Where Should I Buy Sake? All About America's Brick and Mortar Retailers

An explorer's guide to avoiding disappointment and finding bottles you really love!

The best way to buy sake is, of course, buying a bottle when you just had the opportunity to taste it. No surprise here: if you've tasted it, you know you liked it! Sake specialist retailers and retail-bars (kaku-uchi) live and breathe sake, and are probably the best option for those lucky to live near one. But where are they? What can we expect from them? And what other options exist?

I've had the honor of visiting (and buying from!) most of America's sake retailers. I've also navigated the shelves at countless Asian grocery stores, wine shops, and ecommerce websites. I've ordered sake online from Tippsy, True Sake, Vineyard Gate, Umami Mart and K&L Wines. I consider many of these proprietors my friends, and I truly want to see all of us succeed. So I'm going to share my favorite shops and retailers throughout the US, with particular attention to their strengths and offerings. For general advice on selecting a bottle, you may want to read my article: expert advice for buying sake off the shelf anywhere.

What you can expect:

1. Sake specialist retail shops (sake only, or >70% sake)
   
   • The Sake Shop, Honolulu, HI
   • Sake Nomi, Seattle, WA
   • Sunflower Sake, Portland, OR
   • True Sake, San Francisco, CA
   • Sake Secret, Long Beach, CA
   • Sakaya, NY, NY
2. Liquor stores that specialize in sake (sake + spirits, wine, beer, etc)
• Umami Mart, Oakland, CA
• Vineyard Gate, Millbrae, CA
• Konbini & Kanpai, Chicago, IL
• Minoru's Sake Shop, NY, NY
• Bin Bin Sake, Brooklyn, NY
• Kuraichi, Brooklyn, NY
3. Online-only retailers
• DC Sake
• Tippsy
• Sake Social
• Sake One

Sake specialist retail shops in the US, from West to East

This list includes sake-only retail stores as well as stores with a large majority of their sales (let's say 60-70%) being sake, with the balance being (typically) shochu, Japanese spirits and beer. Because sake is their bread and butter, these stores spend all of their energy bringing in fresh arrivals, monitoring inventory closely, educating customers, and ensuring there is a healthy rotation. If you have questions, rest assured there is an expert available to assist: very often, the shop owner! At these stores, staff should be knowledgeable about the bottles they sell, including backstory, production information, and tasting notes.

The Sake Shop, Honolulu, HI

website: www.sakeshophawaii.com
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sakeshop/

Established 2010, The Sake Shop is a sake, shochu, and Japanese whisky retailer with regular Friday tastings. Most sake is stored under refrigeration, which is a great feature in an otherwise hot climate. Co-owner and shop manager Nadine has a reputation for carefully curating her sake, and having a very high standard for freshness and quality. As a result, seasonal releases may come and go very quickly so it's worth keeping an eye on the shop's Instagram or newsletter to be apprised of recent arrivals.

• Selection: N/A
• Offers on-premise flights/glass pours? No
• Offers kanzake (hot sake)? No
• Offers tastings? Yes, free Friday tastings
• Offers shipping? No
• Sells shochu? Yes
• Offers classes? No
• Offers a club/membership? No
• Bilingual? Yes, Japanese/English
• Other: strong community focus!

Sake Nomi, Seattle, WA

website: https://www.sakenomi.us/
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sakenomiseattle

Established 2007 in downtown Seattle, Sake Nomi is a kaku-uchi (bar within a liquor store) and retail store. In the past, it hosted some educational sessions and community events, but nowadays it's a more casual bar with several 2-3 person tables and a few stools at the main counter. There is a printed menu that changes about once a week, often including really high-end pours from bottles tipping the $100 price point. Several pre-designed flights are offered as well, and snacks include packaged chips or popcorn. Proprietor Johnnie runs the shop for the most part, although his wife Taiko (who used to run it with him) plays support. Johnnie has a reputation for being a little standoffish the first few visits. I've been told he warms up once you become a regular. So if it's your first time, bring a friend to chat with (or a book!)

• Selection: ~150 SKU's
• Offers on-premise flights/glass pours? Yes
• Offers kanzake (hot sake)? No
• Offers tastings? Aside from the pour list at the bar, Sake Nomi occasionally hosts visiting sake brewers for tastings, with the price waived on bottle purchase.
• Offers shipping? No
• Sells shochu? No
• Offers classes? No
• Offers a club/membership? No
• Bilingual? No, unless Taiko is in
• Other: Sake Nomi specializes in premium sake, or "tokutei meisho-shu." Johnny has a pretty classic palate, and you can notice a preference for established and traditional craft breweries.

