Saké Service | Consulting

 

We work closely with restaurants, bars, hotels, sommeliers and mixologists, imparting our expert knowledge and well-honed wisdom through informative and hands-on education sessions. Our goal is for you to understand sake and to feel confident guiding guests through its manifold expressions.

Our online store only features a small portion of our extensive sake portfolio. Let us curate an exciting sake list to pair with your food offering and match the ethos of your wine menu. The resulting unconventional and delicious pairings will dramatically deepen your venue’s drinking and dining experience. Surprising diners with a left-field liquid pairing is a great way to take guests off autopilot, ignite conversation, and make the culinary experience of your venue utterly memorable.

We are currently the only sake importer dedicated to transporting our sake cold chain all the way from Japan and storing it in our -5°C degrees cool room. This ensures that the sake stays in pristine condition for our customers. 

Our mission

Australians love Japanese cuisine. Sashimi for lunch and ramen for dinner a few times each week is not an unlikely occurrence. We’re big into Japanese beers, but we’ve been slower on the uptake of sake. At Heigo Australia, we’ve found this is due in part to enigmatic multifaceted nature of sake, and of course, the complicated kanji labels. This is something we want to change.

Just like a glass of wine with lunch is ubiquitous with French or Italian dining, when you are intimate with Japanese culture, sake holds the same pride of place.

But we also know that sake isn’t just designed for sushi. Because of its seemingly endless variabilities across brewing methods, filtering, ageing techniques and serving temperatures, sake is an incredibly versatile libation, and perfect for pairing with Australia’s melting pot of global cuisines.

Australia produces some of the most interesting, experimental and bold dining experiences in the world, and we want to elevate that reputation further by forging ahead of the rest on the liquids front.

So how do we pair?

When creating a sake-food pairing, the goal is to arrive at a sensory experience that is greater than the sum of its parts. Each component should enhance the other while maintaining its individual integrity.

There are myriad ways to pair sake with food. But a basic rule of thumb is to complement ‘like with like’ when working with dominant flavour profiles. Alternatively, focus on two contrasting elements, like balancing richness with acidity.

Sake is also unique in the beverage world because it can be served at a wide range of temperatures—from super chilled or room-temperature to hot (like a Boss Black coffee straight from the vending machine in winter) or warm (like a calming onsen for your insides). Matching the temperature of sake to that of a dish can further enhance the overall umami factor.

But the rule book can only lead you so far – the rest is a matter of taste. So get in touch to arrange a tasting and get to know sake more intimately.