Terms of Service

Last updated: 15 July 2026

1. About these Terms

These Terms and Conditions govern your purchase of, access to and use of The Accord Method, including its online course, downloadable resources, community areas, website and associated materials.

The course is supplied by:

Oisín Mulcahy, trading as The Accord Method
Business address: Blackrock, Cork. T12F6HF
Email: oisin@accord-method.com
Telephone: +353838564197
Country of establishment: Ireland

In these Terms, “I”, “me” and “The Accord Method” refer to Oisín Mulcahy trading as The Accord Method. “You” means the person purchasing or using the course.

By purchasing, registering for or accessing The Accord Method, you agree to these Terms. These Terms should be read together with the Privacy Policy and any product description or pricing information presented at checkout.

Nothing in these Terms limits any rights you have under applicable consumer law.

2. Eligibility and legal drinking age

The Accord Method concerns alcoholic beverages and is intended only for adults who have reached the legal drinking age in their country.

You must be at least 18 years old to purchase or access the course. By purchasing the course, you confirm that you meet this requirement.

The course does not encourage excessive or irresponsible alcohol consumption. You are responsible for complying with the laws applicable to the purchase, possession and consumption of alcohol in your location.

Whisky and other alcoholic beverages are not included with the course.

3. The course

The Accord Method is an educational online course about whisky tasting, evaluation and blending.

The course may include:

  • Streaming video lessons

  • Written lesson material

  • Downloadable worksheets and reference materials

  • Exercises and blending frameworks

  • Community or discussion areas

  • Updates or supplementary materials

The exact content included in your purchase is described on the relevant sales page at the time of purchase.

The course is supplied through Podia or another digital platform selected by me. You may need internet access, a compatible device and a valid email address to use it.

4. Educational purpose

The course is provided for personal education and enjoyment.

It does not constitute:

  • Professional, scientific or laboratory training

  • Legal, tax or regulatory advice

  • Medical or health advice

  • Alcohol-production licensing advice

  • A professional qualification or accreditation

  • A guarantee of employment, commercial success or competition results

Any examples, ratios, tasting notes or recommendations are educational and may produce different results depending on the whiskies, measurements, storage conditions and individual palate involved.

You remain responsible for how you apply the material.

5. Orders and formation of the contract

Your order is an offer to purchase the course at the price shown at checkout.

The contract is formed when:

  1. Your payment is successfully processed; and

  2. You receive an order confirmation or access to the course.

You must provide accurate and complete information during checkout.

I may decline or cancel an order where reasonably necessary, including where:

  • Payment has not been authorised

  • The price or product description contained an obvious error

  • Fraud or misuse is suspected

  • You do not meet the eligibility requirements

  • Supplying the course would breach applicable law

Where I cancel an order after payment and you have not breached these Terms, the amount paid will be refunded.

6. Prices and payment

The price payable is the price displayed at checkout when you place the order.

Unless otherwise stated:

  • Prices are shown in euro

  • Any applicable taxes will be displayed or included as required

  • Payment is due in full at checkout

  • Payment is processed by Stripe through Podia

  • I do not receive or store your complete payment-card details

You are responsible for any currency-conversion charges or other fees imposed by your payment provider.

Promotional prices and discount codes may be subject to separate conditions and may be withdrawn before purchase.

7. Course access

Course access normally begins shortly after successful payment.

Access is personal to you. You may not share your login details or permit another person to use your account.

Unless the sales page specifies a fixed access period, access is provided for as long as the course remains available on the platform, subject to these Terms.

“Lifetime access”, where expressly offered, means access for the commercial lifetime of the course rather than your natural lifetime. It does not guarantee that Podia, any particular feature or any particular technology will remain available indefinitely.

I may make reasonable changes to the course, platform, lesson order or presentation where those changes do not materially reduce the course you purchased.

8. Right to cancel and immediate digital access

Consumers purchasing online generally have a statutory cancellation period. Irish law separately regulates distance contracts and the supply of digital content during the cancellation period. It also provides statutory remedies where digital content or a digital service is not supplied or does not conform to the contract.

Because The Accord Method is supplied digitally, you may be asked at checkout to:

  • Request that access begin immediately; and

  • Acknowledge that, once supply of the digital content begins, you may lose your statutory right to cancel.

Where you give the legally required express consent and acknowledgement and course access begins immediately, the statutory cancellation right may no longer apply to the digital content already supplied.

