Raising A Choko With Sake Master Justin Potts
Behind the world's biggest Japanese drinks podcast and the future of the industry
With Drink To That, I’m always looking to champion categories from all over the world and raise more awareness of the people who’re doing awesome things with specific drinks.
Justin Potts is a man after my own heart with his love of sake and Japanese drinks. A co-host of the amazing Sake on Air podcast, food and beverage entrepreneur and Master of Sake, Justin has plenty of stories to share about his love affair with sake.
Read on to learn about his journey, Sake on Air's genesis, and where he feels the industry is going.
Thanks so much for taking the time to chat about your work with sake Justin. It’s been great to listen to your thoughts though the Sake on Air podcast.
How did you first step into the world of sake?
I wish I had a really concise answer or concrete life-altering event that I could point to, but that really wasn’t the case. For me, it was more of a slow burn over a period of probably 6-7 years.
The opportunity that “pushed me over the edge” was when I made a major career change and began spending time with small producers scattered throughout Japan. Not sake breweries specifically, although they were part of the equation, but mostly farmers, as well as producers of all sorts of food and related products.
The first big shockwave probably came when, shortly upon starting that job, one of my very first projects sent me on a trip to Toyoama Prefecture, where one of the first stops was a tane koji (koji spore) maker by the name of Ishiguro.
At the time, I didn’t even have the basic context for processing what I was hearing or seeing, but the tingling sensation that resonated after that visit was significant.
From there, a succession of opportunities to spend time, as well as work with, several incredibly inspiring rice farmers dedicated to sustainable and regenerative forms of agriculture (Miyao Nouen in Niigata, and Doyuno in Toyama, to name a few) gave me the opportunity to connect food (and rice, in particular) with the livelihoods of the people, as well as the other staples derived (at least partially) from rice, including koji, miso, and of course, sake.
My fascination with this relationship motivated me to visit breweries and start exploring sake, however throughout my “education”, while I found more than a few tasty brews, I wasn’t encountering a lot of producers that were able to communicate to me the appeal that I was experiencing on a personal level. The vocabulary driving the sake-specific communication somehow felt isolated from the beverage’s more inherent and fundamental appeal.
It wasn’t until I visited Niida Honke (in Fukushima) for a day in the rice fields and Terada Honke (in Chiba) for an exploration into the principles of fermentation that it really clicked. After that, there was no turning back.