting.
Unfortunately, or fortunately,uh, translations have come a
(27:38):
long way since then,
Timothy Sullivan (27:40):
Hmm.
John Puma (27:41):
no longer, uh, what Google thinks.
I'm actually trying to find whatit actually says right now,
kudouki, jouzu, Good atpersuasion is what Google's
saying now.
Timothy Sullivan (28:01):
That's, that's really come down from Mac Daddy.
John Puma (28:05):
good at persuasion.
I think they're trying to bepolitically correct.
Timothy Sullivan (28:09):
Hmm.
John Puma (28:12):
Hmm.
I
Timothy Sullivan (28:13):
It's like, jozu means like skilled at, or
you know, good at.
So I always said like, skilled,skilled at flirting is kind of
the way I've always thoughtabout it.
But yeah,
John Puma (28:27):
I think that works.
Timothy Sullivan (28:31):
AI is never going to understand
John Puma (28:32):
Nope, it never will.
As I'm, as I am sipping on theworld peace a little bit, I have
a little word of advice forthose sipping on their world
peace at home, perhaps.
Um, have the sake cold.
It's, as it's warming up, it'sgetting more, um, the flavor is
becoming a little more cloying.
It's becoming a little bit morethicker.
(28:54):
it's, this is definitelysomething that, you know, I
think that when you havesomething a little more chilly,
uh, it, it, you know, the flavorbecomes a little more restrained
and this is a sake that benefitsfrom that restraint.
Timothy Sullivan (29:08):
Hmm.
Yeah.
When you think about fruit saladjuice, like the, the liquid on
fruit salad, uh, that can get alittle bit sticky sweet.
And I can understand how likekeeping the sake well chilled
makes it crisp and a littlebrighter.
Yeah.
John Puma (29:27):
Sticky sweet.
That's a really Excellent way toput this.
That's what I'm getting out ofthis.
Timothy Sullivan (29:32):
Yeah.
John Puma (29:33):
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (29:35):
All right, John.
So, uh, are you hopeful about2025 in your double trouble
resolution?
John Puma (29:41):
think I might have dug myself a little bit of a
ditch.
But the good thing about havingtwo Count them.
Two resolutions is that it's alittle bit easier to do one.
So
Timothy Sullivan (29:53):
Okay.
Is this, is this like reversepsychology for
John Puma (29:59):
I don't know.
It might be, uh, but I'm, I'mhoping that, yeah, I'm hoping I
can, I can make this happen.
We're going to find out.
We're going to find out as theyear rolls on.
Timothy Sullivan (30:12):
yes, I am.
I have visions of a redemptionarc for John Puma in 2025.
Well, I'll meet you back here inone year, 2026 January, and I'm
looking forward to it.
John Puma (30:30):
God help me.
Okay.
Timothy Sullivan (30:34):
All right.
Well, John, it was great totaste with you so much fun to
taste a couple of sakes and lookback on last year, look forward
to this year, and I always enjoyour year in review episodes.
So great to taste with you.
And I also want to say a specialthank you and hello to all of
our patrons.
(30:54):
Without you, Sake Revolutionwould not be possible.
And we wish you the best forthis new year as well.
If you would like to become apatron and support our work here
at Sake Revolution, please visitPatreon.com/SakeRevolution to
learn more.
John Puma (31:10):
And, uh, if you would like to support Sake Revolution,
another thing you can do is geton your platform of choice and
talk about us.
Leave us a review.
If you are on Apple Podcasts orSpotify, probably, those are
probably the two big ones thesedays, I think.
I think, uh, some of the otherstuff we used to talk about for
this, uh, may be a littleoutdated.
Tim, you're, you're modernizingthe podcast ideas, uh, Rubbing
(31:34):
off on me.
Um, so, so yeah, uh, get overthere and, um, defeat the
algorithm by talking about yourfavorite sake podcast.
so, without any further ado, uh,for the first time in 2025, at
least for this show, pleaseraise your glass, remember to
keep drinking sake, and kanpai!
Hello, everybody, and welcome to Sake Revolution.
This is America's First SakePodcast, and I'm your host, John
Puma, from the Sake Notes.
