Ceramic Sake Set with 8 Japanese Style Cups in Blue and White Patterns

A Japanese style ceramic sake set: eight small cups in mixed blue-and-white patterns, and a lipped decanter to pour from if you choose the full set. It turns a bottle of sake into something you serve at the table, warm or chilled, instead of something you splash into whatever glass happens to be nearest.

No wine glasses. No shot glasses. No mugs pressed into service. Pour a little, pass the cups round, pour again.

Small cups are the whole point

Sake is meant to be poured little and often, and a big glass works against that. A generous pour sits there while warm sake goes tepid and chilled sake warms up, and nobody tops anybody up because the glass never looks empty.

These cups hold about 35 ml each, a couple of easy sips. They empty quickly, so every sip is close to the temperature you served it at. And the table falls into the old habit of filling each other's cups. Each one stands 1.6 inches tall on a short foot ring, so it sits steady on a tray, a board or a bar top.

Eight cups, and no two have to match

The cups come in a mix of designs, all in the same deep blue on a warm off-white: fine stripes over a row of dots, small squares, scattered blossoms, a lotus, a peony scroll, a chrysanthemum behind a crackle lattice and a dense geometric pattern among them. The patterns are drawn from a set of eight, and the mix varies from set to set, so yours may arrive with eight different designs or with pairs.

That is part of the charm. Guests pick out their own cup and keep it all evening, and the set looks collected rather than bought in one go. The insides are plain white, so you can see what is in the cup. The foot is left unglazed, so the cups grip the table instead of skating across it.

Cups alone, or cups with the decanter

8 Cups suits you if you already own a sake flask, or like to pour straight from the bottle. 8 Cups and Decanter is the full set. The decanter is a rounded barrel in the same off-white, with a lotus drawing on the front and a pinched lip that pours a clean, thin stream.

It holds about 200 ml, a little over five full cups, which is about the right amount to warm or chill and bring to the table at once. That makes either set an easy gift for someone who drinks sake.

Specifications

Material: Ceramic

Color: Off-white with deep blue patterns

Patterns: Mixed designs, drawn from a set of eight; the mix varies from set to set

Cup dimensions: 1.3 in across, 1.6 in tall (3.2 x 4.1 cm)

Cup capacity: About 1.2 fl oz (35 ml)

Decanter dimensions: 2 in across, 3.5 in tall (5.2 x 9 cm), 8 Cups and Decanter only

Decanter capacity: About 6.8 fl oz (200 ml)

Base: Unglazed foot ring

Sets: 8 Cups, or 8 Cups and Decanter

Use: Serving warm or chilled sake

Package Includes

8x Ceramic Sake Cup

1x Ceramic Sake Decanter (8 Cups and Decanter only)