Michael Tremblay, Founder and SSC Instructor

Michael is a Sake Samurai, Sake Judge, Sake Sommelier and a perpetual traveller. He is an International Kikisake-shi, Advanced Sake Professional, French Wine Scholar and holder of the WSET Diploma and Level 3 Award in Wine and Sake. Michael is based in Toronto, Canada where he can be found continuously learning or teaching someone about wine and sake.

Michael is a Panel Chair for the International Wine Challenge, the largest sake challenge in the world, held in London and Japan. He has also judged for the U.S. National Sake Appraisal and the Toronto International Sake Challenge. He is also an active sake educator and teaches the WSET Level 1, 2 and 3 Award in Sake at Toronto’s Independent Wine Education Guild (IWEG). He has travelled to Japan a multitude of times and has visited or worked at more than 80 sake breweries throughout the country. He spent more than three years researching the many sake regions of Japan for this course.

The Sake Scholar Course is the culmination of Michael’s many travels in Japan, research and explorations throughout the country. Michael wanted to create a course that conveys both his experiences visiting breweries throughout Japan that tell the many fascinating stories that come with each brewery visit, and to highlight the many unique qualities that Japan’s many sake regions possess that are often overlooked.

Michael is the James Beard Award winning co-author of Exploring the World of Japanese Craft Sake: Rice, Water, Earth (Tuttle Publishing 2022).

When his nose isn’t stuck in a kikichoko, Michael is a composer, amateur triathlete, and painter. He currently runs the largest sake program in Canada as the Beverage Director at Toronto’s Ki Modern Japanese + Bar.

You can find him on social media @mtrsake.

Sarah Stewart, SSC Instructor

Sarah is a WSET certified sake educator at West London Wine School, where she teaches WSET qualifications alongside her own original classes covering a wide variety of sake, wine and food pairing topics. She is also a Wine Scholar Guild Certified Instructor on the French, Spanish and Italian Wine Scholar courses and an Academy of Cheese Training Partner. Beyond her teaching role, she is a judge for the International Wine Challenge - Sake Division and the UK's Great Taste Awards, and volunteers as the Membership & Events Officer for the British Sake Association helping to organize events and promote sake within the UK. She speaks annually at Salon du Sake in Paris, Europe's largest sake event, and guest teaches at Texas Sake Company in Austin. She holds a number of other sake, wine and spirits qualifications including the JSA Sake Diploma International, Certified Sake Professional, Certified Sake Sommelier, Certified Specialist of Wine, Certified Specialist of Spirits, Shochu Adviser, and Introductory Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers, and received the WSET IWC Sake prize in 2018. She is a graduate of the Japan Sake & Shochu Academy and the Gakkogura sake brewing program. Sarah lived in Japan for two years, including a year in Kyoto undertaking an intensive scholarship course of tea studies at the Urasenke Professional College of Chado. She has studied chado (The Way of Tea, or 'tea ceremony') for 20 years and actually entered the sake world through tea, as sake service is an integral component of the traditional kaiseki meal served during a full-length tea gathering.

Outside of the beverage world, Sarah works as a board certified veterinary specialist in the UK and internationally, after spending six years as a Lecturer in Internal Medicine & Oncology at the Royal Veterinary College. She is originally from British Columbia Canada, but has lived in many wonderful places around the world prior to settling in London in 2016.

You can find her @sakestudies on Instagram.

Elliot Faber, SSC Instructor

Elliot Faber is the founding Beverage Director for Michelin-starred Yardbird Hong Kong (2011) and RŌNIN (2013). He has founded import, export and distribution companies in Hong Kong and Singapore, including The Kura Collective in Japan, all of which offer solutions for a curated selection of unique alcoholic beverages based on his experience and network.

In 2017, Elliot co-founded One Cup Concepts leading with Sake Central - a multifunctional dining bar and retail showcase that aims to provide an authentic understanding of Japanese food and beverage culture to people around the world. Under the same umbrella, Elliot also co-founded the retail bar concept SAKETEN and AWA AWA - an Okinawa Restaurant & Bar designed to introduce customers to Awamori and the multinational influences that make up Okinawan cuisine.

Elliot builds craft alcohol brands. He gains inspiration from the story behind it and works with the maker on developing bespoke flavor profiles for target markets. His projects include an array of alcoholic beverages, including Sunday’s Whisky, Champagne, sake, shochu, and even Ready To Drink cocktails, that are all made in collaboration with various global artisans, particularly but not limited to Japan.

As a Decanter Magazine Wine Judge, IWC Sake Judge, WSET Educator for Sake and Wine, a Certified Sommelier and an Advanced Sake Professional, Elliot consults as Senior Whisky Advisor to Zachys Wine Auctions, is a contributing author to The Court of Master Sommeliers and JamesSuckling.com, and is the co-author and producer of the award-winning SAKE: The History, Stories and Craft of Japan’s Artisanal Breweries; a book which sold out upon its release in 2015 and was re-published in the fall of 2021. In October 2016, Elliot received the award of 'Sake Samurai' from the Japan Sake Brewers Association Junior Council, an honor that few people have received since its inception in 2005.

 In 2022, Elliot consulted for SAKΞ, the world’s first tokenised sake NFT and DAO; he supported the opening of MORI and other initiatives including a full-scale F&B operation in Niseko, Hokkaido for the Sigapore-based Mandala Club, plus he developed a concept and beverage program for Manifesto Market with locations in Berlin, Germany and Prague, Czech Republic. From the Japanese concept Mizumi at the WYNN hotel in Las Vegas to international events for brands such as Prada and Chloé; Elliot has provided sourcing and service of beverage experiences and markets ranging from Seychelles to Sardinia, Tokyo to Toronto and India to Russia. His work extends to private label and bespoke product collaborations with partners such as the luxury retailer Lane Crawford and fine caviar purveyor NOMAD Caviar.

You can find him on social media @elliotjfaber.