A web portal for knowing and enjoying more about Awamori

Kellie Thorn has been in the restaurant industry for nearly twenty years and bartending for the last seventeen. Kellie, born in Atlanta and raised in various cities along the Southern coast, has received considerable critical recognition for her talents and skills. In 2010, Kellie joined forces with star chef Hugh Acheson to open Empire State South, Acheson’s vibrant reimagination of traditional southern fare, to develop a creative program balanced by a reverent nod to the classics. Her success in this role led her to the position of Beverage Director for Acheson’s restaurants in 2013.
Kellie is highly committed to furthering her education in spirits and wine, she has taken and passed the Introductory Course for Court of Sommeliers, participated in and passed the reputed BAR Five Day program in New York and most recently participated in the WSET Level Three Award in Spirits and received a Pass with Distinction. She believes that ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’, and she has turned her attention to utilizing her knowledge base to educate her peers. Kellie is a BNIC Certified Cognac Educator, passing the Certification in Cognac France in April 2015, as well as a WSET Certified Level Three Spirits Educator. She has been a panelist for educational seminars at Tales of the Cocktail, Bar Convent Brooklyn, and Bev Con.
Kellie is also very involved in her local community as well as the broader hospitality community. She has served on the Advisory Council for Atlanta Food and Wine, helped to organize annual charity events for Wholesome Wave Georgia and Community Farmer’s Market, and is currently serving on the Grants Committee for the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation
In 2017 she was awarded the Les Dames D’Escoffier Legacy Award, and in 2018 she was named one of Wine Enthusiasts 40 under 40 Tastemakers.

Nick Korn is a life-long student and self-identified nerd; with a background in anthropology, and an addiction to travel, he brings an academic lens to eating and drinking the world over. A dedicated professional in the bar industry in Boston for over a decade, he has pursued study—both in the classroom and in the field—into the ways that food and beverage tie into larger themes of human experience. A fierce advocate for his community, Nick currently owns and manages OFFSITE, a boutique experiential marketing and strategy firm focused on changing paradigms in the liquor industry. Nick believes that education and professional development are the cornerstone of the elevation of this industry. Nick self-identifies as a bartender and isn't ready to be put out to pasture yet: in more normal times, you can find Nick opening beers and making drinks behind his friends' bars.

＊Please note, all use of the photo should be accompanied with proper attribution, as follows: "©Caitlin Cunningham, 2017" If you have any questions about usage, I can link you up with Caitlin, the photographer who owns the image.

Christina was chosen as one of Imbibe Magazine’s 2019 Imbibe 75, selected as one of the 50 under 40 future influencers of the global drinks industry by WSET and IWSC and #44 by Drink's Internationals 2020 Bar World list. She has occupied every front-of-house position (and a couple in the kitchen) while pursuing certifications in wine and beer and winning cocktail competitors. Currently, she is Director of Programming for Toronto Cocktail Week, a Bar & Beverage Curator for Restaurants Canada, a national co-ordinator for Speed Rack Canada, a Spirits Educator with WSET and a consultant. Over the course of the last few years, she has been able to harness her skills while raising over $100k for charities, with a strong focus on womxn (especially WOC), LGBTQ communities, and food insecurity. Christina is highly recognized as an influential leader in the beverage industry and continues to leverage her platform and valuable experience to build out workshops and programing around rethinking hospitality - especially its management - in ways that centre intersectionality, empathy and safety as guiding business principles.

Certified Master Sake & Shochu Sommelier, Certified Sake Educator. Born in Japan where his family has grown Japanese wine grape, Koshu, for generations, Toshio grew up helping the business from a young age. Following his college education in the US and employment at an international trading company in Tokyo, Toshio joined Chateraise, a pastry and wine company as Director of Sales. There, he was put in charge of overseeing the personal wine collection of the company’s president, which intrigued him to enter the world of wine stewardship and research.
Toshio joined Mutual Trading Company in 2002, where he is Director of Sake Specialist Division in marketing Japanese foods, Jizake, and Shochu to the mainstream American trade. With his passion and expertise in Jizake, Shochu, and Wine, Toshio aims to further promote Japanese food and Sake cultures to new, international audiences.
Toshio Ueno was awarded with the prestigious title of Sake Samurai in 2016. He is the only one in the world to hold Master of Sake, Master Sake Sommelier, and a WSET Sake Educator diploma. Since 2010, Toshio has been the Vice President & Executive Instructor at Sake School of America and continues to judge some of the top wine and spirits competitions in the U.S. and internationally.