Including this clause in the Terms alone may not be sufficient. The checkout process should separately record the customer’s express request for immediate supply and acknowledgement regarding cancellation rights.

Where the cancellation right remains available, you may exercise it within the applicable statutory period by emailing:

oisin@accord-method.com

Your email should state clearly that you wish to cancel and include the name and email address used for the purchase.

This section does not affect your statutory remedies where the course is faulty, inaccessible, not supplied, or materially different from its description. The Consumer Rights Act 2022 expressly covers conformity and remedies for digital-content and digital-service contracts.

9. Voluntary refund policy

In addition to any statutory rights, the following voluntary refund policy applies:

You may request a refund within 14 days of purchase where you have accessed no more than 20% of the course.

To request a refund, email oisin@accord-method.com and include:

  • Your name

  • The email address used to purchase

  • The date of purchase

  • A brief explanation of the request

Refund requests made outside these conditions may be considered at my discretion but are not guaranteed.

No voluntary refund will normally be provided where:

  • More than 20% of the course has been accessed

  • A substantial portion of the downloadable material has been downloaded

  • Login credentials have been shared

  • The request is made more than 14 days after purchase

  • Access was suspended because of a serious breach of these Terms

This voluntary policy does not restrict rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded.

10. Technical problems

You are responsible for having:

  • A stable internet connection

  • A supported web browser

  • A device capable of playing video and opening PDF files

  • Access to the email address used for registration

Where you experience a technical problem, contact oisin@accord-method.com with a description of the issue.

I will take reasonable steps to restore access where the problem relates to the course or platform. I am not responsible for problems caused solely by your device, internet provider, unsupported software or failure to retain your login details.

Temporary interruptions may occur because of maintenance, security issues or failures affecting Podia or other service providers.

11. Intellectual property

All course materials are owned by or licensed to Oisín Mulcahy and are protected by copyright and other intellectual-property laws.

This includes, without limitation:

  • The Accord Method

  • The Six Pillars framework

  • The Six Pillar Matrix

  • The Blender’s Pyramid

  • Videos

  • Audio

  • Text

  • Worksheets

  • Graphics

  • Examples

  • Exercises

  • Downloadable files

  • Course structure and presentation

Your purchase grants you a personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to access and use the materials for your own private, non-commercial learning.

You may download materials only where a download option is expressly provided.

You must not:

  • Copy or reproduce substantial parts of the course

  • Record or redistribute course videos

  • Share downloaded materials with others

  • Share or sell account access

  • Upload the materials to another website or platform

  • Republish, translate or adapt the materials

  • Use the course to create a competing course or training product

  • Use the materials for commercial workshops, consultancy or staff training without written permission

  • Remove copyright, trademark or authorship notices

Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of any intellectual property to you.

12. Personal blending records

You retain ownership of original blend recipes, tasting notes and other original material that you create independently while using the course.

However, the underlying course frameworks, teaching materials, templates, terminology, examples and presentation remain my intellectual property.

Using the method does not give you ownership of The Accord Method name, branding or course materials.

13. Community areas and user content

Where community or discussion features are available, you are responsible for material you post.

You retain ownership of your original contributions. By posting content in the community, you grant me a non-exclusive licence to display, store and reproduce it as reasonably necessary to operate and moderate the community.

I will not use an identifiable member’s recipe, photograph, testimonial or contribution in advertising without permission, except where the material was expressly submitted for that purpose.

You must not post content that:

  • Is unlawful, threatening, abusive or discriminatory

  • Harasses another member

  • Infringes intellectual-property or privacy rights

  • Contains another person’s private information without permission

  • Promotes dangerous or irresponsible alcohol consumption

  • Contains spam or unauthorised advertising

  • Is deliberately false or misleading

  • Contains malware or harmful code

  • Encourages illegal alcohol production, sale or supply

I may remove content or restrict community access where reasonably necessary to protect members, enforce these Terms or comply with law.

14. Responsible alcohol use and safety

Blending exercises should be carried out responsibly.

You should:

  • Use clean, food-safe equipment

  • Clearly label any samples or blends

  • Keep alcohol securely away from children

  • Avoid driving or operating machinery after consuming alcohol

  • Avoid consuming alcohol where medically inappropriate

  • Follow applicable alcohol and food-safety laws

  • Taste in small quantities

Do not consume alcohol if you are pregnant, have been advised not to drink, are taking incompatible medication, or are below the legal drinking age.