Also, I'm The administrator overat the Internet Sake Discord.
And I also run the Reddit rslash sake community.
Timothy Sullivan (00:39):
And I'm your host, Timothy Sullivan.
I'm a sake samurai, I'm theDirector of Education at the
Sake Studies Center, and I'malso the founder of the Urban
Sake website.
And every week, John and I willbe here tasting and chatting
about all things sake, and doingour best to make it fun and easy
to understand.
John Puma (00:56):
Well, hello there, Tim.
Timothy Sullivan (00:57):
Happy New Year, John!
John Puma (00:59):
Happy new year.
It is, it is 20 and 25.
We're here.
We're doing it
Timothy Sullivan (01:05):
hard to believe, but it is 2025 and we
have a new year of SakeRevolution ahead of us.
And as we are want to do, we'regoing to take a look back at
last year and look forward tothis year.
And I like these episodes.
It's a kind of a fresh start.
What do you think?
John Puma (01:25):
And I mean, I usually like these episodes, but I, you
know, we'll get to that in aminute.
Anyway,
Timothy Sullivan (01:34):
Yeah, so what we usually do for our year in
review episode is talk a littlebit about, uh, the episodes we
released, maybe some reactionsto them, and we have our famous,
or maybe infamous, Revolutionresolutions every year.
Infamous.
Mmm.
John Puma (01:56):
yeah, yeah, we do.
We absolutely have.
I have information in front ofme.
I imagine you have similarinformation in front of you.
You probably have moreinformation for you right now
because I know for a fact thatyou went and looked at the stats
and I resisted the urge so thatI would not be feigning
surprise.
That'd all be authentic.
Timothy Sullivan (02:17):
That's right.
So, looking back at 2024, uh, doyou have any idea, any guess
what our most listened toepisode of 2024 was?
John Puma (02:30):
So I'm taking a look.
And so most listen to it.
So that, you know, the olderones have an advantage because
they've been around the longest.
So I want to say sake andcheese.
Timothy Sullivan (02:45):
Ooh, that's a very good guess, but that's
wrong
John Puma (02:48):
Oh, oh, you know, I was, maybe I was being hopeful.
Because, you Myshell was on thatepisode.
So you want to, you want, youwant, you want things to be good
for her.
Uh, yeah.
Okay.
So that's not, it's not thatone.
So, uh, which one is it?
Timothy Sullivan (03:02):
So, the most listened to episode of 2024 was
Serious Baggage, Bringing BackSake from Japan.
So that was our suitcase importepisode, uh, episode 163.
John Puma (03:15):
No kidding.
Wow.
I am legitimately surprised.
I did not see that coming.
It's an older one.
So it does have that advantageof time.
Uh, and it is a fun topic and alot of people are going to
Japan.
I think in 2025, they areexpecting to break the record.
Okay.
Again, because I think theybroke it in 2024, uh, for, for
(03:38):
tourists.
And I love the idea that peopleare going to Japan and wanting
to bring back sake.
Cause I think that that convertsinto people who, when they get
here, want to drink sake here.
Right.
Does that make sense?
Okay.
Timothy Sullivan (03:53):
And, I mean, I think you're 100 percent right.
When you look at it, the numberof people who are traveling to
Japan, I get emails regularlyfrom people, from students, from
friends of friends, fromcolleagues who are like, Oh, I'm
going to Japan for the firsttime.
I want a sake experience whileI'm there.
What should I do?
John Puma (04:11):
Hmm.
Timothy Sullivan (04:12):
all the time.
So it's, it's great.
And I think that really tiesinto that episode being popular.
John Puma (04:18):
Great.
Now I have a question for you.
We don't have to go too in depthin it, but do you have like a
standard response to that?
Or do you then have follow upquestions that like, well, what
are you into?
Have you had sake before?
That kind of stuff?
Timothy Sullivan (04:33):
I do not, I do not have any follow up
questions.
I have a Google Doc
John Puma (04:37):
Okay.
You've got the doc.
All right.
is it a, is it a, like a Googlelike map or is it just like a
list?
Timothy Sullivan (04:44):
it is just a list.
And it's just Tokyo and Kyoto,which is where most people go on
their first trip.
