Jake Tennenbaum, above all else, is a spirits enthusiast. Be it bourbon from shuttered distilleries, single cask rums and brandies, or handmade sweet potato shochu, Jake’s passion for rare and unique drinks is contagious. He has spent his career in beverage sales, analytics, and education with a focus on craft distilled American and Japanese spirits. Jake first discovered shochu during college while working for Breakthru Beverage. His early research into the category caught the attention of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs who first brought Jake to Japan in 2018. In 2020 Jake joined Honkaku as its first US employee and ranks among the top shochu and awamori experts in the United States.

Christopher Pellegrini cut his teeth in alcohol as a teen brewer at Otter Creek Brewing Company in Middlebury, Vermont. He discovered shochu and awamori after moving to Tokyo while he was a full-time professor at Waseda University. In 2014, he published the first ever English language guide to shochu and awamori, The Shochu Handbook. He also contributed to The Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails, published in 2021. Christopher launched Honkaku Spirits in March 2020 (great timing, huh?) with the mission of bringing intensely artisanal Japanese spirits to discerning consumers worldwide. He also co-hosts two podcasts focused on the education of Japanese spirits: Japan Distilled and Sake on Air. Fluent in English and Japanese (conversational in Spanish and Korean), Christopher’s contribution to increasing global knowledge of Japanese spirits continues to shape opinion on this burgeoning category.

Stephen Lyman is the author of the James Beard Award nominated The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks. Currently based in Fukuoka, Japan, he is working on a shochu documentary, helps make handmade sweet potato shochu at Yamato Zakura Distillery every fall, and has been designated a Honkaku Shochu and Ryukyu Awamori Ambassador by the Japanese Cabinet Office. His deep appreciation for koji-based spirits inspired him to help launch Honkaku Spirits, and he co-hosts Japan Distilled with Christopher. He has done all this with one goal in mind:  to realize his dream of being able to enjoy shochu and awamori in every bar in America.