Make Me Smart about the business of sake

Marketplace All-in-One

Marketplace

News, Business

4.5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s peak bloom in Washington, D.C.! Cherry blossom viewing is deeply rooted in Japanese culture, and it goes hand-in-hand with enjoying Japan’s national beverage: sake. On today’s show, Kimberly is joined by Reiko Hirai, founder of D.C. Sake Co., to talk about the ins and outs of the sake industry and why more breweries are popping up in the United States. Oh, and we’ll taste some sake too!

Here’s everything we talked about:

"Hanami - Cherry Blossom Festival" from the U.S. National Park Service
"Sake brewers toast big rise in global sales" from BBC News
"American Sake Is Having a Major Moment" from Bloomberg
"How to Drink Sake, According to Pros" from Wine Enthusiast

https://www.instagram.com/p/DI0C02mRKbB/

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, everyone, I'm Kimberly Adams.
0:08.5	Welcome back to Make Me Smart, where none of us is as smart as all of us.
0:12.7	Thank you for joining us, whether you're watching on the YouTube live stream or listening
0:16.3	later on the podcast.
0:18.4	This is Economics on Tap, our weekly happy hour episode. And today's edition
0:22.9	is extra special because it's my annual cherry blossom party. And those of you watching on
0:28.3	the live stream will see that I'm surrounded by cherry blossoms. It is peak bloom here in D.C.,
0:34.6	one of my favorite times of year. And the National Cherry Blossom Festival is going on here.
0:40.3	And it's a celebration of the beautiful trees, of course, but it's also a celebration of Japanese culture.
0:46.6	So today we are going to talk about sake, Japan's national drink.
0:51.4	And here to talk with me about the business of sake is Reiko Haride, founder of
0:56.5	DC's sake company. Welcome to the show, Rako. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
1:01.9	I'm so happy to have you. And for our drinks today, we do have something special lined up.
1:08.3	Rako is going to walk me through a sake tasting.
1:11.9	But first, let's see what everybody is drinking in the chat.
1:16.4	Oh, someone here, Edward says he lived in Japan and for three years in high school and
1:21.5	misses the country and its people so much.
1:24.7	QNX is having sake also.
1:28.0	Sarah is having hibiscus tea.
1:31.4	Let's see.
1:32.7	What else?
1:33.7	Jen is having a strawberry margarita.
	...

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