And I just list, this is a bar Irecommend.
This is a retail shop Irecommend.
Uh, this is a high endrestaurant I recommend.
And You know, if you're in Tokyoand you want to visit a brewery,
I recommend this place.
(05:04):
So it's like, uh, you know,it's, it's my greatest hits.
Um, but it's things that areeasy to get to on, not off the
beaten path at all.
And, you know, uh, it's justeasy to have it all in one doc.
So I just send that to peopleand say, here's, here's what I
recommend.
It's very, very, very, uh, goodidea.
John Puma (05:24):
Excellent.
Nice.
I like it.
I'm going to have to take a lookat that list and you know, see
how I feel about, uh, whatyou've decided, what you've
decided to recommend to peopleand when, what, what heavy
hitters have made the list,which ones got left out?
I need the answers to this, Tim.
Timothy Sullivan (05:42):
Yes, well, maybe we should I think that's a
great topic for a future episodelike Tim and John's personal
Japan
John Puma (05:50):
we curate the list.
Oh, I love it.
And we can make like an officialsake revolution list.
Oh I love it when the ideas justwrite themselves.
Uh, so, so that, so we have themost listened to episode of the
year.
That's great.
Uh, what other fun tidbits didyou learn?
(06:12):
Oh, well,
Timothy Sullivan (06:13):
Well, I also wanted to ask you, regardless of
downloads, what is your favoriteepisode from 2024, John?
John Puma (06:23):
Honestly, I think my favorite episode is probably the
Kikusui Funaguchi Smart Pouchepisode, Funky Packaging,
episode 167, because it was justso silly and so much fun to do.
It was one of our first FunkyPackaging episodes, and just the
(06:45):
idea of this giant, Capri Sunpouch was just, it was, it was
ridiculous and fun to have inthe house.
It was ridiculous and fun topour out of.
Uh, I just had a really goodtime with that one.
I, I laughed and laughed andlaughed.
What about you?
Timothy Sullivan (07:01):
Well, I think that my favorite episode of the
year was Sake Revolution Livefrom Brooklyn Kura.
John Puma (07:09):
right.
Okay.
I feel like that's cheating, butokay.
Timothy Sullivan (07:12):
Why, why is it cheating?
John Puma (07:14):
I know it's not cheating because I didn't think
of it first.
Timothy Sullivan (07:19):
Yeah, I mean, doing the live episode with
Shinobu from Katosake Works,Brandon from Brooklyn Kura, it
was a whole lot of work, but wehad a live audience, and we had
a lot of fun, and it was greatgetting that immediate feedback,
and I just loved it! So thatwas, that was my favorite
(07:39):
episode.
John Puma (07:40):
there is something special about having a live
audience.
I will say that is, um, it'sdifferent.
No offense to, to being on thezoom with you, Tim, but I think
that there is definitelysomething special about being in
a room with, with, uh, dozens offans.
Timothy Sullivan (08:00):
Yeah, and Brandon and Shinobu were so
Funny right off the cuff, youknow, they're so entertaining
and it was not like any craftyediting work on our part.
It was just their, their genuinepersonalities really came
through and getting the audiencereactions on audio was also
really great.
(08:22):
Yeah.
And that was episode 173 foranyone who wants to go back and
listen.
John Puma (08:27):
Yeah, highly recommended.
That was a lot of fun.
Timothy Sullivan (08:31):
Right on.
John Puma (08:32):
So I guess now is the time that I've kind of been
dreading the sake, theaccountability, accountability.
Don't we all hate that now?
Um, yeah.
Um, accountability.
And I gotta, I gotta pay thepiper, I think.
But let's, let's overview here.
For 2024, we both made SakeRevolution Resolutions.
(08:57):
yours was to do some live shows.
And we accomplished that.
With your favorite show of theyear, which is great.
Now it makes a little moresense.
That was your favorite show ofthe year too.
Timothy Sullivan (09:11):
Yes.
So my revolution resolution for2024, as you just said, was to
do a live show and we made ithappen.
I had this vision for a longtime to be on the stage in the
tap room at Brooklyn Kura, andwe made it happen.
I wasn't sure how it was goingto work.
