Mandarin Oriental Tokyo Sommelier Wins World Sake Championship

Kaoru Izuha, Assistant Manager of Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo’s sushi restaurant Sushi SORA, has won this year’s prestigious Kikisake-shi (sake sommelier) Category of the Third Kikisake-shi World Championship.

Ms Izuha claimed the honour out of 25,000 certified sake sommelier competitors.

The Kikisake-shi World Championship, sponsored by the Sake Service Institute, selects the world’s best sake sommeliers. Contestants are evaluated on their ability to introduce the taste and enjoyment of sake in a correct and easy-to-understand manner. The competition involves tests on comprehensive knowledge and skills, and requires a broad detailed knowledge of sake, tasting skills and an ability to be insightful regarding customer needs.

Kaoru gained a basic knowledge of wine from her parents. She studied and obtained a sake sommelier certification while working at her first hotel position in a Japanese restaurant, which required an extensive knowledge of Japanese beverages to be able to make recommendations to customers. To broaden her knowledge of beverages, she learned all she could about wine and became a certified wine sommelier as well. After familiarizing herself with both sake and wine, she gained an appreciation for the very wide range in variety of both drinks.

Kaoru is the Assistant Manager at Sushi SORA, at Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo which is an Edo-mae (traditional Tokyo style) sushi restaurant.

“Many customers choose sake by brand,” she said, “but in the same way as people select wine to go with different dishes, I recommend that they select sake according to the sushi items they order. That way you can fully enjoy the finest features of both the sake and the sushi. For example, for the coming season, I would suggest a mellow sake with a rich aroma to complement marbled bluefin tuna, or a dry and crispier sake with a refreshing aroma for winter yellowtail or halfbeak. At Sushi SORA, we make recommendations for delightful encounters that will perfectly match customers’ tastes.”

Sushi SORA is located on the 38th floor of Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo.

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