"[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
"Everything you need to know to understand and enjoy sake today is explained in The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks. Production, grades, varieties and even culture and history are concisely presented in just the right measure, giving the reader a quick but comprehensive guide to the greatest beverage on the planet." -- John Gauntner, Author, Sake Handbook
"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 insights, 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
"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 insight into how these drinks evolved, found favor at home, and are often misunderstood overseas." --Christopher Pellegrini, Author, The Shochu Handbook
"Profusely illustrated throughout with full color photography, The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks is an extraordinary, unique, informative, and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Contemporary Japanese Culture collections in general, and Japanese alcoholic drink supplemental studies reading lists in particular." -- Midwest Book Review
"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