Elena Berg
Jury member Dr. Elena Berg is a Certified Water Sommelier and a full Professor of Environmental Science and Director of the Joy and Edward Frieman Environmental Science Research Center at The American University of Paris (AUP), France. Elena spent the first twenty years of her career conducting fieldwork on primates and birds all over the world. Ten years ago, she transitioned to studying beetle behavior in the laboratory. When she is not in the lab, she’s busy teaching courses in animal behavior, evolutionary biology, biological anthropology, and environmental science.
Cori Bokath
Cori Bokath is a Certified Water Sommelier and a 2021 graduate of the Fine Water Academy. She has worked in the meetings and events industry for over 20 + years and has a passion for all things fine water. She consults and host water tastings for the event industry.
Lee (Ivan) Kwun Wai
The first Hong Kong Water Sommelier. Founder of Fonsapor @fonsapor , a Hong Kong premium bottled water distribution company. Columnist of Hong Kong Economic Times. Mission: Leveraging Water Sommelier's expertise, educate, inspire, and empower the general public to choose the right water to improve health.
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Ashley Epperson
Ashley Epperson, Water Sommelier, USA. Ashley Epperson is the COO and Co-founder of Salacious Drinks LLC. Salacious Drinks @salaciousdrinks is the global purveyor of imported and domestic fine bottled waters. Established in 2016, Salacious Drinks is an online marketplace that provides a platform for water brands to sell their products to a curated consumer base, that consists of retail customers and wholesale clients. Part of her daily operations includes constantly work with industry experts and water sommeliers to ensure the quality of Salacious Drinks’ product offerings
Michael Mascha
Michael Mascha created FineWaters in 2002 and is one of the original founders of the Fine Water Society in 2008. He helped create the premium category and tells the story that "water is not just water," that it has terroir like wine, can be matched with food, and curated by water sommeliers. In 2018 Michael co-founded the Fine Water Academy to train water sommeliers worldwide.
Michael's global audience consists of food & beverage professionals, consumers, distributors, media, and premium brands. Michael is also
the author of the acclaimed book Fine Waters called "an encyclopedia of water, a bible of water" by the London Times.
Nico Pieterse
The Fine Water Company was founded in 2021 by Nico Pieterse, an experienced entrepreneur and WaterSommelier from Franschhoek. Nico is one of only a few Certified Water Sommeliers worldwide. This has distinct advantages in so far as the market is completely untapped, primed for launch, and coincides with the wellness revolution the world is experiencing. Water is a “hot” topic, and appreciation of water is definitely on the increase.
The Fine Water Company Tasting Room and Nico Pieterse, a water sommelier, are in the perfect position to revolutionize the Fine Water industry in South Africa. The topic of Fine Water is thought-provoking and almost immediately perceived as taboo; the press loves it, critics discuss it, everybody needs it, and almost immediately, the need to prove that water has taste arises. It's intriguing and fresh, a Water Sommelier, and his tasting room is in the middle of the culinary capital of South Africa.