(09:32):
And I actually have a behind thescenes tidbit that I have not
told you, John, that yes, I haI've been holding onto a secret
about recording
John Puma (09:41):
Mm hmm.
I'm
Timothy Sullivan (09:42):
And the secret is that when we finished
recording, I downloaded theepisode and everything was fine.
But I looked at the memory card,and we were about six minutes
away from running out of space,if we had gone longer.
John Puma (10:00):
hmm.
Ah, so a near, a near disaster,but, but no disaster.
Timothy Sullivan (10:04):
there was no disaster, but it was, there was
a near disaster,
John Puma (10:08):
That would have been bad.
Timothy Sullivan (10:10):
I sometimes, like, bolt up in bed in the
middle of the night sweating,thinking about, like, running
out of space during a liverecording.
So that'll never happen again,but, uh, disaster was averted.
However, uh, it was still myfavorite episode, even if I have
PTSD from, uh, discovering afterthe fact that we almost ran out
(10:30):
of space on the memory card.
John Puma (10:33):
Well, I'm glad we didn't run out of space for them
to record.
Can you imagine going throughand doing that whole episode and
finding out it wasn't recorded?
Timothy Sullivan (10:42):
That, that is stuff of my literal nightmares.
Like that is, that is so scary,but, but we dodged a bullet and
it won't happen again becausenow I'm, I'm scared into triple
checking every time we record.
But,
John Puma (10:55):
excellent.
Timothy Sullivan (10:56):
yes, yes.
So, uh, that was my resolutionand resolution achieved.
John Puma (11:03):
Woo hoo! good for you.
I'm glad you achieved yours.
my resolution, on the other hand
Timothy Sullivan (11:10):
So I went to the videotape, John.
John Puma (11:12):
Hm?
Yep.
Timothy Sullivan (11:14):
John's resolution from 2024 was to do
some sake, formal sake educationthat involved a certificate of
some kind.
John Puma (11:25):
Yeah.
That didn't happen.
Timothy Sullivan (11:27):
I'm I'm, guessing from your lead up
John Puma (11:32):
Hm.
Timothy Sullivan (11:32):
that was not achieved.
So what do you think?
What do you think happened, JP?
John Puma (11:37):
Um, I think I misjudged how much, like,
regular life stuff was going totake place this year, and I
didn't, uh, I didn't focus, andI didn't I, I Didn't get it
done.
I did not get it done.
Makes me sad.
I, um, I wish I did.
I feel bad.
I feel real bad that I didn'tget it done.
But, I feel that, still do thisin 2025.
(12:02):
It's not like I, you know, lostthe ability to, to learn about
sake.
I just, I need to make it apriority
Timothy Sullivan (12:09):
Hmm.
John Puma (12:10):
and do it.
Um, you know, I wish I did, uh,but I didn't, but I can always,
you know, I will never forgivemyself if I continue to not do
this.
So I need to do this.
I need to make sure thishappens.
Timothy Sullivan (12:22):
Well, I might've said this when you made
that resolution, but you do havea, you do have a buddy who
technically is a sake teacherand does give certificates.
So
John Puma (12:32):
Technically, technically,
Timothy Sullivan (12:35):
you, you, you literally, you, you know, you
know, a guy, you
John Puma (12:39):
I do know a guy, I do know a guy.
And I, and I should have, Ishould have called upon you for
that.
And I, I did not, there's a lotof, there's a lot of what a
could a should is about thisone, Tim.
Timothy Sullivan (12:51):
So I guess that leads us to the question
of, are you going to, Repeat for2025 or do you want to go in a
different direction?
John Puma (13:02):
Well, um, for 2025.
I'm going to try and double up,so to speak.
So, I feel like this still needsto happen.
Uh, it is 2024's resolution thatis still dangling and needs to
be addressed., but I think that2025 should potentially have its
(13:23):
own resolution.
have its its own resolution.
Timothy Sullivan (13:26):
Now, when you say double up, that made me
think of getting twocertificates in
John Puma (13:30):
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
no.
I mean, two resolutions.
