While researching sake brewed in the U.S., one brand stood out for its vibrant colors and rare canned format. The name behind the label? SAWTELLE SAKE. Who are the people making it, and what drives them? We visited their brand-new Los Angeles brewery, completed in spring 2025, to find the answers.

I spoke to this person

SAWTELLE SAKE CEO, Founder/Troy Nakamatsu (left) COO, Co-Founder/Maxwell Leer (right)

Profile

Troy Nakamatsu
CEO & Founder of SAWTELLE SAKE Founded SAWTELLE SAKE in 2019 after a career in finance. Currently leads the brewing operations.
Maxwell Leer
COO & Co-Founder Joined SAWTELLE SAKE in 2020 after working in sake sales at an import company. Now manages the business side.

The story behind the birth of SAWTELLE SAKE, a challenge from a different industry

SAWTELLE SAKE was founded in 2019 in Los Angeles and opened its long-awaited brewery in downtown LA in the spring of 2025.

The name "SAWTELLE SAKE" comes from the Sawtelle district, where they first had a koji room. Often called "Little Osaka," Sawtelle, along with downtown’s Little Tokyo, is known for its concentration of Japanese restaurants and shops. At the time of its founding, due to licensing restrictions, they placed only their koji room and office in Sawtelle, renting a distillery in another city for actual brewing.

Previous Koji room in Sawtelle. (Photo courtesy of SAWTELLE SAKE)

Troy, the head brewer, reflects on their journey: “I originally worked in finance and investment. I got into sake through homebrewing. As the process became more complex and production scaled up, I founded the company in 2019.”

In 2020, Maxwell, who had been working in sake sales in New York, joined the company. “I believed that for sake to be loved in America, its definition needed to diversify. Meeting Troy came at just the right time—not too early, not too late.” (Maxwell)

Troy (centre) and Maxwell (far left) visiting a rice farm. (Photo provided by SAWTELLE SAKE)

With Maxwell’s support, sales grew steadily. To meet increasing demand, they decided to build their own brewery. They began searching for a location and equipment at the end of 2020, and moved into their current facility in February 2024 to prepare for opening.

Visit their State-of-the-Art Brewery

The new SAWTELLE SAKE brewery is located in a building that once housed a lingerie shop. Surrounded by buildings and shaded, the location naturally maintains the low temperatures needed for sake brewing—even in hot Los Angeles.

Maxwell gave us a tour of the interior.
Just outside the brewing area are a shower room and rest area, allowing them to stay overnight during the delicate koji-making process. Looking at the wall, a large control panel makes its presence felt, connected to sensors throughout the facility for remote monitoring of brewing conditions.

The two-story brewhouse houses a rice steamer, fermentation tanks, and a Yabuta press on the first floor, with the koji room on the second. Steamed rice is lifted upstairs, processed in the koji room, then the finished koji is dropped directly into the fermentation tanks via a chute—an efficient system designed to maximize output with a small team. This setup has increased production capacity by roughly nine times.

“We didn’t want to simply boost volume blindly. Instead of enlarging tanks, we opted to increase the number of brewing cycles to maintain quality control,” says Troy. When we visited, they were just about to begin their first koji production at the new site and planned to brew three times a month.

The Toko of the koji room and the Yabuta press are playfully painted ‘Dodger Blue’, after the team colours of the local baseball team.

Sake Made to Rival Hard Seltzers

SAWTELLE SAKE’s products catch the eye with their bold colors and unusual can format—a rare sight in the world of sake. Troy explains the reasoning behind the design:
“Our top priority is to get people who’ve never been interested in sake to try it. If we make it too traditional-looking, they won’t pick it up. So we went with beer-style labels and cans to make it more approachable.”

Maxwell adds that hard seltzers—low-ABV, flavored drinks—are currently booming in the U.S.
“We want our sake to be a real alternative to hard seltzers. That’s why we use four different colors for our lineup, just like seltzer brands do. One color doesn’t stand out on supermarket shelves, but four do. Our focus is on expanding sake’s market by increasing sales in regular grocery stores—not just Japanese specialty ones, but local supermarkets.”

The early label (right) shows a Daruma doll with both eyes filled in. The current label (left) shows only one eye, reflecting the idea that their ideal is never complete—always in pursuit.

From design and packaging to distribution strategy, every element is crafted to lower the barrier for new consumers to try sake.

Five Bold, Colorful Flagship Flavors

To make the canned series approachable, each uses sugar or fruit juice as sub-ingredients, with alcohol content kept at 7%—less than half of standard sake. Carbonation adds a refreshing, beer- or soda-like feel for easy drinking.
Ideally, consumers will start with the cans and gradually transition to bottled sake, which has a more traditional, uncarbonated flavor.

California Junmai Sake – Canned Series (From left to right)
PINK: Hibiscus / Ginger
Inspired by the vibrant Mexican drink agua fresca. Features a translucent red hue and a sweet-tart flavor.

YELLOW: Ginger / Yuzu
The fresh sourness and bitterness, like yuzu squeezed from the peel, are accented by the flavor of ginger.

BLUE: Spirulina / Yuzu
A vivid blue color from spirulina (a type of algae) with a refreshing yuzu aroma.

PURPLE: Ube / Dragon Fruit
Tropical flavor using ube (a type of purple yam) and dragon fruit as sub-ingredients.

NORTHERN LIGHTS: Red Shiso
Named after the northern lights seen in Maxwell’s home state of Minnesota and the similar color of red shiso used in the brew. “Most Americans aren’t familiar with shiso, but once they try it, I believe it’ll catch on,” he says.

Nurturing Local Sake Culture with California-Grown Rice

More than four years after envisioning their own brewery, Troy and Maxwell have finally realized their dream. What lies ahead?

Maxwell: “We’re constantly updating our sake recipes to match the new equipment. There’s still plenty of room for improvement, but we want to keep resolving each issue and eventually make our sake a ‘focal point’—something people unconsciously gravitate toward—in the American sake scene.”

Troy: “I want to apply the model of Jizake (local sake) from Japan here in Los Angeles. In Jizake, rice is crucial. It gives each sake a unique character that can’t be replicated elsewhere. That’s why we exclusively use Calrose rice (*1) from “Lopes Family Farm” in California that practices Aigamo farming (*2) —we have a direct contract with them. We want to keep building these unique relationships with farmers.”

Lopes Family Farm rice fields (Photo: SAWTELLE SAKE)

They’re also planning to open a taproom in Sawtelle, where they once had their koji room. If licensing goes smoothly, they hope to launch it within two months. “We want it to be a place where people can enjoy freshly brewed, unpasteurized sake with food,” they say with a smile.

“Lowering the barrier to sake.”
With this belief at their core, SAWTELLE SAKE’s boldly creative brews are sure to keep winning over new fans in the heart of Los Angeles.

*1: Aigamo Farming – A sustainable method in which ducks are released in rice paddies. They eat weeds and pests, fertilize the field with droppings, and help stir the soil.
*2: Calrose Rice – A medium-grain variety developed in California. It falls between short-grain Japanese rice and long-grain varieties like Thai jasmine rice.

Writer: Kanane Urabe
Living in Niigata Prefecture / Master of sake sommelier, sake sommelier, shochu sommelier
I worked for a government agency supporting the export of food products, including sake, and now I work as a freelance writer. I like craft sake, which has a pronounced sweet and sour flavor, and sake made with additional ingredients. https://www.foriio.com/k-urabe