The problem with sampling beer at a brewery, sherry at a bodega or cognac at a château is that you’re captive to a particular brand. You can’t complain too much, of course—especially if it’s free—but what if you want a broader education that allows you to explore all the varieties of that beverage, regardless of who makes it? Increasingly, you’re in luck.

For starters, more luxury hotels now offer alcohol-appreciation lessons as a way of keeping guests amused. “There is growing competition to offer guests paying premium rates an experience which carries some bragging rights when they return home,” says Ritz-Carlton spokeswoman Vivian Deuschl. “There is only so much time hotel guests can lie in the sun. They want to learn something new that enhances their overall lifestyle.” With that in mind, the Ritz-Carlton Rose Hall in Jamaica, ritzcarlton.com, employs a local “rummier” who—in a stimulating 30-minute course—teaches guests the difference between various dark, light, fl avored and overproof rums. Classes are held on request and usually cost about $20 per head.

Where a formal industry or hotel course doesn’t yet exist, there may be a casual class to drop in on. In Tokyo, various kinds of sake are explained by independent expert John Gauntner, sake-world.com, in English-language seminars staged about once a month. Popular with expats and tourists, the events typically draw about 40 people and are held in restaurants or sake pubs. Each seminar costs $60 (including a meal) and lasts about three hours. “Going to these seminars helps people know what to look for, what makes one kind of sake different from another,” says former participant Melinda Joe.

She’s not the only one eager to educate her taste buds. “Consumers have developed very sophisticated palates either through travel or exposure,” says David Kendall, principal of the Seattle brand consultancy Kendall Ross, which works with a number of wineries. “They are also more curious about the product, the producers, where it came from and how it was made.” Fortunately, getting to the top of the class has never been more enjoyable.

-STEVE MOLLMAN

Read the full article, as featured in "Time" - February 1, 2007

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