Um, yeah, yeah, two resolutions,uh, is what I'm looking to do.
and so one of them is, is aholdover where we're going to
try to get that, try to get thatcertificate.
and then the second one, well,we'll, we'll wait until we're
talking about 2025, which Iguess, It's a great segue.
(13:54):
How about that?
so yeah, for 2025, my goal, it'sa, it's a, it's a, it's a
comparably easy one, but I wantto, record, and by that I mean,
jot down, take a photo,something of every single sake
that I have this year.
Timothy Sullivan (14:16):
Oh my God.
That is, that's not easy.
That's, that's a
John Puma (14:20):
doable.
It's doable.
We
Timothy Sullivan (14:22):
Yes.
John Puma (14:24):
have a camera in our pocket.
So this is possible.
It's definitely something onecan do.
Timothy Sullivan (14:31):
It's possible.
when I was a newbie, young,little sake nerd out there in
the world, I tried to do that.
And I know that if you go to asake event and you have one,
two, three, maybe more sakes, itgets increasingly difficult to
remember to get the camera outand get non blurry photos of the
(14:54):
Haha,
John Puma (14:56):
Uh, I never said that pictures would be in focus,
number one, and I also neversaid they would all be photos.
I just need to have a record ofsome sort.
So if I, if I go someplace and Ihave something and nobody told
me what it was, I needed towrite down, like, some, I don't
know what this was.
It counts.
Timothy Sullivan (15:12):
All right.
I support you.
I support you in thatresolution.
I think that's wonderful.
John Puma (15:18):
I will have you know, as we record this, I've, um,
I've gotten off to a decentstart on this.
I've only decided that that'swhat I'm going to do a few days
ago, and so I've been doing itsince then.
So, you know, we'll see how itgoes.
Hopefully I can make thishappen.
Even, I think even if I can getthe majority, it'll be great.
Timothy Sullivan (15:36):
so are you going to be keeping a tasting
notebook or a Google photoalbum?
The only reason I ask is becauseI want to hold your feet to the
fire and I want to get theaccountability piece.
So how can we, how can we viewthis?
Hmm.
John Puma (15:53):
to be, for the moment, it's gonna be just a
photo album, uh, as much as Ican.
And then in some cases, if Ineed to just make like a, yeah,
make a note at some place,that'll be a different thing.
I'm worried about what happenswhen I go to Japan.
That's because things get out ofhand there in a hurry.
And like, joy of sake, that canbecome a little fraught.
Timothy Sullivan (16:13):
Oh, yeah.
I think we can give you a passon a few occasions.
You can
John Puma (16:17):
I got I got two day passes.
Timothy Sullivan (16:19):
you get two day pass.
Yes.
And I know from, uh, John Puma'sdays as the sake notes in full
swing, you are a very giftedphotographer of sake bottles
John Puma (16:30):
Yeah, um, you know, with with a real camera, I I've
never been able to replicatethat with a phone,
unfortunately.
But I also I also want to getmore into that, to be completely
honest.
I want to get back into, uh,into photographing the bottles
in a, in a fun way.
I think I do, or I think I didhave a, uh, a knack for that.
I miss it a little bit.
(16:51):
Maybe that should have been myresolution was just right to
take more photos of sakebottles.
I said, I had to go all in onthis.
What are you going to do?
Timothy Sullivan (17:01):
Well, that sounds like a great revolution
resolution for 2025, and you'vegot double trouble this year,
JP, so
John Puma (17:11):
Yeah.
Yeah.
But that enough about me, um,and my failures and, and my
attempts at, uh, At Redemption,
Timothy Sullivan (17:20):
Redemption.
Yes.
John Puma (17:21):
about you?
What are you doing for 2025?
Timothy Sullivan (17:23):
Okay, so my resolution for 2025, I'm calling
it Back to Basics.
John Puma (17:30):
Mm.
Timothy Sullivan (17:31):
So, I think back to our very first episodes
that we did on this podcast, andwe covered a lot of topics that
are really good for beginners.
And I've listened back to someof those episodes, and I
honestly think we should revisitsome, uh, episodes that we did
at the beginning, introducingbasic concepts.
