Water Sommelier and Environmental Scientist

31/08/2024

Ah, French Costco…

14/06/2024

I always love bumping into Paris’ Wallace Fountains! This one is running…

15/05/2024

We are on week three of our podcast, Something in the Water!

In week one, I interviewed water sommelier and entrepreneur Michael Mascha from FineWaters. We discussed mineral water in the epicurean setting.

In week two, we tackle the problem of plastic pollution and plastic in our drinking water with guests Malia Elder and Dr. Sherri Mason.

And now in week three, I have interviewed Doran Binder from Crag Spring Water in the UK to talk about water delivery and sustainability in context.

You can listen now on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcripts on the Pine Forest Media website: https://www.pineforestpods.com/sitw-episodes

01/05/2024

I am absolutely thrilled to announce the launch of my new podcast about water access, the environment, and the mineral water industry. I am creating this series with my wonderful ex-student and friend Clark Marchese, who has his own science podcasting production company Pine Forest Media (https://www.pineforestpods.com). The first episode is out - where I chat with the great Michael Mascha FineWaters about water and the fine dining experience. Episodes will appear every Friday for the next 10 weeks. Tell your friends! And enjoy.

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/5HGQytPxV6FfcX03OUBXYf?si=9Zu7eE2tRH2iK-bBM7FBSA

Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/something-in-the-water/id1740586381

iHeart Radio
https://iheart.com/podcast/166454299/

26/04/2024

One of my favorite parts of being on the jury is meeting my fellow water sommeliers. Great food, great evening.

15/07/2023

Well, my interview ended up on the cutting room floor - but so fun to see coverage of this event!

ABC News’ Ines de La Cuetara reports on the world of water sommeliers, traveling to the Fine Water Summit in Athens, Greece, where connoisseurs taste test the world’s best waters.

26/11/2022

So excited to announce that Kevin Capehart, Michael Mascha and my paper on water and wine judging is in print! So many years in the making:

doi:10.1017/jwe.2022.41

It is Officially Scientific now:

Judging reliability at wine and water competitions
by
Elena C. Berg, Michael Mascha and
Kevin W. Capehart | Cambridge University Press.

Studies suggest the inter-rater reliability of judges at wine competitions is higher than what would be expected by random chance, but lower than what is observed when experts in other fields make judgments specific to their expertise. To further contextualize the (un-) reliability of wine judging while also extending the study of fine water, we examine the inter-rater reliability of judges at an annual international competition for bottled waters. We find that the inter-rater reliability of water judging is generally better than chance and, at best, about the same as the inter-rater reliability of wine judging at some wine competitions. These results suggest that perceptible differences between fine waters exist but are less pronounced than those between fine wines and, also, that aesthetic standards with respect to fine waters exist but are currently less established than those for fine wines.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-wine-economics/article/abs/judging-reliability-at-wine-and-water-competitions/416730E6F3B1A9E3D9F19E08455CAFAA