Great Taste Award winner 2017: Left Field Kombucha
Left Field Kombucha, the first commercial kombucha brewery in Scotland, has won a Great Taste Award 2017 from the Guild of Fine Foods in its first year of production for its original kombucha, the No.1 Yunnan Black.
Great Taste, the world’s most coveted food awards, which celebrates the very best in food and drink, has announced the Great Taste stars of 2017. Out of over 12,300 products to be judged, Left Field Kombucha was awarded a 1-star Great Taste award, which means judges dubbed it "simply delicious" for its entry, the No.1 Yunnan Black kombucha tea, which is a distinctively earthy refreshing drink. The judges said "A very refreshing drink with a lovely fermented flavour. We love the clean feel of this drink."
Judged by over 500 of the most demanding palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs and producers, as well as a whole host of food writers and journalists, Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers. As well as a badge of honour, the unmistakable black and gold Great Taste label is a signpost to a wonderful tasting product, which has been discovered through hours and hours of blind-tasting by hundreds of judges.
The co-founder of Left Field Kombucha, Jo Easingwood Roberts, said “We are delighted to get this national recognition for our kombucha tea. Kombucha is not very well-known yet in the UK and this helps to demonstrate its quality and taste. We make ours primarily for flavour and the Great Taste is all about this. We only launched our original No.1 Yunnan Black this year so it’s amazing to have a Great Taste star going on its bottle already! We are very pleased, and look forward to the future with more of our varieties coming out. We will be celebrating by cracking open a bottle of our kombucha, the healthy fizz!” For anyone wishing to try the award-winning kombucha it is available widely in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and across Scotland. The company also has an online shop.
Recognised as a stamp of excellence among consumers and retailers alike, Great Taste values taste above all else, with no regard for branding and packaging. Whether it is gin, biscuits, sausages or coffee being judged, all products are removed from their wrapper, jar, box or bottle before being tasted.
There were 12,366 Great Taste entries this year and of those products, 165 have been awarded a 3-star, 1,011 received a 2-star and 3,171 were awarded a 1-star accolade. The panel of judges included; chef, food writer and author, Gill Meller, MasterChef judge and restaurant critic, Charles Campion, author and chef, Zoe Adjonyoh, baker, Tom Herbert, and food writer and baking columnist Martha Collison as well as food buyers from Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, and Harvey Nichols.