(17:54):
I think we're a little morecomfortable podcasters now, we
have some more sake and lifeexperience under our belt, and I
think that we could do some,revisiting of really important,
back to basic episodes, and,that's my goal for this year is
to, re examine some of our Sake101 episodes, and see if we can
(18:17):
breathe any fresh perspectivesinto them and bring a few back
to the pod this year.
John Puma (18:22):
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
So it's a sake 201?
Or 102 maybe?
I don't know.
We're just
Timothy Sullivan (18:30):
just, you know, things like talking about
nigori or what junmai is, oraruten, alcohol added sake.
Like, I think we did reallygood.
Basic comprehensive episodes onthose but there's a few that I
think we could add some more torevisit and just look at in A
fresh light from five years downthe road.
(18:52):
Yeah
John Puma (18:53):
It's been five years, hasn't it?
Oh my goodness.
Timothy Sullivan (18:56):
It has been five years, yeah, so That is my
resolution
John Puma (19:01):
Excellent.
Uh, well, I'm glad, I'm gladthat we've got this figured out
and we know what we're going tobe trying to do.
and, you know, this is anepisode of Sake Revolution and
we would not, it would not beproper for us to, to do this
without tasting some sake.
So we need to get on that, Tim.
(19:23):
we have, we have each brought abottle of sake that we're going
to independently taste.
So Tim does not have what I'mhaving and I do not have what
Tim's having, but I'm relativelyconfident that we have both had
what one another having at onepoint or another.
Timothy Sullivan (19:37):
Yes.
And the sakes that we picked,uh, this was dealer's choice.
And the sakes that we pickedeither tie to our 2024 in some
way or tie to our hopes for2025.
So, uh, if you'll allow me,John, I'll go ahead and kick off
the tasting.
So, the sake that I have broughtwith me is a sake from Sake
(20:03):
Revolution, episode From episodenumber two, uh, I brought one of
our all time favorites back fromepisode two.
This is Kudoki Jozu JunmaiGinjo, and this is from Kaminoe
Shuzo.
(20:23):
And they're in YamagataPrefecture.
this is a sake that you and Iboth love and have tasted many
times together.
And one of the fun Throwbacks toepisode two was all the fun
names we came up with totranslate Kudoki Jozu into
English.
(20:43):
Kudoki Jozu good at flirting orskillful at flirting or lover
boy or whatever you want to say.
and it was just such a funepisode and this ties in with my
back to basics idea that I wantto look at those early episodes
we did, see if we can revisitany of them and bring a little
bit more to the table.
So I'm going to be tasting.
(21:04):
Kudoki Jozu
John Puma (21:05):
sounds great.
I've got, a sake that I've, I'vebeen a big fan of for a long
time, but until relativelyrecently was this one was not
available in the U.
S.
Um, and it is now.
So I took full advantage ofthis, of this, I took full
advantage of this new change andI have, Emishki's World Peace,
(21:26):
because why don't we all likesome peace?
in 2025.
Um, in the
Timothy Sullivan (21:32):
Yes.
Make mine a double.
John Puma (21:35):
Okay.
Uh, yeah.
So, um, that's what I've got.
And, Tim, you want to give usthe stats on your Kudoki Jozu?
Josu?
Timothy Sullivan (21:46):
Yes.
So this is Kudoki from KaminoeShuzo in Yamagata.
we have a classification ofJunmai Ginjo.
The SMV or sake meter value isplus one.
The acidity is 1.
2.
And we have an alcoholpercentage of 16.
5%.
John Puma (22:07):
for my Imishiki world peace, Imishiki Brewing Company
over in Shiga Prefecture.
This is a Junmai ginjo, genshu.
the rice variety is YamadaNishiki.
That's been milled down to 50%.
They're using Hanakobo on thisone, Tim.
So a flower yeast.
I tried to get some moreinformation, dig a little deeper
(22:27):
into what kind of flour.
That didn't go very far.
So, flower yeast.
SMV, that measure of dry tosweet, is minus 7.
So it's going to be a littlesweet.
Acidity is 1.
6, which is a little high.
So it might balance out thesweetness.
And the alcohol percentage is16%.
Timothy Sullivan (22:48):
Alrighty.
So I'm going to go ahead andopen mine up first and get it in
the glass.
