About
Sue Langstaff earned her A.B. degree in Genetics from U.C. Berkeley and her M.S. in Food Science from U.C. Davis, specializing in Sensory Science. Her thesis work was on the sensory and instrumental evaluation of the mouthfeel of beer, and the results were published in the Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists and the Journal of the Institute of Brewing. While at U.C. Davis, Sue was a teaching assistant for the class Sensory Evaluation of Wines taught by Ann Noble, developer of the Wine Aroma Wheel.
Sue is:
- Leader of an independent commercial olive oil taste panel which is recognized by the American Oil Chemists' Society. Under her supervision, the panel also obtained recognition by the International Olive Council.
- Co-editor of the authoritative text Olive Oil Sensory Science.
- A professional judge at the Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition.
- Creator of The Defects Wheel® for Olive Oil, Beer, and Wine.
Testimonial:
"Sue is an amazing teacher, organized, professional, helpful, entertaining, and extremely dedicated and hard-working!"
Additionally, Sue has been:
- The leader of the U.C. Davis Olive Oil Taste Panel.
- An instructor for the Sensory Evaluation of Olive Oil Certificate Course conducted through the UC Davis Olive Center.
- An instructor for Sensory Evaluation of Beer for the U.C. Davis Professional Brewers Certificate Program.
- An expert facilitator for a tequila lawsuit, which involved setting up triangle tests for a panel of tequila experts. She has also conducted sensory testing for numerous lawsuits involving wine.
- A consultant to numerous insurance companies, assisting in claims resolution through the assessment of potentially defective wines.
- An international consultant to beverage manufacturers.
- A professional judge at the Great American Beer Festival.
- Head judge for olive oil competitions in New Zealand and South Africa.
- The chairman of the Sensory Evaluation Committee for the California Enological Research Association.
Sue is profiled in the first chapter of Mary Roach's book "Gulp" and lives near the Napa Valley with her husband, Glen, cat, Keiko, and dog, Belle.
