Meet Allison Poerner, the Middle East's first water sommelier

From hosting tastings to crafting specialised menus, Poerner is trying to prove that water deserves its place on the dining table

Allison Poerner at her first Amanzi water tasting event in Dubai. Photo: Sophie Prideaux

Water: we all drink it, but how often do we stop to really appreciate its taste?

Unless you are gasping for a drink in the middle of the desert and someone magically hands you an ice-cold bottle, the chances are, probably never.

But Allison Poerner is here to change that, as the Middle East’s first water sommelier.

While it might sound slightly bizarre at first, it’s very much a real job. In fact, Poerner is the 102nd water sommelier to graduate from the Fine Water Academy, headed up by certified water tasting expert Martin Riese, who was thrust into the spotlight in 2020 after appearing on an episode of Netflix’s Down to Earth, with Hollywood actor Zac Efron.

That episode, like it was for many others, was the first Poerner had heard of the concept, and she was more than a little intrigued.

“I love water, I always have, I am a good swimmer,” she says. “And I have 30 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, so it felt like an obvious choice. I went away and I did my homework.

“I was more intrigued to begin with, but then when you start looking into it and start learning about it. It’s been really informative; you learn a lot.”

After qualifying at the Fine Water Academy, Poerner launched her business, Amanzi, in February.

“It’s really exciting and it’s all very new,” she says. “When I tell people what I do, they are a little bit confused at first, but then they always want to know more. They are astounded because they don’t believe that a water can have as much taste and as much goodness and as much minerality as it does. When you do a tasting, everybody is as surprised as you are today.”

She’s right. I’m here for Amanzi’s first water tasting event, hosted at Dubai's Top Golf, and I have to admit, I’m sceptical. I have always been a big water drinker, but I’ve never been fussy. If I can, I’ll always drink tap water, and when I can’t, I have no brand loyalty for bottled. At home, I always drink still. At dinner, I treat myself to sparkling.

We are each given six waters to try – three carbonated and three still.

As each is poured, we are told a little bit about it, where and how it’s sourced, its minerality levels, how it should be served (between 16°C and 19°C and in a stemmed glass, so your hands can’t warm it), and as we sip each, one by one, we are asked to share our thoughts.

I find myself surprised by how different my Voss and Evian taste and yet, I can’t seem to put it into words.

But that’s where Poerner comes in. “You can really taste the minerality,” she says. “Some waters are more salty, some have higher calcium, so you can really start to taste the difference. And you also get water from different sources, so for example, Hildon comes from a well, and to me, it tastes like a copper penny, the still one especially, it tastes completely different from a spring water.

“The TDS level [total dissolved solids] determine the taste and the level of minerality in the water, as well as where the water has been. Has is it been recently harvested, or has it been in mountains for thousands of years? That’s what gives it its flavour.”

As I look around the room, I see everyone's faces painting the same picture as mine – surprise. She finishes by asking us, “So, do you think water has taste?” And it now feels impossible to say no.

While I thought the concept was slightly novel to begin with, after speaking with Poerner, who is from South Africa, it’s easy to see why she decided to launch Amanzi, and why she chose Dubai as the place to do it.

“I have lived here for six-and-a-half years,” she says. “I want to expand outside of Dubai into Al Ain and Abu Dhabi.”

Poerner hopes that Amanzi will work with restaurants and hotels to create specialised water menus, as well as working with brands to bring more water options into the country.

“We have so many people in this country who don’t drink alcohol, so water is a natural choice here. People deserve a choice to have a water menu in a restaurant and to be suggested a pairing with their meal, it’s all about taste.”