Products are chilled to 12°C, unless otherwise specified, and taken out of fridge prior to tasting.

Ice, still water, sparkling water, soda water and premium tonic water are available for judges. Your instructions on the pack will be followed, but no garnishes or additional ingredients will be added.

Refrigerated and served chilled at point of judging.

Will be brewed, using filtered water, as per the weight per 300ml of water, brewing temperature and time specified on the entry form.

Will be brewed, using filtered water, as per the brewing temperature and time specified on the entry form.

Your pack instructions will be followed. Temperature-controlled kettles are used to allow for a reduced “boiling” temperature if required and timers are used to follow specified brewing times, using filtered water.

Coffee is judged at a dedicated judging facility where a consistent grind / weight / extraction is used unless otherwise specified. Beans are ground in a commercial grinder. Espresso is made on a Wega hx espresso machine using E61 heads. Boiler pressure is set at 1.1bar. Pump pressure is 9bar., A default recipe of 16g, 40ml, 25 seconds is used with filtered water.

All made using clever drippers with a consistent weight to water ratio and grind unless directed. Default ratio is 60g per 1000ml. Coffee is ground fresh where beans are supplied using a Mahlkonig grinder (EK43). Filtered water is used for all preparations. Using a standard VST refractometer, the grind is calibrated to give about 1.35% TDS for darker roasted coffees, which gives about 1.2% TDS for lighter roasted and/or fresher coffees.

Pods & capsules will be prepared as per your product packaging. Judges will default to espresso if no instructions are provided. Please confirm on the entry form which machine is compatible to your pod.

Barista milks will be heated using a domestic milk frother.

Opened shortly before judging and placed in a lidded airtight container to keep as fresh as possible for judges.

Usually delivered fresh on the morning of judging, these will always be judged first in the afternoon session. Bread will be served at ambient temperature, not warmed through. Bread that is entered frozen will be defrosted in the oven will be cooled and served at an ambient temperature. A toasting loaf, pita, bagels or something similar (which would be eaten warm or toasted by a consumer) will be toasted or heated through. Judges will be served both ambient and warm/toasted versions of the entry to judge.

We will make a decision on these products using the logic of how the consumer would prepare it at home. For example, a scone will only be served ambient, but in most cases we will serve products both warm and ambient.

We will refer to the instructions on the pack. If these are not provided, kitchen instructions will be followed.

Stored at 18°C or ambient, as labelled, and served at room temperature.

Stored at 18°C or ambient, as labelled, and served at room temperature.

Stored chilled or ambient, as labelled, and brought to appropriate temperature before judging.

Stored frozen and taken out prior to judging to allow to reach serving temperature.

Stored ambiently, unless advised otherwise, and served directly to the judges.

Milk is offered on the side for judges to add, if required.

Stored ambiently, unless advised otherwise, and served directly to the judges.

Stored chilled, unless advised otherwise, and served directly to the judges.

Stored ambiently, unless advised otherwise, and served directly to the judges.

Pasta sauces are served with basic cooked pasta and on their own. Cooking sauces will be served on their own if appropriate, or with one additional ingredient as selected from the dropdown list on the entry form e.g. coconut milk, chicken etc. Please do not send the additional ingredient. The organisers will purchase these for consistency.

Instructions on the retail pack will be followed and one additional ingredient can be used as selected by the producer from a dropdown list on the entry form, e.g. chicken, lamb, tofu, cauliflower etc. Please do not send the additional ingredient. The organisers will purchase these for consistency.

Prepared to instructions on pack. If no instructions are present on pack, chefs will follow the kitchen instructions provided on the entry form.

Stored ambiently, unless advised otherwise, and served directly to the judges.

All fresh meat and fish is cooked to a table of temperatures outlined below, which is followed in all judging locations. Chefs will cook to the correct temperature, using pack instructions or producer’s instructions given at point of entry as a guide if required. If no temperature is given, then we refer to this temperature table:

Stored chilled, unless advised otherwise, and taken out of the fridge shortly before judging to ensure judges are not tasting samples fridge-cold.

Stored chilled, unless advised otherwise, and taken out of the fridge shortly before judging to ensure judges are not tasting samples fridge-cold.

Stored chilled, unless advised otherwise, and taken out of the fridge shortly before judging to ensure judges are not tasting samples fridge-cold. Harder cheeses will be given time to come to room temperature.

Stored chilled and taken out of the fridge shortly before judging to ensure judges are not tasting samples fridge-cold.

Prepared to instructions on pack. If no instructions are present on pack, then chefs will follow kitchen instructions.

Prepared to instructions on pack. If no instructions are present on pack, then chefs will follow kitchen instructions.

Prepared to instructions on pack. If no instructions are present on pack, then chefs will follow kitchen instructions.

In most cases, we will follow the instructions of the producer when serving. We will dry fry the spice if preferred or cook with an additional ingredient. The spice will also be served in its raw state to the judges. One additional ingredient can be selected by the producer from a dropdown list on the entry form, e.g. chicken, lamb, tofu, cauliflower etc. Please do not send the additional ingredient. The organisers will purchase these for consistency. There are certain spices that we will only serve in their raw state, these include peppercorns and salt. Kefir leaves will be cooked in light coconut milk and served alongside the raw kefir leaf for inspection.

Pods, paste and the ground spice will be added to whipping cream and served both mixed in the cream and raw.