12 Taste Along flights

Taste 24 core rums side by side, write your own note first, then compare it with Christian's on video.

One-to-one with Christian

Four live Zoom calibration sessions, booked around your schedule, to sharpen your scoring against an expert.

Built for real service

Blind tasting, food pairing, rum-list building and pour-cost pricing — the skills bars and restaurants pay for.

About the course

Most rum training stops at what rum is. This course teaches you how to judge it, and how to use that judgement behind the bar, on the floor and on the rum list. Across 9 modules (about 48 hours) you will master the AWS Advanced Rum Tasting Method, train your nose with a 20-jar aroma kit, read production and maturation in the glass, check sugar with a hydrometer, and separate quality from preference and price. Study at your own pace with 12 months' access. You buy your own rums or 3 cl samples locally, with approved substitutes from our 180-rum Tasting Library. Who it's for: bartenders, F&B managers, servers in rum-led venues and serious enthusiasts of legal drinking age. Entry: Certified Rum Ambassador™, or an equivalent spirits qualification plus our bridging quiz. How you qualify: a 50-question knowledge exam with scenarios, a tasting portfolio, and a one-to-one blind tasting on Zoom. Pass mark 70% on each part; Distinction 85%. Enroll today for USD 495.

Christian Esser

Christian Esser is the founder of the Academy of Wine & Spirits in the Cayman Islands and the creator of the Rum Ambassador programme. For more than ten years he has trained hospitality teams and enthusiasts in wine, spirits and service. The Academy received two LUXlife Hospitality Awards in 2026: Best Luxury Beverage Education Provider and the Hospitality Training Excellence Award (Caribbean & USA).

Curriculum

10 Chapters · 106 Lessons

    1. Welcome and how the course works Free preview
    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Setting up your tasting space and kit

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      Your Tasting Toolkit

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      Your Tasting Library (180 rums)

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      Ambassador refresher

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      Bridging Quiz

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      Module overview

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      1.1 Tasting as a professional skill

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      1.2 Appearance

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      1.3 Nose

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      1.4 Palate

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      1.5 Finish and the quality conclusion

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      1.6 Writing a professional note: evidence vs inference

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      Flight 1: submit your notes

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      Taste Along: Flight 1 - Light vs heavy

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      Module 1 knowledge check

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      Module 1 workbook page

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      Zoom 1: Finding the scale (book your one-to-one session)

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      Module overview

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      2.1 How smell and taste work

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      2.2 Building an aroma memory

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      2.3 Faults and bottle condition

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      2.4 Bias, fatigue and tasting conditions

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      Practical A: aroma kit drills

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      Practical B: find it in the rum

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      Practical C: fault references

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      Upload your aroma drill score

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      Module 2 knowledge check

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      Module 2 workbook page

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      Module overview

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      3.1 Raw material in the glass

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      3.2 Fermentation in the glass

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      3.3 Distillation in the glass

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      Flight 2: submit your notes

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      Taste Along: Flight 2 - Molasses vs fresh cane juice

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      Flight 3: submit your notes

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      Taste Along: Flight 3 - Industrial vs artisanal

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      Flight 5: submit your notes

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      Taste Along: Flight 5 - Ester intensity in Jamaica

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      Module 3 knowledge check

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      Module 3 workbook page

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      Module overview

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      4.1 Oak and climate in the glass

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      4.2 Solera, blending, finishing and strength

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      4.3 Integrity: labels, age statements and additives

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      4.4 Measuring sweetness: the hydrometer check

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      Flight 4: submit your notes

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      Taste Along: Flight 4 - Young vs aged, same house

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      Flight 8: submit your notes

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      Taste Along: Flight 8 - Solera and the sweetness question

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      Flight 10: submit your notes

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      Taste Along: Flight 10 - Strength and dilution

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      Hydrometer worksheet

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      Module 4 knowledge check

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      Module 4 workbook page

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      Zoom 2: Oak, sugar and strength (book your one-to-one session)

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      Module overview

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      5.1 Style families without stereotypes

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      5.2 Classifications in practice

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      5.3 Regional identity: key origins and houses

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      Flight 6: submit your notes

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      Taste Along: Flight 6 - Barbados blending

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      Flight 7: submit your notes

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      Taste Along: Flight 7 - Guyana: same house, more age

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      Flight 9: submit your notes

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      Taste Along: Flight 9 - Agricole: Martinique vs Guadeloupe

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      Flight 11: submit your notes

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      Taste Along: Flight 11 - Local and innovative

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      Module 5 knowledge check

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      Module 5 workbook page

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      Module overview

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      6.1 Quality, preference, price and value

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      6.2 Blind tasting: protocol and the deduction ladder

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      6.3 Uncertainty and the reveal

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      Blind practice P1: submit note and reveal reflection

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      Blind practice P2: submit note and reveal reflection

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      Flight 12 (blind): submit your notes

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      Taste Along: Flight 12 - Blind reveal

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      Module 6 knowledge check

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      Module 6 workbook page

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      Zoom 3: Blind and bias (book your one-to-one session)

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      Module overview

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      7.1 Serving rum professionally

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      7.2 Designing tasting flights

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      7.3 Pairing by structure

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      7.4 Hosting a guided tasting, responsibly

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      Watch: Christian hosts a guided tasting

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      Task A: design a 4-rum flight

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      Task B: test 2 food pairings

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      Task C: record a 5-minute guided tasting

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      Module 7 knowledge check

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      Module 7 workbook page

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      Module overview

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      8.1 Building a rum list

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      8.2 Pour cost and pricing

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      8.3 Purchasing, storage and stock

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      8.4 Guest recommendations and staff training

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      Rum list project

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      Module 8 knowledge check

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      Module 8 workbook page

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      Zoom 4: Exam rehearsal (book your one-to-one session)

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      How the Final Assessment works

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      Submit your tasting portfolio

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      Declaration of own work

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      Knowledge exam

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Book your blind practical

Become a Certified Rum Sommelier™

Self-paced, 12 months' access, four one-to-one Zoom sessions with Christian included. USD 495.

$495.00

Enroll now Free preview