Beer Hour: Cheryl Cade
Beer sommelier, educator, speaker and tour guide Cheryl Cade talks to Jessica Mason about how she hopes to develop further recognition for the sector while introducing people to her love of flavour.
Cade is a natural entertainer and as her friends would attest, she is also incredibly loyal and tries hard to help others. This is why she excels in her role as a tour guide. Not everyone gives such warmth and genial familiarity around strangers. But Cade has a story for almost every occasion and when she shares her thoughts on beer, often, you can see the pure joy and enthusiasm dancing in her eyes.
Keeping things varied
Working for herself, Cade insists that no one day is ever the same and admits she likes to “keep things varied” and although this means she does “work mostly solo” and is based in the east of England, she is often surrounded by people.
Spanning a range of skills, Cade offers “tours, tastings, talks, training, consulting and judging” and “these all include, beer, cheese, spirits and history,” she explains. When discussing her past, describes her earliest beer memory as one when her father was stationed in Germany and, at the age of just six years old, she and her sister were “found asleep under a beer barrel”. The image feels somewhat prophetic. Almost as though she found her calling during that moment.
Cade’s family had, she reveals “always been involved in hospitality in some way” but her beer journey began when she was “roped into helping at the Belgian bar for Norwich Beer Festival”. It didn’t take long until she “ended up as manager, turning it into a world bar” and also notably made it “the first UK beer festival to have an example of every Trappist beer brewery” as well as “the only one to serve aged Orval”.
Taking the palate on a journey
Still today, Cade assists a friend running a new Belgian bar in Norwich, The Malt & Mardle and says that anyone who truly knows her knows she has “a soft spot for Orval at 2 and 5 years” as well as anything over 6% ABV that has a hint of tonka bean in the brew. If you were to meet her in a bar though, chances are she’d opt for a “well-made English bitter” though, she adds that “it does depend on mood and weather”. For instance, if it’s a cold winter evening, Cade will look for something “dark, rich and warming” and laughs “I’m always looking for my ‘cuddle in a glass’”. Whatever her choice, there is one thing she looks for: a beer that “takes the palate on a journey”.
Cade is more adventuresome than many expect. In fact, taking her love of flavour to reflect her outlook on life, she finds the motto “give everything a go once, you might like it” a fairly enticing and fun-filled way to live. Then, she shows a little of her astuteness and maturity and adds: “I also believe that you can learn something from every one, so never make assumptions”.
Keenly aware
There are ways she also knows the sector needs to move itself forwards. For one, she’s keenly aware of the fact that although “the UK beer sector is getting better at supporting women, especially when compared to other countries” she can also recognise where it is lacking in support. Cade laments that “there are issues with disabilities, and I’m aware of some ageism within the sector”.
But, remaining ever-cheery, Cade assesses that “there are always things we can do to make the sector more open to all” and says she notices the goodwill that the beer industry has within it too. “I do se, locally, that people in the sector do try to help out each other, especially in the current economic climate”.
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If there was anything she would change, if she could, she highlights that “as a teacher I would like to see the education sector and drinks industry create more links, to develop recognition that the industry can be a valuable career”. To her mind, this is something that she’s had to navigate personally in a space where there are so many opportunities to show the positive aspects of working in drinks can bring. This is why she helps others too. It isn’t just in her nature. Her kindness shines through but being the catalyst to people knowing one another and working together gives her immense happiness.
Helping others
Cade admits that “helping to link people with people is one of my joys” but she also loves “promoting the stories behind the drinks” and that notion of “helping” and being “helpful” is a thread that runs through everything she does. She wants people to “discover new flavours” and new “combination” for things they like. She also wants this to assist in them building their confidence when it comes to their own knowledge.
Self-deprecatingly, Cade explains that “drinks judging really helps with this” and points out that “there is not a single time when I judge that I don’t learn something new or make a new connection” and says she recognises how her work with spirits has really helped to expand her palate further too.
Never making up her mind about something or someone beforehand is also evident in her manner. She says that if we could all just “be open to new ideas” then we might learn more and warns that even though we might not agree with others, we can at least always try to understand a new perspective. Those ideas, after all, give you the power to state your own views, whether for or opposed. As she asserts, when it comes to other people’s points of view or preferences “you might not like them, but to understand them means you can explain why”.
Has she got any advice to offer anyone new to the sector? “Never reply to socials when drunk” and “never say anything you wouldn’t say to the person standing in front of you”.
Inspiration
In terms of Cade’s plans for the future, she has a busy time ahead and is about to restart her Belgian beer tours, develop her East Anglia food and drink tours, all of which include beer, but her ongoing mantra is “to keep learning and stay open to whatever happens next”.
At a time when, as Cade knows, “more people are looking for added value, experiences alongside authenticity” there is the sense that what you get with growing acquainted with Cade whether through her tours, through judging, or in attending one of her talks, is someone who is incredibly earnest and kind beyond measure. Also someone who, perhaps, undervalues those qualities in herself and does not recognise her own unique skillset as something of such incredible value.
Many friends of Cade’s would also possibly like to offer her the credit of knowing a thing or two but never ever exuding any hubris. For anyone who sees the path she has taken, in striving forwards to do what she loves, this is surely an inspiration and a reminder to everyone that it is possible to live your dreams. After all, here is someone who is being true to herself, gaining joy from what she adores and is making a solid career out of those passions too – that is to be admired the most.
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