Early one morning in Japan last month, Taipei sake educator Michael Ou took a deep breath as he prepared to deliver a presentation about the stages of fermentation before a panel of experts from the U.K.'s Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET). It was the last day of an elite sake instructors' training program that included a six-day tour of Japan and courses at the National Research Institute of Brewing in Hiroshima. Ou's presentation would determine whether he would be authorized to teach sake courses through the WSET in his native Taiwan.
This was the final stage of a qualification process that included passing a written exam on sake history, production and service. The eight candidates — who had traveled from Europe, North America and Asia to participate in the program — also had to impress the evaluators with their tasting skills and answers on an oral exam.
"There will be some rather mean questions, but these are meant to test the limits of your knowledge," said WSET Director Antony Moss, who led the training.