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.