5 Brands Bringing Creative Flair to the RTD Cocktail Category with Sake
Sake has recently emerged as a new player in the rapidly expanding ready-to-drink beverage category. (As reported by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States in February, cocktail and RTD revenue rose 42.3% YOY from 2020 to 2021.) Single serve sake cans and jars (also known as “cup sake”) have been available in Japanese restaurants and vending machines for years, but competitors in the RTD game prize the low alcohol level and clean flavor of the fermented rice beverage as an ingredient in creative new cocktails in cans. Here are 5 brands worthy of your attention.
We Sake
“What we’re trying to do is just make sake more accessible, and something that can be enjoyed not only at the Japanese place but also into more [types of] social occasions,” says Pablo Rivera, founder of We Sake, who brand and distribute 4-pack 200ml cans of Japanese brewed Junmai Ginjo sake. “The can really opens up the idea…that I can take it on the go.” Served chilled, the sake fits easily in a cooler or tote, is made from just four ingredients (rice, koji, water, and yeast) and is naturally gluten free.
Hapē Sake Spritzes
When college pals Zee Bronfman and Nate Medow set out to make a low calorie, low carb hard seltzer with no added sugar, they turned to sake and fruit juices to create the innovative flavors they were looking for. “All the data we were seeing was showing that sake was growing faster than almost any other alcohol in the world,” says Bronfman. “It was having the kind of moment that mezcal had about a decade ago.” The result: Hape Sake Spritzes in 3 appealing natural flavors, packed in pretty 355 ml cans that come in at a manageable 4.5% ABV. We loved sipping the not sweet hibiscus lemonade and the citrus-y grapefruit elderflower on the patio, and the yuzu green tea brought refreshing Arnold Palmer vibes.
Death & Co
DrinkFellows collaborated with Death & Co, the pioneering NYC bar that influenced the craft cocktail movement, and the Crafts Spirits Cooperative to launch a line of niche canned RTD’s. The Aurora Highball combines sake, vodka, and pear brandy with green tea and mint for a low alcohol sparkler.
The team chose to include sake in the mix, says Devon Tarby, co-owner of Death & Co, for its crispness and lighter alcohol content. “When exploring flavor profiles for low ABV options, we decided that we wanted to lean more in the direction of crisp hard seltzers than spritz style cocktails, so we needed a low ABV ingredient that would not impart too much bitterness or acidity. The [junmai] style of sake we chose has an almost cooling quality to it, reminiscent of fresh cucumber, which seemed like a natural pairing for the core flavors. The Aurora Highball was designed to be the most sessionable of all three flavors, sort of our answer to the hard seltzer craze. We wanted something…maximally refreshing, and…splitting the vodka base with sake allows us to take up volume with a lower ABV ingredient…while adding a layer of crisp, mineral flavor. The subtlety of the two together then creates an ideal foundation for the core flavors of green tea, pear, and mint to shine through.”
Vervet
The folks at Vervet, the Los Angeles craft cocktail company, recently introduced Vervet Tōyō, the fifth can in their sparkly lineup, a sake, and tonic-based drink shot through with flavors of yuzu, kumquat, and fragrant holy basil. On top of their housemade tonic syrup, the mixologists in residence add Cascade hops for bitterness, but, similar to DrinkFellows, keep the ABV at just 4% by using locally made Sawtelle Sake as their hooch of choice.
Kiko
Alex Baez and Josh Davis worked together at a DC ramen restaurant and enjoyed playing with sake as a cocktail component behind the bar. For the past couple of years, they’ve served their Sake Lemonade at big pop-up events like Ramen World, and in May they launched the first of three tasty flavors (for DC metro pick-up only to start). They worked with a food scientist to help produce a shelf-stable yuzu compound (says Alex, “it makes a little fresh yuzu juice go a lot further.”) Coming soon is a hibiscus and baking spice-infused sake drink, inspired by sorrel, the Caribbean Christmas punch, and a green tea and ginger Matcha Mule should prove their assertion that sake is truly “a great spirit for cocktails.”