Antony is the Qualifications Director for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), where he has worked since 2004. His current role covers all aspects of WSET qualifications in wine, spirits, sake and beer. He manages three teams, covering the resources for students and educators, the examinations, and the translations of WSET qualifications into up to 15 languages. He previously oversaw the development of WSET’s Level 1 and Level 3 Awards in Sake, and in 2014 was inaugurated as a Sake Samurai by the Sake and Shochu Makers Association in recognition of this work. He also researched and authored the chapters on Shochu, Baijiu and Soju for the WSET Level 3 Award in Spirits, and has presented sessions and events focusing on Shochu and Awamori in the UK, the USA and Japan.

Antony joined the wine and spirits industry in 1998, completed his WSET Diploma in 2003 and became a Master of Wine in 2011. By coincidence, he won the Austrian Wine Marketing Board Prize for both qualifications -fortunately he enjoys Zierfandler and Blauer Wildbacher when not drinking shochu, awamori or sake.

Outside of work, Antony enjoys listening to and playing classical piano music, especially 20th Century composers such as Schoenberg, Ives, Messiaen and Janacek.

Born in 1982 in the family that has been running a Sake brewery in Akita, and a Buddhist temple in Toyama prefecture, both on north-west side of Japan where is nourished with the best ingredients from the mountain and the ocean. Her Sake journey, to trace the path of her family roots, had started in 2009. Natsuki had worked in the well-known sake retail shop called Hasegawa Saketen in Tokyo, then as a “Sake sommelier” at Zuma & Roka restaurants in London, UK. In 2013, she had launched “Museum of Sake”, an agency to provide education and promotion of the craft of sake, connecting Japan to the UK and Europe through a range of special events and courses for the wider public and food industry. In 2014, together with Antony Moss MW at Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) in London, Natsuki had set up Award in Sake at WSET, and today both level 1 & 3 counted over 7,000 candidates in 27 countries. In 2015 she was awarded as “Sake Samurai”, the title is given annually by Japanese government to the individuals who contribute to the appreciation or promotion of sake internationally and domestically. In 2019 she was selected as one of the “Future 50” in the drink industry selected by International Wine and Sprits Competition (IWSC) and WSET, and she was the only Japanese candidate.

Natsuki is also a part of sake judge at annual International Wine Challenge Sake Category since 2011, and promoted to become Panel Chair judge since 2019. Through an international growth in the popularity and appreciation of Sake, Natsuki is looking to both enrich and extend this history to a new generation both within Japan and the wider world. More info: www.museumofsake.co.uk

Like many, Liam started in the booze business casually, working in pubs from the age of 16. It was when travelling and working in Australia in his mid-twenties when his interest in hospitality and cocktail culture really took hold. Upon returning to the UK, he managed an independent cocktail bar and sushi restaurant in Farringdon, London and learnt about a selection of Japanese beverages and cuisines. He went on to tend bar at many high-end London events and parties, and once served an Espresso Martini to Gandalf (Ian McKellen)! In 2012, he began working for a number of spirits brands on brand education, activation and drinks development. Always intrigued in the production processes and choices behind flavour in spirits, he studied with the WSET and began his role as UK Spirits Business Development Manager for WSET in 2016 in an aim to bring clear, unbiased and objective spirits education to the UK trade. He now manages all of the UK spirits focussed providers and works closely with WSET School, Events and Digital Education to develop WSET Spirits business and partnerships. He has subsequently completed the Institute of Brewing & Distilling General Certificate in Distilling (Grain). He is particularly passionate about Scotch Whisky, Agave, Rum & Pisco. In January 2020, he was grateful to visit Okinawa to take a deep dive into Awamori production, and now revels in sharing the love and understanding for Japan’s traditional spirits.

Billy Abbott is a drinks writer, educator and presenter based in London. He began his drinks career in 2011, after a succesful decade working in IT and finance.

Following his passion for great drinks, he changed careers and joined online retailer The Whisky Exchange as a writer. Over the past 10 years, his role has grown, seeing him become editor of The Whisky Exchange Blog and a senior writer for the Speciality Drinks group, and, as a WSET spirits educator, he now leads internal drinks training for the group. He is also The Whisky Exchange's ambassador, hosting tastings and seminars about all categories of drink. This has most recently included being one of the lead presenters for Virtual Whisky Show 2020, a week-long online celebration of whisky (and rum).

