About

  • Leader of a commercial olive oil taste panel which is accredited by the American Oil Chemists' Society and has been recognized by the International Olive Council

  • An instructor for the Sensory Evaluation of Olive Oil Certificate Course conducted through the U.C. Davis Olive Center

  • 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

Sue is:

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.

Testimonial:

  • The sensory attributes of their products

  • ​The effect of processing variables on these attributes

  • The sensory abilities of personnel

To best address the question at hand, Sue Langstaff, will assess your goals and help you choose the proper:

  • Procedures

  • Analytical tools

  • Statistics

  • Training methods

Additionally, Sue has been:

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.

“Sue is an amazing teacher, organized, professional, helpful, entertaining, and extremely dedicated and hard-working!”

  • The leader of the U.C. Davis Olive Oil Taste Panel. Under her supervision, the panel obtained accreditation by the American Oil Chemists' Society.

  • 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.

We help our clients to maximize their potential by more fully understanding:

(707) 344-0254