The College of Human Sciences is offering Beverage Appreciation to Nutrition, Dietetics and Hospitality Management majors 21 years old and older. Students taste, evaluate and learn about the production of an assortment of beverages.
David Martin, hotel and restaurant management assistant professor, said the course discusses beverages such as wine, beer, whiskey, tea and coffee.
Students perform a sensory evaluation with a selection of different beverages each day, Martin said.
Martin said his lectures consist of an explanation of each beverage the students taste, the regions they come from and what foods pair well with each other.
Special visitors stop by the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center, where the class is held, to speak to the students on occasion, Martin said.
Jeffrey Courteau, Samuel Adams representative, came to speak to a class to discuss each type of Samuel Adams beer.
President and Founder of the International Beverage Company Peter Shwartz, also taught students about the different forms of alcoholic, nonalcoholic and international beverages.
Martin O'Neill, Nutrition, Dietetics and Hospitality Management department head and professor, used to teach the class.
“This class is a professional elective in the Hotel and Restaurant Management major, designed to give students a broad overview of beverages,” O’Neill said.
Norman Van Aken, Jarnes Beard Foundation award winner and celebrity chef, said the class is beneficial to real-world application.
“This class studies viticulture and brewing which have a part of human history through the ages," Van Aken said.
Martin said the class takes an international approach to the appreciation of beverages by learning about the cultural and climatic influences as the semester progresses.
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