ABOUT

Feeding my curiosity, tasting the world

MÒNICA VALLEJO PADILLA

I am a deeply curious woman who explores the world driven by an innate need to look deeper into things. For me, everything is connected. Art, culture, agroecology and sensory science intertwine in my background. Over the past years, I have been guiding this polyhedral trajectory towards a territory that has always interested me and now fascinates me: the world of food and tasting.

My sensory journey began with tea—my core expertise—and has since expanded to encompass chocolate and cacao, and other gastronomic specialties across the specialty, craft, quality, and organic sectors. My fascination with tea grew naturally from my university studies in East Asia—Japan, China, and Korea—where I studied culture and society among other subjects. Separately, my commitment to food integrity led me to study ecological agriculture, while my training in sensory sciences gave me the analytical framework to evaluate what I taste with rigor.

Through specialised courses and certifications, I've deepened my expertise in tea as well as in chocolate and cacao, learning to assess flavour profiles, origin characteristics, and production methods. More recently, I’ve been extending this sensory approach to honey and olive oil, applying the same principles of attention, curiosity, and rigor to each new product.

Through specialised courses and certifications, I’ve deepened my expertise in tea as well as in chocolate and cacao, learning to assess flavour profiles, origin characteristics, and production methods. More recently, I’ve been extending this sensory approach to honey and olive oil, applying the same principles of attention, curiosity, and rigor to each new product.

CREDENTIALS

University Education

Master in Scienze sensoriali per un’alimentazione sana e consapevole (MSc in Sensory Science for Healthy and Conscious Nutrition) | Università di Pisa

MSc in Ecological Agriculture | Universitat de Barcelona

Licentiate degree in East Asian Studies (Japan spec.) | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona / Universitat Pompeu Fabra

BEd in Primary Education and Music | Universitat de Barcelona

Complementary Music Training: Singing (8), Theory (7) y Piano (4) | ABRSM

Certifications and Specialized Courses

Giudice qualificato in analisi sensoriale (Qualified judge in sensory analysis)| Centro Studi Assaggiatori

Tea Specialist Diploma (EQF 5) | UK Tea Academy

Tea Sommelier | UK Tea Academy

Korean Tea | UK Tea Academy

Japanese Tea Foundation & Intermediate | Global Japanese Tea Association

Chocolate Tasting 1 & 2 | International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting

Cacao Tasting 1 & 2 | International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting

Olive Oil Sensory Analysis (COI Panel Test Method) | Universidad de Jaén

Professional Experience

My career covers a wide range of roles, including teaching music and other school subjects, administration, coordination of educational and cultural events, and technical work on EU-funded projects and an agro-territorial initiative administered through public bodies, as well as direct experience in organic farming, pastry production, customer service, and sales. This path has taken me from classrooms, offices, and cultural spaces to farming estates, production workshops, and retail.

Working in diverse fields and also abroad has given me flexibility, sensitivity, and my own judgment to adapt to multiple contexts. I understand products from the ground up — how they're grown, made, sold, and explained.

This background now supports my current work: education and consulting on food.

Training perception is my pathway to a conscious sensual pleasure: full attention to the honesty, beauty, and artistic value of what is tasted.