Obsessive attention to detail has paid off for Devon-based premium soft drinks producer, Luscombe Drinks, who have just won a staggering 15 Great Taste awards at the world's most prestigious food and drinks awards.

Run annually by the Guild of Fine Food, Great Taste awarded Luscombe Drinks four two-star awards for products judged as 'outstanding' and nine one-star awards for those judged as 'simply delicious'. This brings the Luscombe Drinks haul to a total of 73 Great Taste awards for the range of delicate bubblies, fruit crushes, fruit juices, traditional soft drinks, tonic waters and a cider.

Gabriel David, founder and chairman of Luscombe Drinks, said: “This is absolutely fantastic news – 15 more Great Taste awards! I'm particularly delighted that our new tonics have already gained recognition. This is a huge pat on the back for the hard work and dedication of the Luscombe Drinks team, especially given the competition in the soft drinks industry.

“I am extremely proud that Luscombe Drinks now has a total of 73 Great Taste awards – because it is all about the taste. Our ethos is to pay fanatical attention to the detail. We ensure that quality is never compromised when it comes to sourcing the finest ingredients, using minimal processing and crafting the very best soft drinks. And, we are continually innovating and exploring new ingredients and flavours.”

The Great Taste judges gave two-star 'outstanding' awards to the following Luscombe Drinks products:

• Damascene Rose Bubbly  - The judges said: “the perfect classy drink to serve”, with one commenting that this drink had been “kissed with a rose”.
• Lime Crush – The judges said: “A very fresh lime zestiness then a gorgeous round flavor”.
• Orange Juice -  The judges said: “It's bursting with lovely citrus notes, lots of zing”.
• Elderflower Tonic – The judges said: “As a drink on its own this is very refreshing - with gin it would be wonderful.”

Great Taste one-star 'simply delicious' awards went to:

• Sicilian Lemonade – The judges said: “the first taste on the top of the tongue was glorious – a big burst of sharp wild whole lemons.”
• St Clements – The judges said: “very refreshing and with real citrus integrity.”
• Raspberry Crush – The judges said: “Very good raspberry, sweet and yet tangy”.
• Mostly Devon Apple Juice – The judges said: “The flavours are well balanced and it had a good depth of flavour, leaving a pleasant aftertaste.”
• Apple and Pear Juice – The judges said: “It is a refreshing juice and is very pleasant to drink. We really enjoyed this.”
• Apple and Apricot Juice – The judges said: “Appealing, rich cloudy juice, with a good aroma of apricot.”
• Apple Juice with Elderflower – The judges said: “Great balance of flavours, acidity and sweetness.”
• Carrot and Orange – The judges said: “Deep orange colour with a good aroma of sharp orange.”
• Grapefruit Tonic – The judges said: “A refreshing tonic with a good hint of fresh fruit.”
• Hot Ginger Beer – The judges said: “Very proud of being ginger beer! The aroma is clear and delivers a punch of ginger;”.
• Cool Ginger Beer – The judges said: “The flavours come through in a really fresh way and we could see this as a really refreshing Summer drink.”

Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers. Food and drink products are 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. 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 months of blind-tasting by hundreds of judges. 

Of the 12,366 Great Taste entries this year, 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. These esteemed palates have together tasted and re-judged all the entries to finally agree which products are awarded which accolades, and also the 2017 Top 50 Foods, the Golden Fork Trophy winners and the 2017 Supreme Champion.  

Great Taste 2017 will reach its exciting finale on Monday 4 September, when the world of fine food and drink gathers at the Intercontinental Park Lane Hotel, London, to find out the Golden Fork winners for each region at an Awards Dinner, with the final applause reserved for the Great Taste Supreme Champion 2017. 

For further information on Luscombe Drinks please visit www.luscombe.co.uk, email info@luscombe.co.uk or call 01364 643036.  Follow Luscombe on Twitter: @luscombedrinks and 'Like' on Facebook.  

ENDS

Notes to Editor

1. Luscombe Drinks products are available to purchase from independent retailers and farm shops, plus bars and restaurants.

2. Luscombe Drinks is a proud member of the Soil Association, the UK's leading membership charity campaigning for healthy, humane and sustainable food, farming and land use.

3. Based on a farm on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, Luscombe has been making fruit-based drinks with natural Devon spring water since 1975.

4. Great Taste is the largest and most trusted accreditation scheme for fine food and drink. Established in 1994, it encourages and mentors artisan food producers, offering a unique benchmarking and product evaluation service leading to an independent accreditation that enables small food and drink businesses to compete against supermarket premium own label brands. Since 1994 over 122,300 products have been assessed. This year 12,366 products were blind-tasted by panels of specialists: top chefs, cookery writers, food critics, restaurateurs and fine food retailers. More information can be found at www.gff.co.uk/awards/great-taste-awards. 

For further information, photography or an interview with Gabriel David, chairman and founder of Luscombe, please don't hesitate to contact:

Frankie Wilde at RAW PR and Marketing - frankie@rawprandmarketing.co.uk;  Tel: 077806 72295; @RawSW