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12 best sakés for sipping this summer, tried and tested
Because saké is not just for sushi
Tested by Callum BlackFood and Drink Testing Manager
Keen to freshen up your drinks trolley? We suggest exploring the wonderful world of saké. The fermented Japanese drink is becoming increasingly popular in the UK, popping up in restaurants and bars across the country.
Perfect for sipping as an aperitif, mixing into cocktails with gin, vodka or whisky or pairing with sushi or other Japanese dishes, it's a super versatile drink to add to your repertoire.
Best saké 2025
These are our experts’ top picks at a glance but keep scrolling for our full reviews and everything you need to know about the world of saké.
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Whether you’re a saké newbie looking for an introduction to the tipple, or a seasoned sipper wanting to expand your repertoire, we have options ranging from the entry level price of £14.75 right up to the more luxe £57.44.
To help you find the very best bottle for your drinks trolley, the Good Housekeeping Institute enlisted a panel of WSET-accredited experts and consumers to try a range of the market leaders.
Score: 90/100
From Britain's first toji brew master, Phillip Harper, this is a deliciously savoury saké, which has hints of nutty almond.
Fermented and funky, like miso paste, its deep umami “Marmite” flavour means it will complement a wide range of dishes. Our testers enjoyed the lingering bitterness and thought it would be “exceptional” warmed up.
Key specifications:
| Volume: | 72cl |
|---|---|
| ABV: | 16% |
Score: 88/100
You know saké has gone mainstream when you can pick it up in your weekly Ocado shop. Well, we're delighted, because Dreamsake's beautiful bottle is on permanant rotation in our kitchen right now.
It has a beautiful fresh aroma, reminiscent of a crisp white wine, with notes of citrus and grapefruit. Big, bold umami flavour follows, with a champagne-like brioche note. We'll be pairing this with barbecued, meaty fish this summer. Cheers!
Key specifications
| Volume: | 75cl |
|---|---|
| ABV: | 15% |
Score: 87/100
This bottle is created by fourth generation rice farmers in California who use Yamada Nishiki rice, a short grain that’s famous for producing high quality saké.
Its complex aromas include malty notes and savoury umami flavours. Our testers described it as “very clean and fresh” with notes of melon, walnut and citrus. They enjoyed the “beautifully balanced, light fermentation tang” on the finish.
Key specifications:
| Volume: | 75cl |
|---|---|
| ABV: | 15.5% |
Score: 85/100
KAY saké is currently stocked in around 70 bars in the UK – including Kwant, Mayfair, where they serve it in a spectacular sea urchin martini.
We love the approachability of this saké, which comes with three easy serving suggestions on the reverse of the bottle – offering invaluable intel to newbies.
Our experts enjoyed the grapefruit and guava on the nose, which develops into a more savoury flavour on the palate. Crisp, light and fresh, saké martinis for the win!
Key specifications
| Volume: | 72cl |
|---|---|
| ABV: | 15.8% |
Score: 85/100
With notes of fresh red apple and hints of banana, this is a rich, elegant saké. It’s silky on the palate with a cool vibrant finish and a gentle minerality. The initial sweetness leads to a savoury flavour with the muted aftertaste of starchy sweet grains.
Key specifications
| Volume: | 72cl |
|---|---|
| ABV: | 15% |
Score: 84/100
Made by macerating yuzu (a fragrant East Asian fruit) in saké, this bottle is packed with layers of tart citrus – think lemon zest, grapefruit peel and lemongrass.
Our testers praised the enjoyable “authentic yuzu flavour.” Simultaneously sweet and sharp, it would make the palate cleanser after spicy food. We’ll also be keeping a bottle on standby to add citrus complexity to our margaritas this summer.
Key specifications:
| Volume: | 50cl |
|---|---|
| ABV: | 10% |
Score: 80/100
This is made by the London saké company Kanpai, which has a brewery in London Bridge.
