Hampshire is Tasting Great!

Hampshire is Tasting Great!

Great Taste has been discovering exceptional food and drink since 1994 with more than 100,000 products having been judged over the years. The Great Taste logo has become recognised as a stamp of quality on many of our favourite foods and drinks. This year’s awards saw Hampshire producers come away with over 70 stars giving a great boost to the county’s local food producers.

This year’s awards involved over 400 expert judges who came together for 49 judging days from March until July. The judges are made up of top chefs and restauranteurs, deli and farm shop owners, retail buyers, food writers and journalists, farmers, WI jam and cake experts and the list goes on. The judges blind-taste in teams of 3 or 4 ensuring we get a balance of expertise, age and gender.

The local food group, Hampshire Fare works closely with many of the county’s winners to support and promote their businesses. Commercial Manager, Tracy Nash, commented on this year’s success at the awards: “Hampshire has so many talented and hard-working producers injecting flavour into our county. We are so pleased that their skills have been recognised at the Great Taste Awards. Ice-cream, cheese, chocolate, coffee, sausages, bacon, charcuterie, marshmallows, gin, beer and more have all been awarded stars. The variety speaks volumes about the thriving local food scene here in Hampshire. Well done to all the winners!”

Jude’s Ice Cream came away with an impressive nine awards. Jude’s is a family-run business based near Winchester making delicious ice cream from local milk. Chow Mezger, Director, from Jude’s commented: “We were delighted with another successful year at the Great Taste Awards. We were thrilled to be granted 9 awards this summer including an award for our new flavour, Brown Butter Pecan, made with swirls of caramel and pecan pieces. We so value the accolade of the Great Taste Awards and are very pleased to now have 40 awards across our flavour range.”

Read more about the Great Taste Awards

Ambrose Sausages
Gilbert’s Original Pork Sausages  1 star
Hampshire Salami  1 star

Caracoli Ltd
Courgette and Lime Cake   2 star
Energy Bites   1 star
Berry and Almond Sprinkles    1 star

Chalk Stream Foods Ltd
Cold Smoked Chalk Stream Trout   2 star

Charlotte Brown's Handmade
Raspberry Conserve    1 star
Lime Curd    1 star

Chocolate By Miss Witt
Blackcurrant & Star Anise chocolate made with 70% single origin Manabi Dark Chocolate  1 star

Enjoy Raw Chocolate Ltd
enJoy! Raw Chocolate – Orange    1 star

Farmer's Choice Free Range Ltd
Belly Pork Black Pepper & Sea Salt Coated   3 star
Mince Pork   1 star
Mini Roast Lamb   1 star
Back Bacon Oak Smoked   1 star

Harley Sweet
Mint-Choc Stracciatella     2 star
Blackcurrant Marshmallow  1 star

Hill Farm Juice (The Meon Spirit Company)
Russet Apple Juice   2 star
Bramley Apple Juice  1 star

Hockeys Farm shop
Rare British Lop hand of pork  2 star
Rare breed British Lop pork sausages    2 star

Isle of Wight Distillery
Mermaids Gin 2 star
Rock Sea Vodka  1 star

Jude's Ice Cream
Mango & Passion Fruit Frozen Yogurt   2 star
Very Vanilla Dairy Ice Cream   1 star
Truly Chocolate Dairy Ice Cream    1 star
Gin and Tonic Dairy Ice Cream    1 star
Brown Butter Pecan Dairy Ice Cream    1 star
Raspberry Jam Ripple Dairy Ice Cream     1 star
Mango Sorbet    1 star
Coconut Sorbet     1 star
Ginger Spice Dairy Ice Cream  1 star

Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers
Old Winchester Extra Mature   1 star
Stoney Cross   1 star

Moonroast Coffee
Moonroast Ethiopia   3 star
Moonroast Guatemala   2 star
Moonroast Arabica Decaffeinated    2 star
Moonroast Peru Blend    1 star

naked jam
Strawberry Syrup    2 star

New Forest Ice Cream Ltd
Blackcurrant High Fruit Sorbet   2 star
Lotus Caramelised Biscoff Ice Cream   1 star

Owtons Butchers
Green Streaky Bacon   2 star
Green Back Bacon     1 star
Smoked Back Bacon   1 star
Venison Bacon   1 star
Pork and Leek Sausages 1 star

Summerdown Farms Ltd
English Spearmint & Camomile Tea    2 star
Heritage Peppermint Fondants  2 star
Heritage Peppermint Crisp Discs  1 star

Two Cocks Farm and Brewery
1643 Cavalier Golden Ale  1 star
1643 Viscount Golden Ale   1 star
1643 Leveller Bitter    1 star

Winchester Distillery
Twisted Nose Gin    1 star
Twisted Nose Vodka   1 star
Twisted Nose Oak Barrel Aged Gin  1 star