Review
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"Following Brian Ashcraft's excellent Japanese
Whisky, Tuttle has brought out this compendious guide to the full
range of Japanese beverages…Written in an easy, flowing style, it
covers a lot of ground in a short space of time…a beautiful,
carefully put together coffee-table book full of ins,
anecdotes and thirst-inducing pictures that leaves the reader
yearning not just for a warm cup of sake or a stiff Yamazaki, but
for individual titles devoted to each type of drink."— The Japan
Times
"I absolutely loved The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks.
Stephen Lyman is clearly a gifted writer, able to tackle a
subject as serious, complex & wide as Japanese beverage, while
injecting a meaningful backdrop of thorough historical
perspective. But it's his palpable enthusiasm for the subject
which spills out onto every page, which makes this book exciting
and easy to understand all at the same time. I was very thirsty
the whole time I was reading it!" —Michael Skurnik, CEO of
Skurnik Wines & Spirits
"Japanese beverage traditions are some of the most misunderstood
in the world—and they really shouldn't be! It's a good thing that
we've got the words of Stephen Lyman and Chris Bunting,
consummate experts on all things drinkable from Kyushu to
Hokkaido and all things in in between, to help set us all
straight." —Jeff Cioletti, Author, The Drinkable Globe, The Year
of Drinking Adventurously, Sake-pedia
"There's nowhere I'd rather drink than Japan, and no one I'd
rather have telling me what, where, and how to drink than Stephen
Lyman and Chris Bunting, whose bibulosity is matched only by
their curiosity." —Matt Gross, formerly the New York Times Frugal
Traveler
"Chock full of photos, historical facts and fun asides, I find
this is a guide I'll likely reference again…Worth a read for even
the armchair traveler, with the potential to become a
well-thumbed tome on an enthusiast's shelf."— Uncovering Japan
blog
"Perfect for the traveler or epicurean, [The Complete Guide to
Japanese Drinks] reveals the secrets of Japan's varied alcoholic
beverages. Written in a conversational yet informative voice,
every chapter delivers valuable in into how these drinks
evolved, found favor at home, and are often misunderstood
overseas." —Christopher Pellegrini, Author, The Shochu Handbook
"[This book] presents a vast quantity of practical and cultural
information in a very engaging way, and provides a clear outline
of the (sometimes complex!) technical aspects of shochu
production—something that is hard to find in English. Anyone
seeking a route into shochu (and the other Japanese beverages)
will find in this guide everything they need from detailed
explanations of their production and history, through to
practical advice on what to purchase, and how to explore these
delicious beverages…Very helpful." —Antony Moss, Director of
Strategic Planning, WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust), WSET
Certified Educator
"…very educational and entertaining…The authors, Stephen Lyman
and Chris Bunting, shared all of their information clearly so
that anyone from a student of wine and spirits to wine and spirit
lovers — that might just want to travel to Japan — would find
more than helpful. Chock full of professional photographs, this
was one of the best 'textbooks' I had the pleasure to read in a
long time." — Eve's Wine 101 blog
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About the Author
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Stephen Lyman was minding his own business, enjoying
life in New York City as an Associate Professor at Weill Cornell
Medical College when he was unexpectedly introduced to Japanese
shochu at an izakaya in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.
Over the next decade he visited Japan more than twenty times,
visiting more than a hundred shochu distilleries, sake breweries
and other alcohol producers in more than twenty Japanese
Prefectures. In 2013 he began interning at a small shochu
distillery in Kagoshima Prefecture. He subsequently became the
first graduate of the Sake School of America's Shochu Adviser
Course and a kikisakeshi (sake sommelier) through Sake Service
International. In 2016 he was named the first Honkaku Shochu
Ambassador by the Japanese government through the Cool Japan
program. He now spends about half his time in Kyushu in Southern
Japan where he can be found cycling around and exploring local
food, drink, and culture.
Chris Bunting has worked in London and Japan for publications
including the Asahi Shimbun, Times and Independent. He developed
his love of Japanese alcohol while living in Tokyo and is the
author of Drinking Japan. He currently lives in Yorkshire in the
UK.
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