TYKU is an American

alcoholic beverage An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...

company that specializes in

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

and other

spirits Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

. The privately held company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. While based in New York, TYKU's beverages are made in Japan through a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

with two sake

breweries A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

. TYKU's products are sold in all 50 states.

History

Co-founders Kirk Spahn and Trenton Ulicny met in 2003 while working on a graduate school project together at the

School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (SIPA) is the List of schools of international relations in the United States, international affairs and public policy school, public policy school of Columbia University, a pri ...

. With the encouragement of their professor, the two founded the company in 2004 with the goal of marketing Japanese-style alcoholic beverages to American consumers. Spahn, as a history major at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

, learned the importance of drinking traditions in East Asian culture as he sampled

rice wine Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage fermented and distilled from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch that has been converted to sugars. Microbes are the so ...

in China,

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a Provinces of China, province-level Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China in Southwest China. I ...

, and Japan as part of a program with the

New York Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

. The company seeks to educate American consumers on Japanese sake and spirits using social media initiatives and a branded presence at popular youth-driven events such as

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

Products

Awards

Celebrity partnerships

TYKU has a number of celebrity investors. In October 2010, the company announced

Perez Hilton Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978), known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting tabloid p ...

as investor and equity partner. In addition, Hilton took on the role of Director of Culture and Trends. TYKU also announced in March 2012

Patti Stanger Patricia "Patti" Stanger (born May 31, 1961) is an American businesswoman and reality television personality. She is known for starring in and producing her own matchmaking reality series, ''The Millionaire Matchmaker'', on Bravo TV. She is al ...

as an owner and partner. Stanger is also a part of TYKU's day-to-day business, working to extend the brand's exposure. Other investors include

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He gained fame for his songwriting abilities when he penned Mario's 2004 hit " Let Me Love You ...

Todd English William Todd English (born August 29, 1960) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality, based in Boston, Massachusetts. He hosted the TV cooking show, ''Food Trip with Todd English,'' on PBS. In 2005 he was ...

Brian Vickers Brian Lee Vickers (born October 24, 1983) is an American professional stock car and sports car racing driver. He last drove the No. 14 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing as an interim driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the injured Tony ...

and

Dhani Jones Dhani Makalani Jones (born February 22, 1978) is a former American football linebacker who played for eleven seasons in the National Football League. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines football, Michigan Wolverines, earning Al ...

. In April 2012

Cee Lo Green Cee or CEE may refer to: * C, third letter of the Latin alphabet * Cee, Spain, A Coruña, Galicia * Center for Excellence in Education, US * Central and Eastern Europe * Centre for Environment Education * Centre for the Economics of Education, Lon ...

became an owner and spokesperson for the brand.

References

{{reflist Sake