Along with his work at The Whisky Exchange, he is a freelance writer, presenter and educator, writing words, leading tastings and teaching people about drinks around the world. Since 2014, he has led Whisky Squad, a London-based whisky-tasting club that celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2020. He is also a judge for a number of international drinks competitions, covering whisk(e)y, beer and Asian spirits.

This year, his work has been recognised with a Highly Commended nod in the Communicator of the Year Rest of World category at the Icons of Whisky awards, and a shortlisting for the IWSC Spirits Communicator of the Year.

You can find more about him at http://billyabbott.co.uk

Rose has 14 years in the hospitality industry working in bars across the UK, stepping into the cocktail world for Amoeba Craft Beer & Cocktails in Bristol in 2014. She became passionate about competition bartending which led to the re-establishment of the Midnight Cocktail Club, a monthly peer judged bartending competition that grew exponentially to be the biggest independent competition in the UK, training and pushing young bartenders to learn and excel at their craft

More recently Rose could be found at East London Liquor Company (ELLC) where she started in Sales for the South West, moving to Tour Manager and finally Lead Educator, where her passion for education grew through industry brand trainings, consumer tours, and teaching the WSET course to industry partners.

Having qualified to teach the Level 2 and Level 3 WSET Spirits courses, and having a genuine passion for both the people of the industry, and education within it; Rose aims to help those on the course to grow into future stars, pushing the category forward as a whole. Rose joined The Mixing Class in October 2020 with two years as a WSET educator under her belt.

Hannah Lanfear is one of the key Spirits Educators at the Wine & Spirit Education Trust in London and is the founder of The Mixing Class, a company dedicated to education within the drinks industry with a focus on fostering diversity and socially responsible hiring practices. Clocking in at 21 years of service to the cocktail & spirits industry, her journey took her from a teenager pulling pints and pouring rum in a harbour-side tavern in Cornwall, to making fancy drinks for the cognoscenti in some of the world’s elite bars. She has managed and trained bar teams (Milk & Honey, Bungalow 8, Boisdale), passing down her skills from her mentors to her mentees; consulted on bar openings (Nimb Copenhagen, GloGlo’s); travelled the world as a global brand ambassador experiencing bar culture the globe over; as well as working for a distillery managing the sales, marketing and exports of a brand (Jensen’s Gin). She has written articles for industry press (Imbibe, Bar Life, Class, Drinks World Asia, Standart); been featured in many publications and media (Kanpai, Evening Standard, Time Out, Gaz Regan’s Annual Manual, BBC One, Wallpaper); was a member of the Tanqueray Ten Martini Guild; winner of the London heat of Bartender Mastermind; and GVine’s Gin Connoisseurs’ Programme World Finalist 2013. She is one of the IWSC Future 50, and Imbibe’s Educator of the Year 2019.

Born and raised in the English coastal city of Brighton, after completing his studies Richard worked in pharmacy for 10 years before leaving to pursue his passion for wines and spirits. In 2008 he enrolled at Plumpton College, where he studied Wine Business, and completed both his WSET Level 3 and 4 in Wines and Spirits. He then worked for a short time for an independent wine and spirits merchant before moving to Tunbridge Wells in Kent to work for Master of Malt, one of the UK’s biggest online spirits retailers where he remains today. In his time at Master of Malt he quickly started training staff in spirits and more recently has launched WSET Spirits courses, where has been in charge of teaching these to nearly 100 students. He has continued to study and recently completed his WSET Level 3 Spirits with Distinction and the corresponding educator course, where he was one of the first to be invited. In addition to teaching he also works in the Compliance department, where he is heavily involved in the regulatory aspects of spirits for domestic consumption, imports and exports. Over a number of years he has conducted many wine and spirit tastings, both for fellow professionals and for the general public and in his spare time he has visited many distilleries, mainly in the UK but particularly in Scotland. As his parents now live in Scotland, time there is often divided between seeing them and visiting the nearest copper still. In addition to spirits he still has a passion for wine, even though he doesn’t use his wine knowledge as often as he would like, and he also enjoys many different cuisines. Travelling is also a passion and he would love to go to the USA next, now he has fulfilled his dream of visiting Japan.