Australian Sake Awards 2025 – A Weekend of Sake, Learning, and Connecting
This weekend, I had the honour of being part of the judging team at the Australian Sake Awards (ASA) 2025, and what an experience it was. Across two days, we tasted, scored, paired, and most importantly learned. I’m grateful to have been involved as a judge this year.
Checkout @sake_nami for more snippets :)
Day 1: Blind Tasting
I was seated at Table 8, alongside Daniel (head judge of the table), Hideko (@hideokonew), Geoff (sake enthusiast who makes video games), Tom (@goochyloochy), Chef Matsuya (@kuririn_tomo) and Shizuka-san (MD Gold Class Daruma). We went through 42 sakes across five categories, all blind, and with some light snacks available for those who wanted any.
Every sake was scored against their respective category they chose to compete in. The quiet intensity at our table matched the tone of the room. There was a sense of focus, curiosity, and quiet respect for the craft behind each sake. Some tables had a bit more vocal energy, which added a good dose of balance and vibe to the space.
As a first time judge, I appreciate the importance of choosing the right category to compete in. The guidance was to judge the sake against the category, and each category had outlines on what good and bad was. Judges were provided mechanisms to provide additional feedback beyond the category's outline. Judges could provide freeform notes and a Judge's Choice option to indicate personal preferences and qualify their scores.
As for food, we had a yummy bento prepared by Chef Matsuya! This kept us powering through the day.
By the end of the day, most of us had marked up a few sakes we hoped to revisit. The codes were still blind at this point, so we were all excited to come back on Day 2 for the reveal at the end of the day.
Day 2: Food Pairing, Perspectives, and Reveals
Day 2 shifted gears. This was all about food pairing. We were encouraged to drink some of the sake before, after and along with the food. So there was less spittoon usage and more of a fun vibe to the event. Or perhaps it may have been the new people at the table for Day 2 :)
For Day 2 I sat with Slava (@sakeguide, our head judge), Chef Shibata (chef at @izakayafujiyama_official), Kelvin (a sake enthusiast), Ray Gao (from SakeMeta) and Kei (@tokiwakk). The mix of backgrounds made for fascinating discussion—each person brought a different lens to the table, and we all learned from each other.
We tasted 33 sakes across five food pairings, with additional pours at the end of sakes of our own choosing—giving us a chance to revisit ones that stood out or sparked curiosity. The structured format was clear, but the atmosphere had loosened up from Day 1—there was more energy, more conversation, and more appreciation for how sake shows up differently when enjoyed as part of a meal.
Here’s what we were pairing against:
- Vietnamese Beef Salad with Vermicelli (mild chilli/spice)
- Grilled Barramundi and Broccolini with Butter Sauce
- Fried Chicken / Karaage
- Spaghetti Napoletana (tomato base)
- Mushroom Pizza (white base / no tomato)
It was a welcome change of pace to have food paired with sake. Each category revealed something new, about the sake, the food, and our own preferences. On more than one occasion, I was pleasantly surprised by the few bottles of sake I'd normally not choose to drink, how it paired quite well with the paired food.
Time passed quickly. We had another bento for lunch, enjoyed some NRL during the break and generally had a great time vibing with other sake lovers.
After all the formal judging wrapped up, we were given access to the full lineup, now with their labels revealed along with their tasting code. It was a free-for-all moment where everyone scanned the table, spotting the sakes they had noted to come back to. There was a huge variety of reactions and animated conversations at this point of the day.
Weekend Wrap
One of the highlights for me was reconnecting with people I’d met at last year’s ASA Gala, as well as meeting new faces who share the same curiosity and appreciation for sake. We need more events like ASA, to bring sake lovers together.
A massive thank you to the ASA organisers, the volunteers, the sake breweries who shared their craft, and all the chefs and hosts who made the experience professional and pleasant. It’s not easy running a tasting event at this scale.
I'm looking forward to joining the judging team in ASA 2026!
