Discover Sake

Discover Sake in your inbox

Receive monthly information on sake seasonality, events and more

Discover Sake on Instagram

Follow for a year of daily sips of sake information

Discover Sake by topic

Understand one aspect of sake at a time from concise articles

European events

Get an overview of sake events happening around Europe

Sake in Europe

See where sake is being made, served, sold and taught about in Europe

Also available as a private or corporate event, or give a gift voucher!

Themed tastings

Dive even deeper into the delicious world of sake with workshops, tastings and meet the brewer events that explore production methods, classifications and individual breweries in more depth. These are informal group workshops, normally held in alternate months.

Who is behind Discover Sake?

Hi! My name is Arline Lyons.

When I’m not working on Discover Sake (creating resources or holding events) I’m a Japanese to English translator specialising in translation, interpreting, research and event support for the sake industry (Taste Translation).

I fell under the spell of sake around the end of 2016 when an existing client in the wine industry started sending me material for translation about sake breweries. I did as much research as I could online, but felt I needed more to translate the material as accurately and meaningfully as possible – especially the tasting notes!

I was touched by the passion and dedication of the sake producers I met, many of whom are very small, family-owned businesses carrying on a traditional craft in the face of changing times. I wanted to help in some way, which first led to starting one year challenge to translate one Japanese news article about sake a day into English (October 2017 – October 2018) which still continues today with about five articles every two weeks (you can see the translated articles here).

I hold the Introduction to Sake workshop and other themed sake events and tastings in Zürich, Switzerland, and offer private events in the area.

I’m also developing a range of resources to help people take their first steps into the fascinating and varied world of sake – an information-packed Pocket Guide to Sake, Sake Tasting Notebooks to record the journey, and t-shirts and other accessories (on saketees.com).

My qualifications include Wine and Spirits Educational Trust (WSET) Level 3 Award in Sake, Sake Education Council (SEC) Advanced Sake Professional, Sake Service Institute (SSI) International Kikisake-shi, Japan Sommelier Association (JSA) Sake Diploma, Sake Scholar, JSS Academy 2023 and the Kurabito Stay brewery work experiences.