It's been aged on the lees and then bottled with traces of fine rice sediments, resulting in a balanced funkiness that's rounded out by a melon sweetness, ending with a yogurt-like finish. Testers thought it would work really well with umami meaty dishes like a spicy beef curry or fried chicken.
Key specifications:
| Volume: | 40cl |
|---|---|
| ABV: | 13% |
Score: 79/100
With an initial lemon freshness leading to yeasty back notes, this medium bodied saké is made from Yamadanishiki rice grown in the Hyogo Prefecture.
Our testers thought it was an accessible saké for beginners, thanks to its miso-esque aroma and subtle sweetness. They also praised its “lovely balancing bitterness” and “long-lasting citrus flavours”.
Key specifications:
| Volume: | 72cl |
|---|---|
| ABV: 38% | 17% |
Score: 78/100
If you’re keen to sample a floral saké, this is the one for you. Delicate and elegant with a mineral quality, this combines floral notes with subtle hints of pear and honeydew melon. Its fairly short finish has pleasantly sweet flavours too.
It would pair excellently with scallops and seafood and is the most affordable bottle on our list.
Key specifications:
| Volume: | 30cl |
|---|---|
| ABV: | 15% |
Score: 70/100
This saké’s modern, electric blue bottle sets it apart from the rest. Aside from aesthetics, it also stands out for the brand’s use of deep ocean water instead of mountain spring water in its brewing process.
There are fresh notes of lemon and hints of pear and testers though it would be best served chilled alongside seafood, including grilled prawns, calamari rings and oysters.
Key specifications:
| Volume: | 72cl |
|---|---|
| ABV: | 15% |
Score: 70/100
Hailing from the Akita Prefecture, this saké is very delicate on the nose, with light aromas of apple, pear, blossom, melon and some honeysuckle.
The palate follows suit – very dry with flavours of pear drop, grass, butter and melon, this is best sipped chilled on a warm day.
Key specifications:
| Volume: | 72cl |
|---|---|
| ABV: | 14% |
Score: 70/100
If the aim of the game is to impress your guests, this saké filled with swirling gold flakes will do just that.
Unusually for saké, it has a warming kick from the slightly higher (16%) ABV, which is then balanced with honey sweetness and a hint of lychee and cotton candy. Its rich savoury notes mean it would pair well with seafood.
Key specifications:
| Volume: | 72cl |
|---|---|
| ABV: | 16% |
How we test saké
Our panel of WSET-accredited testers tried 14 different sakés. To avoid any bias, each one was tasted blind, first neat and then with water, which softens the alcohol and helps testers to taste the more subtle flavours.
As the flavour can be so varied, we weren’t looking for one particular profile, but in order to make it onto our list, the saké needed to be of good quality, have an enjoyable mouthfeel and be a pleasure to drink.
Why trust the Good Housekeeping Institute?
The Good Housekeeping Institute has been testing products for over 100 years, so we have plenty of experience to determine the best products within a category.
Whether it’s pulling apart home appliances, trying buzzy beauty buys or analysing essential parenting buys, our dedicated teams are experts in their fields. They design strict testing protocols based on how you use and enjoy products at home, to ensure fair and unbiased results.
Senior food and drink editor, Stacey Smith, looks after all food and drink reviews, drawing on her extensive knowledge of the wine and spirits industry. She works closely with Callum Black, the Good Housekeeping Institute's food and drink testing manager, who organises the taste test, and together, they find the best bottle for every budget.
Replenish your drinks trolley with more expert-tested reviews
What kind of drink is saké?
Japan's national drink is a brewed alcohol made from fermented rice. It isn't distilled in the same way as spirits, which means it has a much lower ABV – it’s typically closer to that of wine and fortified wines, sitting somewhere between 11% and 16%.
As rice is the main ingredient, sakés are also naturally gluten-free.
How is saké made?
There are only four ingredients used in saké: rice, water, koji (a traditional Japanese fungus) and yeast.Like many of Japan's best creations, saké production requires some serious skill and precision from the toji (brew master).