The course does not replace professional medical advice.

15. Accounts and security

You are responsible for:

  • Maintaining the confidentiality of your password

  • All activity carried out through your account

  • Providing accurate account information

  • Informing me promptly of suspected unauthorised access

You may not create an account using another person’s identity or attempt to access another member’s account.

16. Suspension or termination

I may suspend or terminate access where there is a serious or repeated breach of these Terms, including:

  • Sharing login details

  • Unauthorised copying or distribution

  • Harassment or abuse

  • Fraudulent payment activity

  • Attempts to interfere with the platform

  • Illegal use of the course or community

Where appropriate, I will normally provide a warning and a reasonable opportunity to correct the breach. Immediate suspension may be necessary where there is a security, legal or safety risk.

Termination for breach does not automatically create a right to a refund, subject always to applicable consumer law.

You may stop using the course at any time.

17. Availability and changes

I may update or improve the course from time to time.

I may also need to:

  • Replace a hosting provider

  • Change technical features

  • Correct errors

  • Update legal or safety information

  • Remove obsolete material

  • Temporarily suspend access for maintenance

I will not intentionally make a material adverse change to a purchased course without a valid reason.

Where the course is permanently discontinued and the change materially affects access you were promised, I will provide an appropriate remedy where required by law.

18. Third-party services

The course is hosted using third-party services, including Podia and Stripe.

Those providers may have their own terms and privacy policies. I am not responsible for the independent acts of a third-party provider, but this does not remove my legal responsibilities to you as the trader supplying the course.

The course may contain links to third-party websites or products. Such links are provided for convenience and do not necessarily constitute endorsement.

19. No guarantee of results

Individual outcomes depend on factors outside my control, including:

  • The whiskies selected

  • Measurement accuracy

  • Personal taste

  • Practice

  • Storage conditions

  • Availability of suitable products

  • How the material is applied

I do not guarantee that:

  • You will create a commercially successful blend

  • Other people will share your flavour preferences

  • A blend will receive an award

  • The course will lead to employment or professional status

  • Every example will produce identical results with different whiskies

This does not affect the obligation to supply the course as described and in conformity with applicable consumer law.

20. Liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where it would be unlawful to do so, including liability for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or rights that cannot be excluded under consumer law.

Subject to that:

  • I am not responsible for indirect or unforeseeable losses

  • I am not responsible for business losses where the course was purchased as a consumer product

  • I am not responsible for losses caused by your unlawful, unsafe or unreasonable use of the material

  • I am not responsible for the characteristics of third-party whiskies or products used by you

  • I am not responsible for decisions made contrary to the course’s safety guidance

Any limitation in these Terms applies only to the extent permitted by law.

21. Privacy

Personal data is processed in accordance with The Accord Method Privacy Policy.

The Privacy Policy explains:

  • What information is collected

  • Why it is used

  • Which service providers receive it

  • How long it is retained

  • Your rights under data-protection law

22. Complaints

Please send complaints to:

oisin@accord-method.com

Include your name, order email address and a clear description of the issue.

I will acknowledge and investigate complaints within a reasonable period and try to resolve them fairly.

Nothing in this section prevents you from pursuing any statutory complaint, dispute-resolution or court procedure available to you.

23. Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of Ireland.

If you are a consumer resident elsewhere, you may also benefit from mandatory consumer protections that apply in your country and cannot lawfully be excluded.

The Irish courts will have jurisdiction, without depriving a consumer of any right to bring proceedings in another court where applicable consumer law permits.

24. Changes to these Terms

I may update these Terms where reasonably necessary because of:

  • Changes to the course

  • Changes to service providers

  • Security requirements

  • Changes in law

  • Clarification of existing wording

The version applying to your purchase is generally the version presented when you ordered, except where a later change is required by law or is clearly beneficial to you.

Material changes affecting existing customers will be communicated where appropriate.

25. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unlawful or unenforceable, that provision will be treated as modified or removed only to the minimum extent necessary. The remaining provisions will continue to apply.

26. Entire agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, sales-page description and checkout information, form the agreement between you and me concerning your purchase.

They do not exclude any statement or right that cannot lawfully be excluded.

27. Contact details

Oisín Mulcahy
Trading as The Accord Method
Business address: Blackrock , Cork. T12F6HF
Email: oisin@accord-method.com
Telephone: +353838564197
Ireland