Who We Are

英国日本酒協会

Yokoso – welcome! The BSA is a not-for-profit organisation (est. in 2006) that provides opportunities for people to taste a wide range of sake, and to meet brewers (Toji/杜氏) and others in the sake world by:

promoting understanding and enjoyment of sake.
promoting correct storage, serving and drinking of sake.
widening the scope of sake-drinking by pairing it with non-Japanese food.
strengthening and preserving the tradition of sake-making in Japan.
acting as a conduit between Britain and Japan.
supporting sake education leading to professional qualifications.

The BSA Team

Shirley Booth

President and Founder

Shirley is an award-winning filmmaker and food writer. She has lived in Japan for several years and founded the British Sake Association in 2006.

Brian Smith

Company Secretary and Honorary Treasurer

Brian is a lifelong Chartered Accountant who first tasted sake in Las Vegas in the early 1980s and never looked back. He became a BSA member at its first event in 2008.

Marie Cheong-Thong

Chairman

Marie is a writer, presenter and certified educator for WSET, the Sake School of America, the International Sake School and VSF wine school in the UK. Member of Circle of Wine Writers, Guild of Food Writers and Council Member of Association of Wine Educators. Recipient of the 2021 Guild of Food Writers Futures Fund Bursary. She is the UK / EU correspondent for the JSS Newsletter. 20 years experience in international competitive judging for Sake, Wine, Spirits and Food. Judging Committee Member for IWSC.

Sarah Stewart

Memberships and Events Officer

Sarah is the Membership and Events Officer at the British Sake Association, the sake tutor at West London Wine School and a sake judge for the IWC. She won the WSET Level 3 IWC sake prize in 2019, is a graduate of the JSS Sake & Shochu Academy and holds the JSA Sake Diploma International. Sarah also studies the Urasenke tradition of Japanese tea ceremony, and enjoys exploring the relationship between sake and tea.

Harriet Furze

Website and Events Officer

Harriet is the Website and Events Officer for the British Sake Association. She is an International Sake Judge with the IWC and a sake sommelier with the SSA. Harriet is a certified marker and verifier of the WEST Level 3 in Sake qualification, as well as a freelance consultant specialising in wine and sake, and educational and academic publishing.

Henry Thorogood

Operations and Events Officer

Henry is the Operations and Events Officer at the BSA, and coordinates our Study Group programme. He works as a freelance consultant, with a focus on Japanese beverage culture, spanning events, translation, and television media. He is the European Representative for Shimizu Seizburo Shoten, and judges sake with the IWC. Henry holds the WSET Level 3 in Sake with Distinction, Level 3 in Spirits with Distinction, and Level 4 Diploma in Wines with Merit.

Erika Haigh

Corporate Partnerships Officer

Erika manages corporate partnerships for the BSA and coordinates with sponsors for the annual Grand Tasting event.

She is a sake educator and sommelier, founder of KAMOSU; a London-based merchant specialising in premium Japanese drinks and co-owner of MOTO; the UK’s first independent Japanese sake bar, shop & eatery.

Oliver Hilton-Johnson

Sake Education Officer

Oliver is a Japanese Sake & Shōchū Specialist and is the Director of Tengu Sake, recipient of the International Wine Challenge’s ‘Sake Merchant of the Year’ award 2016 – 2019 & 2022. In 2019 Oliver was named as one of the ‘Future 50’ drinks industry professionals to watch; he is Panel Chair for both IWC Sake and IWSC Asian Spirits, as well as a judge for ISC Asian Spirits.