Sake's Moment Is Now.
Sake is more than just a drink - it’s a gateway for people to new experiences, moments and connections.
We’re on a mission to take you on a journey of discovery, reimagining the possibilities of sake and introducing UK drinkers to something that’s fresh, unexpected and turns everyday moments into memorable experiences.
Crafted for the curious and those seeking out something new, our sake invites you to explore, learn and fall in love with a drink that brings people together, creates shared moments and stories that last for a lifetime.
Goodbye Confusion, Hello Sake.
The global sake market is booming, but confusion reigns for most drinkers in the UK.
Sake’s reputation has been shaped by confusion: unfamiliar packaging, confusing labels for Western audiences and bottles tucked away in niche shops with inflated price points. It’s left many people with a lacklustre first impression and few options to explore further.
We believe it’s time to change that and make it easier to explore, enjoy and come back to again and again.
It Started Over A Few Drinks...
Three friends, countless conversations, one big idea:
What if more people in the UK had the chance to truly experience this drink the way it’s meant to be enjoyed?
We’re on a mission to bring sake into more glasses across the UK, taking drinkers on a journey of discovery and introducing them to something that’s fresh, unexpected and turns everyday moments into memorable experiences.
Fractional MD
Ed Turner
Ed’s not your typical drinks industry co-founder, unless you count 13 years in high-pressure trading floors as the perfect preparation for running a fast-moving sake startup.
After falling in love with sake at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, Ed came home and swapped spreadsheets for sake, co-founding Shogun Sakes in 2023 to shake up the market and bring sake to the UK for modern drinkers.
From operations and logistics to longer-term strategic planning, Ed makes sure the business runs as smoothly as our drinks go down.
Fractional MD
Ali MacLaine
A chartered engineer turned drinks disruptor, Ali has always been obsessed with great design, smart systems and beautiful, functional products.
The creative brain behind the Dyson Airwrap, Ali's also run his own thriving design and ecommerce business for over a decade, bringing that same innovation and creativity to Shogun Sakes.
From label design to can selection and equipment setup in the brewery, Ali takes a hands-on role across core aspects of the business, bringing together his creative vision and technical expertise to ensure our products look, feel and taste great.
Sales & Marketing Director
Pete Troiano
Before sake, Pete was building new business and marketing strategies for some of the UK's top digital agencies.
After years helping them find their voice and audience, Pete decided it was time to put his skills toward something he actually wanted to drink, finding creative ways for Shogun to get people tasting, talking and thinking differently about sake.
Pete’s mission is simple: get sake into more hands, hearts and glasses, making it feel less like a mystery and more like your new go-to drink.
Our Story
From Dream to Drink.
From wild ideas and many late-night tastings to moving into our own brewery, here’s how we’ve gone from fans to founders, to small wins, major milestones and everything inbetween.
London
2015
Throughout our early careers, we always enjoyed a catch-up with a mutual strongly held love for drinks and cocktails from around the world. Invariably these sessions would end in late night experimentations with our own recipes.
Japan
2019
After several years of meticulous planning and saving, Ed and Ali found their way to Japan to follow England around during the Rugby World Cup. They fell in love with the country, the culture and especially late night gyoza and sake in Tokyo’s izakayas.
London
2021
We made it our mission to try every sake we could get our hands on, which meant eating our way through just about every Japanese restaurant in London. Between all the sipping, note-taking and second rounds, the idea behind Shogun Sakes started to come into focus: something fresh, accessible and fun for everyone.
London
2023
What began as a home experiment quickly became a turning point. Brewing that first batch by hand gave us clarity: we wanted to make sake ourselves. We began the search for a toji to join our journey and started mapping out what it would take to bring locally brewed, high-quality sake to a new audience in the UK.
London
2024
We officially set up our brewing lab in Wimbledon, with our head brewer Liam joining full time. It was all about experimenting: testing techniques, pushing boundaries and seeing what sake could become in our hands. Fuelled by a few too many Aperol Spritzes, we swapped out the Aperol for sake which went on to become Bitter Orange, our first sake spritz. 15,000 cans later across three bold flavours and the response was immediate, with Vogue, The Guardian and Metro picking up our spritzes as drinks to watch.
London
2025
We made the move to our new home in Peckham. With a fully functioning sake brewery and one of only two in London, we finally had the space to bring our ideas to life, resulting in our first batch of pure English sake. Watch this space for when it's available!
Our Sakes