Sunflower Sake, Portland, OR

website: www.sunflowersake.com (you're already here!)
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunflowersake

Sunflower Sake is a retail store, kaku-uchi, educational center, and online store. At the shop you can do free tastings before buying a bottle, or you can order a flight, glass pour or half glass, as well as a menu of fresh bar bites and a selection of pre-packaged Japanese otsumami (bar snacks). Sunflower is not as much of a bar environment, more of a tasting room, being very education-focused. Biweekly Wednesday sake classes, introductory 101 courses, private and industry classes are among the offerings, as well as providing guests with as much sake information as they could possibly want. Sunflower also hosts the only sake festival in the PNW, Fuyu Fest, focused on tasting, learning, and exploration.

• Selection: ~250-300 SKU's
• Offers on-premise flights/glass pours? Yes
• Offers tastings? Complimentary tastings are available at any time for guests deciding on a bottle for purchase. Very occasionally, free tastings are hosted for visiting brewers.
• Offers kanzake (hot sake)? Yes, seasonally
• Offers shipping? Yes, most states
• Offers cool shipping? Yes, ice + insulation
• Shipping rates? Flat rate up to a case: $30 ground, $45 2-day with ice and insulation in Summer, $150 overnight
• Sells shochu? No
• Offers classes? Yes, every other week (Wednesday Lessons series), private classes, and an annual Sake 101/201 class.
• Offers a club/membership? Yes, monthly and quarterly options.
• Bilingual? No
• Other: specializes in small producers, one cups, 'natural' and modern sake. Often, special hand-carry bottles are available behind the bar to taste and explore.

True Sake, San Francisco, CA

website: https://www.truesake.com
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truesake

Established 2002 in Hayes Valley, True Sake is a retail and online store only, but America's first! Sake brewers and professionals who visit the US always make a stop at True Sake, so their schedule of drop-in tastings is usually pretty busy and populated with some of the biggest names in the industry. Beau Timken, the mind behind the shop, is a lifelong sake fanatic and while he's often in the shop, you're more likely to run into Mei, who is the shop manager and equally obsessed. After 20 years in their original tiny location, True Sake moved into a larger space next door and was able to increase their number of SKU's and move ~50% of their sake to refrigerated storage. While they only occasionally do in-shop tastings for visiting brewers, the staff are very knowledgeable. In addition, True Sake hosts the largest sake festival in the US, Sake Day, which takes place on a Saturday around October 1 every year.

• Selection? 350-400 SKU's
• Offers on-premise flights/glass pours? No
• Offers tastings? Occasionally
• Offers shipping? Yes, most states
• Offers cool shipping? No
• Shipping rates? Rates are passed through from carriers and vary with package size and weight. 1.8L are not eligible for shipping
• Sells shochu? No
• Offers classes? No
• Offers a club/membership? No
• Bilingual?
• Other: As this sake shop has a wide-ranging (but tight knit!) staff, tastes are equally a reflection of their diverse crew. Selections run the gamut from classics, mass produced, to tiny craft breweries. True Sake's monthly newsletter is the best way to get regular updates.

Sake Secret, Long Beach, CA

website: www.sakesecret.com
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sakesecret

Sake Secret is a retailer, kaku-uchi, and educational center with about a dozen seats, a menu of bar bites, and a selection of pre-packaged Japanese otsumami (bar snacks). The shop also has a private room which can be booked for a private event, or is regularly utilized for pop-up dinners, classes and tastings. The bar offers a variety of different glass pours and flights, often themed around educational subjects such as regionality or production method. Some Japanese beer is also available. Owner Greg Beck is always behind the bar, answering questions and teaching about sake. The event schedule is full of educational tastings, pop-ups, and visitors from afar, so be sure to give it a look when you're in the Long Beach area. Most sake is stored under refrigeration so the bottles tend to be very fresh. Sake Secret is also the host of Long Beach Sake Day, a festival which takes place on a Saturday close to October 1st annually.

• Sake selection? ~150 SKU's
• Offers on-premise flights/glass pours? Yes
• Offers kanzake (hot sake)? Yes
• Offers tastings? Yes, often
• Offers shipping? No
• Sells shochu? Yes
• Offers classes? Occasionally
• Offers a club/membership? Yes, quarterly, monthly, and premium monthly options
• Bilingual? Yes, Japanese/English
• Other: Greg spent several years in Japan under the JET program and is fluent in Japanese, making his visiting brewer tastings even more interesting, as he can translate for you. He also worked for the LA-based sake and Japanese goods importer Mutual Trading, which is reflected in the strong selection of Mutual imports and the frequent visits from Mutual's visiting brewery owners.

