Sake gifts
Sake makes an unusually good present. It's a drink most people are curious about and few have explored, it arrives with a story attached, and it doesn't need any special equipment to enjoy. Below are the gifts we'd choose ourselves, grouped by budget, whether you're buying for a curious beginner or someone who already knows their junmai from their daiginjo.
Every order can carry a gift message, and we'll deliver straight to the recipient if you'd rather it arrived as a surprise.
Three that always land
Size: 5 x 300ml + optional Carafe and cups | ABV: 5-15%
In 3 words: Adventure Starts Here
From the four corners of Japan, we bring you this diverse and delicious bundle of half-bottle sake, alongside a handy serving set, to get your sake beginners adventure on the road. We’ve chosen five top brews that together showcase the wide variety of styles and flavours this unique drink has to offer. Including: a premium aromatic daiginjo, a rich Junmai (that tastes incredible when warmed), sweet refreshing bubbles and the unique taste of Ume (Japanese plums).
This is the perfect gift for that special someone who enjoys a quality drop, but is looking for something a little new and different.
Grades: Junmai Daiginjo, Ginjo, Junmai, Sparkling, Umeshu
Awards: IWC Gold (2016), IWC Champion Sake (2017)
The Ultimate Sake Starter Set: five small bottles across five styles, with a carafe and cups. The single best introduction we sell.
Intro to Sake Tasting Set: the same idea in a smaller, lower-cost package.
A Sumo sake subscription: a new discovery arriving every month, which beats one bottle that's gone by Sunday.
Under £40
Small but properly chosen. Good for a secret santa, a thank-you or a stocking.
London Sake Customer Favourites Set: the bottles our customers reorder most, in miniature.
Asahara Shuzo Nigori Fruit Liqueur Set: two cloudy fruit liqueurs, sweet and easy to like. A good gift for someone who doesn't usually drink sake.
White Abacus Sake Set with Four Cups: a carafe and four cups, so they can serve it properly.
Blue Dragonfly Sake Set with Four Cups: the same idea with a bit more colour.
A Samurai sake subscription: our smallest subscription, and the lowest-cost way to give something that keeps arriving.
£40 to £75
The sweet spot. This is where the multi-bottle tasting sets live, and they're the gifts people remember, because the recipient gets to compare styles side by side.
Intro to Sake Tasting Set: three sakes chosen to show how different the styles are.
Daiginjo Sake Tasting Set: three of the most refined, aromatic sakes we stock. For someone who likes a crisp white wine.
Sweet + Bubbly Sake Tasting Set: sparkling and sweeter styles, and the easiest set to enjoy with no prior knowledge.
Sommelier Tasting Collection: Sparkling: a step up in quality, for a celebration.
The Ultimate Sushi Night Sake Set: pairs with a takeaway, so it's a gift and an evening in one.
Kubota Signature Half-Bottle Set: three half-bottles from one of Japan's best-known breweries.
Fruit Sake Set: two full-size bottles of plum and yuzu sake.
Blue 'Hana' Cherry Blossom Sake Set: hand-finished ceramics, and the prettiest thing to unwrap.
Shochu Cup Pair with Gift Box: two cups that arrive boxed and ready to give.
The Ultimate Sake Starter Set: five bottles, five styles, carafe and cups.
£75 to £150
Serious gifts. A brewery set takes the recipient inside one house's range, which is a far more interesting evening than three unrelated bottles.
Dassai Signature Half-Bottle Set: the three Dassai grades side by side, the most recognised name in modern sake.
Shichiken Brewery Tasting Set: three full bottles from a brewery famous for its water.
Japanese Sake and Whisky Set: for the whisky drinker you'd like to convert.
Sommelier Tasting Collection: Warm Sake: built around styles that come alive gently warmed. A winter gift.
Sommelier Tasting Collection: Kimoto: traditional-method sakes, rich and savoury. For the one who's already into it.
Suigei Brewery Tasting Set: three bottles from Kochi's "drunken whale".
Tedorigawa Brewery Tasting Set: the Ishikawa brewery from the film The Birth of Saké.
The Ultimate Sushi Night Sake Set, 3 x 720ml: the full-size version, for a dinner party.
Kubota Manju Junmai Daiginjo 720ml: a single, beautiful bottle from Kubota's top range.
Urakasumi 'M' Junmai Daiginjo 720ml: Urakasumi's prized, limited super-premium sake.
Dassai 23 DEX Junmai Daiginjo 720ml: Dassai 23 in its DEX bottling, a collector's talking point.
Nikka Japanese Spirits Set: whisky, gin and vodka, if sake isn't their thing at all.
£150 and over
For a milestone, a thank-you that needs to mean something, or a sake drinker who already has plenty.
Masumi Nanago Yamahai Junmai Daiginjo 720ml: a yamahai junmai daiginjo with the minerality of a fine white wine.
Sohomare Brewery Tasting Set: four bottles from a Tochigi brewery known for its traditional kimoto sakes.
Ultra Premium Junmai Daiginjo Set: three of the finest bottles in the shop, together.
Kubota Brewery Tasting Set: the full sweep of a legendary Niigata house.
Dassai Beyond Ultra Premium Junmai Daiginjo 720ml: Dassai's flagship, and a bottle that needs no explanation to anyone who knows sake.
Kubota Tsugu Ultra Premium Junmai Daiginjo 720ml: Kubota's ultra-premium Tsugu. The most special thing we sell.
Give a sake subscription
If you want the gift to last, a subscription is the one. A new selection arrives each month with tasting notes, so it teaches as it goes — and it solves the problem of buying for someone who's hard to buy for.
Samurai: a small bottle each month. The easy way in.
Sumo: a full-size bottle each month, for someone who's properly interested.
Both come in three, six and twelve-month lengths, so you can match it to your budget.
Cups, carafes and serving sets
An easy gift on its own, and a good way to lift a bottle into a present. Drinking sake from the right cup genuinely changes the experience, and a carafe makes warming it simple.
How gifting works
Add a gift message at checkout and we'll include it in the parcel.
Send it straight to them by entering their address as the delivery address.
Arrives gift-ready: [ADD: which sets and cups come in their own presentation box].
Christmas delivery: [ADD: last order dates].
Not sure what to choose? Email us and we'll help you pick for the person you have in mind.
Still deciding?
Our guide to choosing your sake walks through styles and occasions, sake and food covers what to drink with what, and how to store sake explains how long a bottle keeps — useful if you're buying ahead.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good sake gift for someone who has never tried it?
A tasting set. Several small bottles in different styles let them find what they like without committing to one full bottle, and the tasting notes explain what they're drinking. Our Intro to Sake Tasting Set and Ultimate Sake Starter Set are both built for exactly this.
How much should I spend on a sake gift?
Around £40–£75 buys a proper multi-bottle tasting set, which is the sweet spot for most gifts. Under £40 gets you a smaller set or a pair of ceramic cups. Above £150 you're into rare, single-brewery bottles that a sake drinker will recognise.
Can you deliver a gift straight to the recipient?
Yes. Enter their address as the delivery address at checkout, and add a gift message so they know who it's from.
Do you include a gift message?
Yes — there's a box at checkout for your message, and it goes in the parcel.
Does sake keep, or does it need drinking straight away?
Most sake keeps happily for months unopened if it's somewhere cool and dark, so it's a safe gift to buy ahead. Unpasteurised (nama) and sparkling bottles need the fridge. Our storage guide has the detail.
What if they don't know anything about sake?
That's the best reason to buy it. Every set arrives with tasting notes, and our Learn Sake guides cover serving, temperature and food pairing in plain English.