What Does a Great Taste Award Actually Mean? Inside Our 2026 Wins
You will have seen the little black and gold star on a jar of honey or a bag of coffee. You may not have known what sits behind it.
The Great Taste Award is one of the few food and drink accreditations judged on flavour alone. No branding. No marketing spend. No packaging. Just the product, in front of a panel of experts who have no idea who made it.
This year we were awarded three more. Here is what that badge actually means and which of our teas earned it.
What is a Great Taste Award?
Great Taste is run by the Guild of Fine Food, a UK organisation that has supported independent food and drink producers for three decades. The scheme is often described as the Oscars of the food world.
The scale is worth understanding. Great Taste 2026 attracted more than 15,000 products from 3,919 companies across 116 countries. Judging ran across 105 days with over 800 judges taking part, including chefs, buyers, food writers, retailers and product developers.
Crucially, no product is judged against its competitors. Each one is assessed on its own merit. A tea does not win because it beat another tea. It wins because a panel of experts tasted it and agreed it was genuinely excellent.
How the judging actually works
Every entry is blind-tasted. All packaging is removed before it reaches the table, so judges cannot see who made it or what it costs.
Taste is assessed first. Appearance, aroma, texture and mouthfeel follow. Panels discuss each product openly and record their comments, which are then returned to the producer.
For tea, this means the leaf is examined dry, the liquor is assessed for colour and clarity and the brew is tasted both on its own and, for black teas, with milk. The judges’ notes are frequently more detailed and more critical than anything you will read in a product description.
Most entries receive nothing at all. That is the point.
Our Great Taste 2026 winners
Three of our teas were recognised this year. You can shop the full award-winning collection here.
Imperial Grade Matcha Powder
Our highest scoring product of 2026 and our most significant matcha award to date.
Imperial Grade Matcha is stone-milled from shade-grown Okumidori leaves harvested in the Suzuka Mountains of Mie Prefecture, Japan. It is ground to around 10 microns, which is what gives it that velvety texture in the bowl.
The judges’ notes ran to four separate panels. Common threads emerged. Every panel commented on the colour, describing it as vibrant, emerald and deep forest green. Every panel commented on the texture, using words like velvety and creamy.
On flavour, the panels found a savoury umami core with a clear saline edge, sitting alongside grassy and floral notes. One panel called the nose “pure luxury, gentle and slightly perfumed”. Another noted a punchy, balanced opening of bitterness and umami followed by a long, gentle finish.
They were not uncritical. One panel felt the top, heart and base notes did not quite connect, leaving the flavour journey slightly fragmented. Another described this as a lighter style of matcha, with complexity that was well managed and memorable.
The line that stayed with us came at the end of the first panel’s notes: “We appreciate how seriously you take your art.”
Discover Imperial Grade Matcha
Golden London Breakfast
A single-estate Sri Lankan black tea from the Lumbini Estate and a tea we have always felt was underrated.
Judges noted the leaf first, describing it as beautifully made with plenty of golden tip, neat and evenly sized. The dry leaf tells you a great deal about how carefully a tea has been plucked and sorted.
In the cup, panels found a thick, bright liquor with real strength and freshness. One panel described it as lively with good bite. Another found a pleasant savoury character, clean and fresh on the palate.
What is notable is how the panels handled the milk question. Breakfast teas are drunk with milk in most British homes, so the judges brewed it both ways. The verdict was consistent. The tannins soften, the brightness comes forward and the tea holds its shape rather than disappearing. One panel described a pleasing, firm finish.
Discover Golden London Breakfast
Supreme Sencha
Our premium Japanese green tea from Ise Bay and the tea that best demonstrates why sencha is worth trading up on.
Judges described a golden liquor that was smooth and mellow, with minimal bitterness and very little astringency. That balance is difficult to achieve in sencha and usually comes down to leaf quality and steaming time.
Panels picked out fresh cut grass, spinach and melon, with a natural sweetness running underneath. Two separate panels independently noted a creaminess on the palate and a saline character at the finish, which is the marine minerality you find in the best coastal-grown Japanese green teas.
The overall assessment was of a bright, clear and rounded cup. One panel simply called it a pleasing example.
Why any of this matters when you are buying tea
Tea is a difficult category to shop. Almost every brand uses the same vocabulary. Premium, hand-picked, single-origin, finest. None of it is regulated and very little of it is verifiable from the outside.
An independent blind-tasted award is one of the few signals that cuts through. Someone who tastes food professionally, who does not know the brand and has nothing to gain, sat down with the product and made a call.
Independent research backs this up. A YouGov study conducted in December 2025 found the Great Taste logo is recognised by 58% of UK adults. Of those who recognise it, 74% said it makes a product more tempting to buy and 73% considered it a trustworthy recommendation.
It is not the only signal worth using. Origin transparency, harvest dates and leaf grade all tell you something. But it is a useful starting point and it is one of the few that no amount of marketing budget can buy.
Taste the difference for yourself
The most useful thing you can do is taste a couple side by side and see whether you agree with the judges.
Explore our Great Taste award-winning teas
Frequently asked questions
Are Great Taste Awards judged blind?
Yes. All packaging is removed before judging so panels cannot identify the producer, the brand or the price.
Which Tea Makers of London teas won a Great Taste Award in 2026?
Imperial Grade Matcha Powder was awarded 2 stars. Golden London Breakfast and Supreme Sencha were each awarded 1 star.
What is a Great Taste Producer?
It is a recognition given to producers who have demonstrated consistent quality across their range over multiple years, rather than for a single product. We were awarded Great Taste Producer status in 2020.
