In episode 92 of the Japan Distilled podcast, your hosts Christopher Pellegrini and Stephen Lyman take a journey to the Izu Islands to explore Tokyo Shimazake, the latest WTO GI for Honkaku Shochu.

In episode 91, our hosts explain the history of International Shochu Day (Nov. 1) as well as run through some upcoming events surrounding this annual celebration.

In episode 90, Stephen and Christopher chat with Maya Aley of Shochu Bar Roku about Kagoshima shochu culture.

In episode 88, Stephen chats with Kayoko Akabori of Umami Mart about the 1st ever American shochu festival! Shochu Live will be held on June 28th in Oakland, CA.

In episode 87, Stephen chats koji spirits in Charleston, South Carolina as a guest of Imbibe Magazine's editor in Chief, Paul Clarke (listen to episode 69 for more of his thoughts on Japanese spirits) and James Beard Award winning author, bartender, and bar owner, Julia Momose. The trio hosted a live panel discussion of koji spirits to a group of guests, most of whom had never tried shochu, awamori, or koji whiskey before.

In episode 86, Stephen spends some time musing on the recent announcement that the U.S. Surgeon General recommends cancer warnings on beverage alcohol labels.

In episode 85, Stephen Lyman finally gets around to introducing himself.