John Puma (23:02):
Ooh, that pour was delightful, Tim.
Timothy Sullivan (23:05):
All poured.
John Puma (23:08):
Let me, let me catch up to you.
Timothy Sullivan (23:17):
So this is very clear in the glass.
And when I smell this sake, ithonestly is like meeting an old
friend.
It is like a sake I've had manytimes, often with you.
And it is, uh, fruity, light,quite balanced.
It's got, some pineapple, alittle bit of melon, classic
(23:40):
ginjo aromas, and I'm going togive it a taste.
Hmm.
So delightful.
I wish you were here with me,John.
So we could both drink this.
Cause I know you love it.
John Puma (23:51):
I do.
Timothy Sullivan (23:53):
And this is just like classic textbook
Yamagata sake, fruity.
Light to medium bodied, greatbalance, not a trace of
bitterness or sharpness, round,clean on the finish, and lovely,
lovely ginjo fruits.
Like, this is the textbookexample of what a light Yamagata
(24:17):
sake is all about, right?
John Puma (24:19):
Yeah, I mean that's, that's how I remember it.
At least.
Timothy Sullivan (24:22):
Yeah.
John Puma (24:24):
Yeah,
Timothy Sullivan (24:25):
Yeah, so this is absolutely delicious, and I
think that this bottle willdisappear quickly.
After the
John Puma (24:33):
That's, that's The, um, the countdown has begun.
Timothy Sullivan (24:41):
Yes.
That's another prediction for2025.
John Puma (24:44):
this bottle of kudoki jozu goes, it will not last the
day.
Um, so I've got my world peace.
I've got it in my glass and onthe nose.
This is this Tim, this is fruitsalad.
It is, um, the nose is justpurely, um, a wonderful fruit
salad.
You know, if you ever had, uh,if you've ever been to like a
(25:05):
little buffet and they've gotthe little fruit salad and you
take a little bit, you put it inyour bowl and you go back to
your, you go back to your seat,give it a nice little sniff.
This is it.
So I'm, I'm a big fan of that,of that kind of aroma.
It's not a fruit bomb, but fruitsalad,
Timothy Sullivan (25:21):
Yeah.
It says that it uses floweryeast.
So I'm curious if there are anyfloral notes in addition to
fruitiness on the aroma.
I haven't had it recently.
John Puma (25:33):
not a ton to me.
I, I think that the, um, thefruit is, is kind of dominant.
And it's the, it's a, um, you,you know how when, when fruit
salad's been, been sittingthere, it kind of gets a little
bit more, it gets sweeter.
Like the aroma gets a little bitmore, aggressive, a little more
like, um,
Timothy Sullivan (25:52):
I would say, I would say concentrated,
John Puma (25:55):
Concentrated.
Ah, yeah, I like that.
That's a good way to put it.
And it's, yeah, it's like, it's,it's like that.
It's got all of your, you know,your, your, your, your
cantaloupe, your honeydew, um,almost a little cherry in there
too.
Really nice.
Oh, wow.
And then the sip is, um, it'sdelivering on that promise.
Timothy Sullivan (26:16):
Hmm.
John Puma (26:18):
but it's got a little bit more, it's got a little more
body than I was expecting.
So the, the, the aroma had methinking just this, this, you
know, this wild fruit saladsituation.
When I sip on it, it's, it's,it's still very fruity, still
very sweet.
Some more of that, some more ofthat floral comes out on the,
um, on the palate.
(26:39):
Uh, and I do think If thiswasn't, if the acidity wasn't so
high on this, it's not thathigh, but it's higher.
I think it would be kind ofoverpoweringly sweet, but it's,
it's luckily it's balanced outnicely.
You know, one of the things wealways like to say on the show
about, about sake, when we seethese numbers is, is it
balanced?
(27:00):
And then the answer here to meis that it is.
It's a, you know, great sake isalways about balance.
I think they did a nice job withthis.
Timothy Sullivan (27:08):
Yes.
Well, I also want to say that,like, what a great name for that
sake too, World Peace.
John Puma (27:13):
Yeah.
