Iron Chef Morimoto Continues Building His Empire with Easy Cup Sake

Even if you didn’t know you needed sake in an “easy” container, you do, and chef Masaharu Morimoto has you covered with his launch of Easy Cup Sake.

As more and more brands start canning beers, wines, and cocktails, it was only a matter of time before sake hit the shelves in a new package. Unlike the others, Easy Cup Sake doesn’t put sake in a cup, but in a “picnic-friendly five-pack of resealable” 210mL glass cups.

Morimoto’s new beverage innovation “replaces the typically daunting process of sake selection” by placing them in the resealable containers. The liquid inside the containers is a “premium grade Yamada Nishiki Rice which has been polished to 70% and brewed with the famously pure Fushimizu water.”

“Sake is not easy to understand,” Morimoto says. “I’m making it easy.”

Morimoto rose to fame as a star in both the Japanese and American versions of Iron Chef, starting in 1998. By 2001, Morimoto opened his first restaurant in Philadelphia, followed by spots in New York, Napa, Honolulu, Boca Raton, Mumbai, New Delhi, Mexico City, Tokyo, and Maui. In 2015 he opened Morimoto Asia Orlando at Disney Springs and then in 2016 opened Momosan Ramen and Sake NYC and Morimoto Las Vegas. Last year, he brought his restaurant count to 16 with restaurant openings in Waikiki, Dubai, and Doha and number 17 is set to open this year in Seattle.

Morimoto also has two cookbooks: Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking and Mastering the Art of Japanese Cooking.

As his empire of restaurants has grown, so too have his other entrepreneurial endeavors. Easy Cup Sake isn’t even his first beverage endeavor. He has brewed a line of beers with Rogue Ales & Spirits, Morimoto Cabernet Sauvignon with Mondavi, and two lines of premium sake. Outside of beverages, the chef also has Miyabi Morimoto Edition knives and Morimoto instant ramen and miso soup.

He’s not busy at all is what we’re saying.

Easy Cup Sake can be found at Morimoto NYC, the New York and Waikiki locations of Momosan Ramen & Sake, as well as many retail locations across the country.

It’s not exactly the normal beach or backyard BBQ beverage, but the next time you’re headed out and want to reach for something different, sake can now be an option.