As the first ‘formal’ part of my sabbatical studies, I’m signing up for a WSET course. Hello, sake!

I’ve had a very basic understanding of sake ever since I attended a course in 2006 with the venerable Masa Shiroki of Artisan Sake Maker as a part of my sommelier training with the International Sommelier Guild. I was a little freaked out that day when Masa told me that in Japanese my name means ‘God’ so that’s my flimsy excuse for not pursuing any more knowledge in this area.

But really, what’s in a name? So here I am, having just begun the WSET Level 1 Award in Sake Online Course, which will refresh and brighten up all that dusty old learning.

I’ve already found a few online sources to supplement my studying as well:

The Most Wanted Sakes in the World - nice to know, but likely not available in Mexico

How to Drink Sake - according to the New York Times (paywall - if you don’t have a subscription, you can get one for a few dollars a month, and it is totally worth it)

I also bought a handy-dandy six pack of assorted sakes that magically showed up in the Puerto Vallarta Costco, so that should hopefully help with the tasting part of the course.

Anyways, we are just at the beginning. I’ll report back in a few weeks when I’m really in the thick of it.