TYKU was founded in 2004 by Kirk Spahn and Trenton Ulicny, two Columbia graduate students who set out to make sake as easy to pick up as a bottle of wine, with a sleek modern bottle, plain-English labels and an everyday price, and drew investors from Cee Lo Green to chef Todd English along the way. The sake behind the bottle is serious: it is brewed in Nara Prefecture, the birthplace of sake, by Umenoyado Brewery, founded in 1893, from four ingredients only, rice, water, yeast and koji, with no sulfites, tannins or gluten.

The range is color-coded by grade. White is the Premium junmai, crisp with subtle pear and a Platinum Medal winner at the World Wine Competition. Black is the Super Premium junmai ginjo, polished to 60 percent with peach and vanilla on the nose. Silver is the Ultra Premium junmai daiginjo, polished to 50 percent, floral with banana and vanilla, and a Double Gold winner at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. Red Flower is the special-edition tokubetsu junmai, soft and slightly sweet in a bottle the color of good fortune.

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