Sakaya, East Village, New York, NY

website: www.sakayanyc.com
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sakayanyc

Established 2007 in NY's East Village, Sakaya was NYC's first sake specialist retailer. They've since launched an online shop with ~200 selections. Their degree of curation and tiny space means we see fewer selections than other shops, but closer management of each one, and lots of rotation. Rick spent 10 years as associate publisher of Food & Wine Magazine before opening Sakaya, and one of their signatures is a frequently updated Instagram feed of home dinner pairing photos. Hiroko was born and raised in Japan, and is an expert connoisseur in her own right.

• Sake selection? ~100-150 SKU's
• Offers on-premise flights/glass pours? No
• Offers tastings? Occasionally
• Offers shipping? Yes, most states
• Offers cool shipping? No. Shipping is unavailable in August
• Shipping rates: Rates are passed through from carriers and vary with package size and weight. 
• Sells shochu? Yes
• Offers classes? No
• Offers a club/membership? Yes, monthly 2-4-6 bottle options
• Bilingual? Yes, Japanese/English (when Hiroko is in)
• Other: In addition to enjoying sake, Hiroko and Rick are also avid wine lovers, particularly given Rick's tenure at Food & Wine Magazine. Consider them knowledgeable on pairing and bottle advice for customers who also love wine, drawing from a wider frame of reference on drinks in general. Be sure to also check their schedule before coming as the duo jet-sets to far-off locales periodically, and having no employees closes during those periods,

Other liquor stores that specialize in sake

Umami Mart, Oakland, CA

website: www.umamimart.com
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/umamimart

Established in 2012, Umami Mart is a retailer, kaku-uchi, and online store, with drinks inventory split between shochu, Japanese whisky, and sake. The store has an impressive selection of Japanese bar ware, including fine Japanese glassware, mixology tools and kitchen wares. The bar menu is heavily weighted to spirits, so the shochu/awamori pour list is truly fantastic, plus a rotating selection of ~4-6 sake available by the glass as well as tea. Umami Mart hosts food pop-ups periodically as well as many community events, so it's a great spot to keep on your radar for visits to the Bay Area.

• Selection? ~150 SKU's
• Offers on-premise flights/glass pours? Yes
• Offers tastings? Often
• Offers kanzake (hot sake)? Yes
• Offers shipping? Yes, most states
• Offers cool shipping? No
• Shipping rates? Rates are passed through from carriers and vary with package size and weight. 
• Offers classes? Occasionally, and private classes are available.
• Offers a club/membership? Yes, both sake and shochu clubs. Corkage is free for club members.
• Other: AAPI and woman-owned, by a team of two Japanese-American women who have been friends since they attended the same Cupertino, CA high school together. Umami Mart started as their Japanese food and drinks blog in 2007, and evolved into a shop in 2012. Yoko directs the sake program while Kayoko directs the spirits program.

Konbini and Kanpai, Lakeview & Wrigleyville, Chicago, IL

website: www.konbiniandkanpai.com
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/konbiniandkanpai/

Established 2021 by a brother and sister team born and raised in Chicago, Konbini and Kanpai is generalist liquor store specializing in Asian drinks, with a passion for Japanese sake. In order of range you can find sake (all refrigerated!), beer, wine, Asian spirits, N/A, and a hefty selection of Japanese snacks. There are indoor tables with elevated stools (about 15-20 seats) where you can get a glass or flight from their by the glass menu, or you can attend one of their frequent tastings or food events.

• Selection? ~120 SKU's
• Offers on-premise flights/glass pours? Yes
• Offers tastings? Yes, both wine and sake tastings are frequently scheduled.
• Offers kanzake (hot sake)? No
• Offers shipping? No
• Offers cool shipping? No
• Sells shochu? Yes
• Offers classes? No
• Offers a club/membership? Yes, local only: sake and wine clubs are available
• Other: Konbini and Kanpai is AAPI-owned, and has a second location opening as well.

