In what could perhaps be considered a bit more of a formal environment than the previous sessions, I carried out a training session for the Food & Beverage and Front Office  staff at a Long Service Apartment in Edinburgh.

We started by  looking at their wine list and explaining the main characteristics of each of their wines, country of origin, grape, flavour profile, amongst others, as well as looking for what food would pair well with them from the current menu. I made the session very interactive by letting the staff try the wines and some of the dishes and prompting them to come up with the best pair.

I then moved onto giving them an overview of how Whisky is made and the different styles of Whisky availabe, before explaining the main characteristics of the various Whisky Regions in Scotland.

I told the team what the unique selling points for each Whiskies were and using their current Whisky List I suggested a few Whisky flights that could take customers on a journey depending on what they wanted to experince. Ranging from an introduction to Scottish Whiskies, to a discovery trip around the Isle of Islay.

This short sessions give a boost of confidence to team members since they feel more knowledgeble about the products they sell and can better suggest customers what to have since they have previously tried it.