Join flavour chemistry specialist Sietze Wijma and sake tasting expert Sarah Stewart at a unique sake tasting masterclass, where you will learn to identify 10 important aroma and flavour compounds in sake. Learn what makes some sakes smell like melon, green apple or banana, how to identify the characteristic aromas associated with unpasteurized sake and aged sake, and much more! Hundreds of different flavour and aroma compounds have been identified in sake, which can be traced back to different sake brewing techniques, varied aromatic compounds produced by different types of sake yeast, and all the different types of microorganisms involved in the fermentation process. Join us to advance your tasting skills by learning how to recognize these aromas and what they are caused by, and have lots of fun in the process! No prior sake or tasting knowledge is required to enjoy the event, but if you are already serious about sake, beer or wine this workshop is sure to take your tasting skills to the next level.
 
How will it work?
You will be given 11 samples of the same neutral junmai sake: one unchanged glass as a reference sample, and 10 samples with a single flavour compound added that you will taste together with Sietze and Sarah. After the origin of these flavours have been explained, you will practice their identification in a fun blind tasting exercise. The session will conclude with a blending activity, combining some aromas together to recreate the flavour profile of distinct styles like unpasteurized sake.

About the Instructors:
Sietze is a flavour chemist with a MSc in Sensory Science, and holds advanced wine and beer tasting qualifications. He applies his specialized flavour chemistry knowledge to the art of beverage tasting to help studens advance their tasting skills and better recognize key flavours and faults in wine and beer - and now sake too!
Dr. Sarah Stewart is the Head of Sake Programming West London Wine School. She is a WSET Certified Sake Educator and one of only three educators globally for the challenging Sake Scholar Course on sake regionality, and teaches a wide range of classes on sake and food pairing. She also serves as a sake judges for the International Wine Challenge. You can find her @sakestudies on Instagram.

£84 per person (£75 for British Sake Association members)