Stephen Lyman

Stephen Lyman (b. 1970, Buffalo) was minding his own business, enjoying life in New York City as a clinical scientist at a well regarded medical school 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 sake breweries, shochu distilleries, wineries, awamori distilleries, beer breweries, and whisky distilleries in more than twenty Japanese Prefectures.

He was the first American to work in a shochu distillery (Yamatozakura Distillery in Kagoshima, 2013-present), the first graduate of the Sake School of America's Certified Shochu Adviser Course (2015), was named the first Honkaku Shochu Ambassador by the Japanese government through the Cool Japan program (2016), became a Sake Service International sake sommelier in 2017, and began teaching the shochu adviser course in in 2018. He now spends most of his time in Kyushu in Southern Japan where he can be found cycling around and exploring local food, drink, and culture.

You can find him @shochu_danji on both Twitter and Instagram.