Landmark Wine & Spirits/ Minoru's Sake Shop, NY, NY

website: www.wineon23.com
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/minorunyc

Established 2018 as a shop-within-a-shop in Chelsea, NY, Minoru's Sake Shop is the sake arm of Landmark Wine & Spirits. I don't know too much of the story, but when I visited NY I spoke to the owner of Landmark, who was managing the shop and didn't know a lot about sake. With that said, Minoru's specializes in Fukushima sake as well as select producers (Dassai, Kagatobi), but does carry a pretty wide array of bottles and hosts tasting events periodically. It can get a little warm inside (at least their old location, haven't been to the new one), so give the bottling dates a quick look and select something fresh.

• Selection? ~100-150 SKU's
• Offers on-premise flights/glass pours? No
• Offers tastings? Occasionally
• Offers kanzake (hot sake)? No
• Offers shipping? No
• Offers cool shipping? No
• Sells shochu? Yes
• Offers classes? No
• Offers a club/membership? No

Bin Bin Sake, Brooklyn, NY

website: www.binbinsake.com
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/binbinsake

Established 2022, Bin Bin is the micro-shop spinoff of the sizeable Japanese-American bistro-izakaya Rule of Thirds. The two concepts share a building along with a large event space which is frequently utilized for some of the city's most interesting tastings, events, sake/wine fests and classes. Bin Bin is a self-professed "sake shop for natural wine lovers" and sells everything from the humble Kikusui Funaguchi cup to the near-full line of 'natural' selections from natural wine importer Zev Rovine. About 50% of the shelf space is allocated to sake and the other half to natural wine, cider, shochu and Japanese spirits.

• Selection? ~70-100 SKU's
• Offers on-premise flights/glass pours? No (see neighboring restaurant Rule of Thirds)
• Offers tastings? Yes, frequently
• Offers kanzake (hot sake)? No
• Offers shipping? Yes
• Shipping rates? $10 local NYC delivery, flat rate $25 east of the Mississippi, $35 west
• Offers cool shipping? No
• Sells shochu? Yes
• Offers classes? Yes, occasionally
• Offers a club/membership? Yes, Sake+Sake and Sake+Wine options
• Other: Co-founder George Padilla has a long history in restaurant management focusing on Japanese concepts, and this Sunday Hospitality space has really taken on a life of its own under his direction. I can't talk up the events and tastings enough, if such a thing exists this is the "cool" sake shop in the city, always friendly and always pushing the boundary on conversations around sake and beverage.

Kuraichi, Brooklyn, NY

website: www.kuraichibk.com
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kuraichibk

Established 2019 in the Industry City Japan Village complex, just a block or two down from the NY brewery Brooklyn Kura, Kuraichi is the cozy retail shop of Sam Miyazawa, a passionate proponent of Japanese spirits and sake. He's always hosting free (or donation only) tastings, sharing new things, and encouraging people to get in through the door and try something new.

• Selection? ~250 SKU's
• Offers on-premise flights/glass pours? No
• Offers tastings? Free Saturday tastings + others as announced (+ lots of shochu/spirits just open to taste a little bit on the house!)
• Offers kanzake (hot sake)? No
• Offers shipping? No
• Delivery rates? Free pickup from partnering NYC Sunrise Mart locations, free delivery over $200
• Sells shochu? Yes
• Offers classes? No
• Offers a club/membership? No
• Other: Owner Sam might be the most knowledgeable Japanese spirits retailer in all of NY, with an impressive collection of Japanese gin, whisky, shochu and more, & a sixth sense for recommendations. They also have one of the best selections of umeshu, yuzushu, and other sake cordials perhaps in the whole US. His sake selection really runs the gamut from inexpensive futsushu (but his favorite version!) to premium junmai daiginjo, and a thoughtful assortment in between. Being bilingual, Sam's tastings are great to learn at as he can translate for his Japanese-speaking guest brewers. The shop is roughly split 60-40 between sake and spirits.

Online-only sake retailers

You'd be justified in saying, "of course a specialist retailer is ideal! But since there are only a handful in the entire United States, what should I do if I don't live near one?" Thankfully, a number of the above small retailers also ship throughout the US, and in addition, there are online-only sake retailers that specialize in optimizing the ecommerce experience. Small retailers excel in personalized service and expert curation, but are always going to be constrained by supply compared to large online retailers. The financial pressure of a brick and mortar also limits their ability to optimize online sales and design pricing, subscriptions, and educational materials for an online audience. Finally, the Japanese government has made significant funding and investment available to online retailers, but not brick and mortar retailers. As a result, some online retailers have enjoyed a very strong head start.

In our next article, we'll talk about online retailer options and describe the services and strong points of a selection of front-runners.