It’s been awhile since my first and last post.  It’s just that I have so many stories to share that I get overwhelmed by my own awesomeness. ha!  In the meantime, I’ve kept myself busy with many new things in life.  Here are some of the updates in chronological order.

First, I proudly announce that I won the first place at the Korean traditional rice wine sommelier competition (foreigner’s section) in December 2016.

(Courtesy of Sommelier Times)

 The competition is held by the Korean government branch, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Korea agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation each year.  The competition has 3 sections (1. written exam on history and brewing knowledge, 2. blind tasting, 3. blind tasting, food pairing presentation, on-spot quiz on the stage in front of judges and audience).  I have been studying on brewing, food pairing and tasting for the past 3+ years, and finally it paid off!

Secondly, with the winning of the competition I gave another turn in my career and began working at the Sool Gallery (전통주갤러리) as a Korean rice wine sommelier.  The Sool Gallery (the word sool means alcohol in Korean) is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Korea agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation to promote Korean alcohol to the public and provide information on Korean alcohol to the F&B industry and media.  I provide tour of the gallery, educating the visitors on history of the Korean alcohol, brewing process, different types of Korean alcohol, and finally tasting of the goodies!
 

It’s really an awesome job, educating people AND get them nicely buzzed.  😉  I got to meet not only people who are interested, but also other wine, liquor experts from other countries who visit the Galllery.  But the fun time is almost coming to an end.  End of July is my last week at the Gallery to start the next phase of my career.

And that is….  I launched my own business called…..  SOY AND RICE~!!  Tah dah~   While I’ve been working at the Sool Gallery, I saw a gap between the restaurant/hotel staff who want to learn more about the sool but there isn’t adequate professional service that can fulfill the needs of the F&B industry.  Soy and Rice’s here to provide consulting and education services to the F&B industry, and curious individuals.

I’ve been hosting Korean sool paired with various cuisines like contemporary cuisine, French, desserts, and Korean food to introduce the pairing potential of Korean sool.  I have no clue what lies ahead of me, but I am excited!