Great drinks paired with great food and enjoyed with even better company has always been one of the best ways to while the time away. However, not everyone is willing to shell out for a bottle of liquor that they have yet to try. Blind buys can be an expensive experience and this is why tasting sessions have grown in popularity in the Philippines.
One such team is The Tasting Club which was founded by Kevin Charuel in New York City in 2016. He has since brought it to the Philippines in 2019. Unlike most tasting sessions which are usually done by different liquor brands, The Tasting Club instead focuses on creating bespoke tasting events tailored to the needs of their clients. “The feedback from our events was always very positive as our approach is more educational than promotional,” he shared.
Charuel shared that because these tasting sessions are always customized, they have creative freedom over these events. “Since we host custom made tasting experiences, we can basically make anything happen if it’s possible logistically. When a client reaches out to us, we take time to present all the different formats that we can organize so the client can understand how different the tasting experience can be for his guests,” he explained.
Clients who choose to book a tasting session, whether for friends, officemates, or business partners are guided through the different options available — from the type of drink that they want to highlight, to the food that would be paired along with the beverage. “The most important thing is for the clients to know what they want for their guests. We are always available to make suggestions but we cannot make the decisions for them at the end. When the client knows what he or she wants, we can basically schedule and coordinate the tasting event within a few days,” Charuel said.
Cognizant of the synergy between food and drinks, Charuel always strives to partner with respected chefs and food establishments for the pairings. The Tasting Club has collaborated with the likes of Chef Gamboa of Tsukiji, Chef Chele Gonzales, Chef Bettina Arguelles of Sofitel, Chef Cyrille Soenen and other notable individuals in the culinary industry.
However, the spread of COVID-19 has put on hold face-to-face tasting sessions, prompting The Tasting Club to bring their events online. Charuel noted that this arrangement brought specific issues that had to be addressed. “The main challenge is always the logistics with the deliveries to the participants. Since we always offer food pairings, this can be very challenging when we feature fresh food such as sushi/sashimi or gourmet culinary preparations. This is mostly about the locations of the recipients that can be very isolated from Metro Manila sometimes. We already had recipients residing in Negros and Siargao, and we also already delivered sushi/sashimi from Tsukiji to Tagaytay and Bulacan,” he said.
Despite this, there are also upsides to hosting events virtually. The Tasting Club is now able to invite guest speakers who live abroad to bring their expertise on a specific category of products. It also makes discussions more accessible to guests thanks to slide presentations and videos.
As more Filipinos become more travelled in the past several years, more drinkers are willing to expand their horizons. This has led to them being more interested in craft spirits and the process behind its production. The Tasting Club aims to help these intrepid individuals experience a wider world of beverages available for them.