There are 12 stages, including soaking, pressing, filtration and ageing. But the most important is the first step: polishing. This involves milling fresh rice grains by removing the tougher outer husks which are proteins and fats to reveal their starch-rich centres, known as the white hearts.
What does saké taste like?
The flavour profiles of sakés can vary dramatically, depending on how polished the grains are.
Often, the more polished the rice, the more premium and delicate the saké will be, so expect a clean finish that’s light and easy to drink. For sakés made with less polished grains, expect bigger, bolder and more umami-like flavours.
How a saké tastes also depends on how it is brewed by the toji and the flavour of the ingredients used. This is quite different to wine, where flavour also comes from the terroir and what the barrels it's aged in are made from.
The temperature it's served at also affects the taste. Chilled sakés are more likely to taste fresh, light and fruity. More premium sakés are often served chilled. Those served warmer are likely to be fuller in flavour and are often the cheaper varieties, as heating them slightly improves the taste.
What are the different types of saké?
Saké comes in many forms, including sparkling, aged, light, cloudy, fruity, floral and savoury, but there are five main types, which have slightly different flavour profiles and are largely down to the polishing ratio. The smaller the number, the smaller the rice kernel is.
- The most premium sakés are Ginjo and Daiginjo, which have been polished to 60% and 50% respectively. This finer milling creates a highly fragrant and light drink.
- Honjozo is an entry level premium saké, is usually very well balanced and delicate, and has savoury flavours.
- Junmai means "purely rice" and doesn't refer to a milling ratio, but when it is used in conjunction with Daiginjo or Ginjo, it means the saké hasn't been fortified with alcohol. These will usually have elegant fruity and floral notes.
- Lastly, Futsu is essentially a table saké, as the rice hasn't been polished much at all – this is what the majority of saké sold is classified as.
Do you drink saké straight?
Yes, you can drink it straight, in the same way you would enjoy whisky, as it’s designed for sipping. However, while each saké will come with its own preferred serve method, it’s really up to you.
Mix it into cocktails or serve it with tonic water and garnish with some crisp green apple slices. It also pairs really well with food, especially spicy dishes and seafood, working to both intensify and bring out the flavours in the food, as well as acting as a palate cleanser.
Verdict
Tamagawa Tokubetsu Junmal is a premium, authentic bottle, which deservedly took the top spot in our test.
However, for something a little more approachable, we recommend KAY saké, which comes with helpful, easy serving suggestions on the bottle.
Looking for a gift? Try Kita No Homare with real gold flakes!
And if you're tempted by saké, but don't want to splurge before you're certain you like it, try this 30cl bottle by Dewazakura Oka Ginjo, which will set you back just £14.75.
Stacey looks after all food and drink reviews — from coffee pods and veg boxes, to natural wine and tequila. Stacey is also founder of Crummbs, where she’s written nearly 2,000 restaurant and hotel reviews since 2013. Prior to this, Stacey wrote hundreds of in-depth buying guides for the Independent, i newspaper and BBC Good Food, as well as reviewing restaurants and interviewing celebrities in her column at Balance Magazine. Stacey has also appeared in BAFTA-nominated BBC documentary Blood, Sweat & Takeaways, where she investigated South East Asia's food production industry, appearing on both Newsnight and BBC World Service to share her findings. Regularly checking out the latest restaurants, bars and product launches, Stacey also loves experimenting with recipes at home, and is a WSET-certified wine and spirits expert, with over 10 years of experience in the business. You can follow Stacey on Instagram @crummbs_uk
Callum is our Food and Drink Testing Manager and has been part of the world of professional catering for 10 years, from cheffing to food manufacturing. While working in manufacturing he specialised in bespoke product and menu development for several start-ups and well-known brands such as Wrap It Up! and HOP Vietnamese. He holds the WSET Level 2 in wine, a Level 3 in spirits and has a particular interest in agave spirits.
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