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Palate Project: Japanese sake imported directly from the breweries

  • Three sake bottles with two limited-edition ceramic coasters inspired by Japanese omamori charms

    Halloween special

    • $200+order
    • 2ceramic coasters
    • 2EVLcode

    Halloween special: Free coasters with order $200+

    Limited-edition, inspired by Japanese protective “omamori” charms against evil. Claim 2 ceramic coasters with code 2EVL at checkout. (Appears as $0.01 off order. Code expires when sold out.)

    Shop with code
  • A hand reaches for one of three sake mini-bottles beside the Sake Flight gift box, three cups and a tasting mat on a warm yellow backdrop in window light, with two autumn maple leaves

    The Sake Flight

    • 4.8rating
    • 1,800+shipped
    • No. 1bestseller
    Sake Flight

    The Original

    Three sips of Japan for the holidays

    Mini-bottles, cups and a guided tasting, ready to give. $89, shipping included.

    See what’s inside
  • Ten bottles from our latest container lined up on a terracotta paper backdrop

    In this container

    • 31breweries
    • 61exclusive labels
    • 5,148fresh bottles
    Stamp: Kobe to Los Angeles, arrived Sept. 30, 2026, by sea

    Just landed: 61 labels found nowhere else

    Container No. 4 arrived in LA Sept. 30. Straight from 31 breweries, now in stock.

    See what arrived

  • Palate Project, formerly Tippsy

    • 4.8rating
    • 2,700+reviews
    • 30+breweries, direct from Japan

    The sake you’ve been looking for

    It’s out there in Japan, made by a brewery you’ve never heard of. Our team there spends the year finding the delicious ones, and we import them ourselves. Nobody in between.

    See how it gets hereShop Direct Imports

Halloween special

  • $200+order
  • 2ceramic coasters
  • 2EVLcode

Palate Project exclusives

Hakutaka “Mini-Barrel” front view Hakutaka “Mini-Barrel” side view

Hakutaka - Mini-Barrel

$38.00

Takashimizu “Honjozo” Takashimizu “Honjozo” front label

Takashimizu - Honjozo

$23.00

Izumiryu Yahiko “Junmai Ginjo” Izumiryu Yahiko “Junmai Ginjo” front label

Izumiryu Yahiko - Junmai Ginjo

$43.00

Koshi no Hakugan “Kuromatsu” Koshi no Hakugan “Kuromatsu” front label

Koshi no Hakugan - Kuromatsu

$24.00

What people order most

4.6

Free shipping on two or more bottles.

Shop Direct Imports

New to sake?

Start with three mini‑bottles

4.8

Three sake, three different profiles. Taste, guess, then read what it was. $89, shipping included.

Shop the Sake Flight

Send a gift

Send sake, or let them choose

Gift sets ship in a box. E-gifts arrive by email the same day.

Shop gifts

Most of Japan’s sake never leaves Japan

About 1,100 breweries make sake. Roughly 300 have reached America. The challenge? How to open up the U.S. to many small craft breweries for the first time, without sacrificing quality.

800never had a route here300have reached the U.S.30+sell to us directly

So we became the importer

A ginjo that sells for about $10 in Japan reaches you at $45. Every company that handles it along the way takes a margin. Our partner in Japan is Kokubu Group, founded in 1712.

The conventional route
  1. Brewery $10
  2. Wholesaler
  3. Importer
  4. Distributor
Retailer $45
Our route
  1. Brewery $10
  2. Palate Project
Your door $35
Shop Direct Imports

It started with one person and a car

Eight years on, it’s a small team with dedicated members in Japan and the U.S. There is no shortcut into a 300-year-old brewery. It takes introductions, showing up and being trusted with something they made only 800 bottles of. Our five-person team in Japan spends the year doing exactly that, and our staff in America makes sure it reaches you as intended.

  1. Cases of sake packed into the back of the founder’s car

    November2018

    Tippsy Sake opens. One founder, one car, every order shipped by hand.

  2. Our sourcing team in Japan tasting a table full of sake samples

    July2025

    Kokubu Group, a trusted food seller in Japan since 1712, becomes our long-term partner in Japan.

  3. Sake from one of our direct imports poured at a dinner table

    May2026

    Tippsy becomes Palate Project. We’re the importer now.

  4. Our Los Angeles team unloading Container No. 4 at the warehouse

    September2026

    Container No. 4 lands. 30+ breweries now sell to us directly.

“You can’t dislike sake. You just haven’t found yours yet.”

Genki Ito, founder

Fresh From Brewery

Nama, the hardest sake to ship

“Nama,” or unpasteurized sake, has to stay cold and has a short window for peak freshness, so it almost never leaves Japan. We take orders while it is still in the tank and bring it over — refrigerated for all 36 days in transport — from the brewery to Los Angeles.

Latest release

Release 03 · Nito & Fudoh · Now shipping

Shop Release 03
A wooden process board from Gonda Brewing Company: one pale cedar plank in a thin wooden frame, with two nailed iron hanging brackets, with four carved columns: 発酵 Fermentation, 上槽 Pressing, 蔵出 Shipped cold, 着荷 Arrival
Polaroid pinned to the board with a brass tack: stirring the fermentation tank at Gonda Brewing Company. Date stamp 2/25/26. Handwritten: in the tank
Polaroid: at the wooden fune press. Date stamp 3/9/26. Handwritten: same press since 1961
Polaroid: the Gonda family with a handwritten note, boxes ready to ship. Date stamp 3/15/26. Handwritten: a note from the family
Polaroid: a pallet of Yumiyamaru cases, just unloaded at our warehouse in Los Angeles. Date stamp 4/20/26. Handwritten: Los Angeles

Connecting brewers with drinkers: Kumagaya to Pennsylvania, and back

Yumiyamaru is a Kumagaya, Saitama prefecture-based brand, brewed for the locals. We shipped 100 sets of their fresh nama sake to America and they sold out in days. A couple in Pennsylvania loved it so much they wrote to us: They wanted to meet the people who made it. Two months after shipping, we flew to Japan together, found our way to Kumagaya and knocked on the brewery door.

Polaroid pinned to the page with a brass tack: the Gonda family, our team and two guests from the U.S. hold bottles of Yumiyamaru in a tatami room. Date stamp 5/13/26. Handwritten: they knocked on the door

Formerly Tippsy, same team

If you knew us as Tippsy, here’s what actually changed: We used to buy solely from importers. Now, we are the importer — and we’re growing. If you last ordered before May 2026, there’s a lot you haven’t seen yet.

Hear about our new mission

Four ways to explore our sake

  • The Sake Flight

    Three mini-bottles, three cups and a guided tasting. $89, shipping included.

    Start with a tasting

  • Direct Imports

    We import every bottle ourselves. Free shipping on two or more.

    Browse everything

  • Palate Discovery Project

    Bottles our team in Japan picks for you, delivered on a regular schedule.

    Keep it arriving

  • Fresh From Brewery

    Nama reserved while it is still in the tank. Hear about the next release first.

    See the latest release