I think that, Tim, my favoriteKudoki Jozu translation from
back when we originally did thiswas the, uh, the, the Google
translate flirtation with MacDaddy, as a, as a translation
for good at flirting.
Unfortunately, or fortunately,uh, translations have come a
(27:38):
long way since then,
Timothy Sullivan (27:40):
Hmm.
John Puma (27:41):
no longer, uh, what Google thinks.
I'm actually trying to find whatit actually says right now,
kudouki, jouzu, Good atpersuasion is what Google's
saying now.
Timothy Sullivan (28:01):
That's, that's really come down from Mac Daddy.
John Puma (28:05):
good at persuasion.
I think they're trying to bepolitically correct.
Timothy Sullivan (28:09):
Hmm.
John Puma (28:12):
Hmm.
I
Timothy Sullivan (28:13):
It's like, jozu means like skilled at, or
you know, good at.
So I always said like, skilled,skilled at flirting is kind of
the way I've always thoughtabout it.
But yeah,
John Puma (28:27):
I think that works.
Timothy Sullivan (28:31):
AI is never going to understand
John Puma (28:32):
Nope, it never will.
As I'm, as I am sipping on theworld peace a little bit, I have
a little word of advice forthose sipping on their world
peace at home, perhaps.
Um, have the sake cold.
It's, as it's warming up, it'sgetting more, um, the flavor is
becoming a little more cloying.
It's becoming a little bit morethicker.
(28:54):
it's, this is definitelysomething that, you know, I
think that when you havesomething a little more chilly,
uh, it, it, you know, the flavorbecomes a little more restrained
and this is a sake that benefitsfrom that restraint.
Timothy Sullivan (29:08):
Hmm.
Yeah.
When you think about fruit saladjuice, like the, the liquid on
fruit salad, uh, that can get alittle bit sticky sweet.
And I can understand how likekeeping the sake well chilled
makes it crisp and a littlebrighter.
Yeah.
John Puma (29:27):
Sticky sweet.
That's a really Excellent way toput this.
That's what I'm getting out ofthis.
Timothy Sullivan (29:32):
Yeah.
John Puma (29:33):
Yeah.
Timothy Sullivan (29:35):
All right, John.
So, uh, are you hopeful about2025 in your double trouble
resolution?
John Puma (29:41):
think I might have dug myself a little bit of a
ditch.
But the good thing about havingtwo Count them.
Two resolutions is that it's alittle bit easier to do one.
So
Timothy Sullivan (29:53):
Okay.
Is this, is this like reversepsychology for
John Puma (29:59):
I don't know.
It might be, uh, but I'm, I'mhoping that, yeah, I'm hoping I
can, I can make this happen.
We're going to find out.
We're going to find out as theyear rolls on.
Timothy Sullivan (30:12):
yes, I am.
I have visions of a redemptionarc for John Puma in 2025.
Well, I'll meet you back here inone year, 2026 January, and I'm
looking forward to it.
John Puma (30:30):
God help me.
Okay.
Timothy Sullivan (30:34):
All right.
Well, John, it was great totaste with you so much fun to
taste a couple of sakes and lookback on last year, look forward
to this year, and I always enjoyour year in review episodes.
So great to taste with you.
And I also want to say a specialthank you and hello to all of
our patrons.
(30:54):
Without you, Sake Revolutionwould not be possible.
And we wish you the best forthis new year as well.
If you would like to become apatron and support our work here
at Sake Revolution, please visitPatreon.com/SakeRevolution to
learn more.
John Puma (31:10):
And, uh, if you would like to support Sake Revolution,
another thing you can do is geton your platform of choice and
talk about us.
Leave us a review.
If you are on Apple Podcasts orSpotify, probably, those are
probably the two big ones thesedays, I think.
I think, uh, some of the otherstuff we used to talk about for
this, uh, may be a littleoutdated.
Tim, you're, you're modernizingthe podcast ideas, uh, Rubbing
(31:34):
off on me.
Um, so, so yeah, uh, get overthere and, um, defeat the
algorithm by talking about yourfavorite sake podcast.
so, without any further ado, uh,for the first time in 2025, at
least for this show, pleaseraise your glass, remember to
keep drinking sake, and kanpai!
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