Catching Up with Andy Russell

In this episode, Julian and Simone catch-up with good friend, Andy Russell.

Andy was TWTT's very first podcast guest - and, alongside Miho Imada, he was the very first Zoom room guest on TWTT The Project, back in April 2020.

This episode was actually recorded on April 27th - which just happened to be the 5th anniversary of TWTT The Project - so it was very fitting to have Andy as our special guest and to find out what he has been up to since we last spoke.

When he first graced the TWTT Zoom room in 2020, he was working at Imada Shuzo in Hiroshima. When he joined us on the Podcast for our second ever episode, he had just started working at Kenbishi in Hyogo... fast forward to April 2025, and Andy has recently joined good friend, (and previous TWTT guest), Jorge Navarrete, at Matsui Shuzo in the heart of Kyoto.

We chat about the move, the notable differences between his previous and current brewery, his Hyogo sake tours, his recent visits to Julian's new sake bar in Osaka, and other sake related stuff.

It's always a joy catching up with Andy.

We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

You can follow Andy on IG: @originsake

and our podcast and podcast hosts:

TWTT Podcast: @tastewiththetoji

Simone: @sakemistress

Maki: @sake.amata

Julian: @sakeadvocate

and don't forget to check out Julian's new bar on IG: @sakehouse_osaka

This episode was recorded on 27 April 2025

A huge thank you to our subscribers at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

More information about Taste with the Toji - The Project can be found on our website: https://tastewiththetoji.com/

Music by: Kazuyoshi Sato (Koikawa Shuzo)

Links:

Andy Russell - Origin Sake

Matsui Sake Brewery

Kenbishi

Imada Shuzo - Fukucho

Nada Sake Region, Hyogo