Oxford-based cocktail subscription service wins two awards for its products at The Great Taste Awards

Oxford-based cocktail delivery and subscription box service, The Cocktail Society has received two awards this year at the world’s biggest food and drinks awards; The Great Taste Awards. 

After launching during the pandemic, and as a brainchild of local mixologists, this consumer business has gone from strength to strength and its popularity and quality are noted with these wins. 

Tom Bronock, director of The Cocktail Society comments: “This is a great moment for us and a huge accolade at our almost one-year-in-business milestone. Launching during a difficult period, but at a time that also saw our home-drinking products in high demand was challenging, but our team of cocktail experts have really pulled it out of the bag and created a truly unique and special brand and consumer offering.

We believe that all our products are award-winning – of course! – so it’s incredibly rewarding to see that not only our customers, but others in the industry agree, especially after competing against many similar products. Thank you to the judges for their positive feedback, and we hope to be back next year, showcasing more of our drinks products. This award not only puts us on the map in Oxfordshire, but is very notable in our drinks industry too, so a proud moment!” 

The Great Taste Awards is an annual competition that started in 1994 to support and promote artisan food producers large and small, who want to supply the UK independent retail sector selling fine food and drinks. The Cocktail Society and its competitors entered their fine food and drink products to be judged by a panel of food critics, chefs, fine food retailers, and many more professionals in the food and drink industry, who scored each with a star rating from 1-3. 

The Cocktail Society left with two awards this year as the judges believed that two of its drinks, in particular, were exceptional. Its Oak-Aged Sloe Negroni was awarded 2 stars and labelled as “outstanding”. A 2-star label also means that it was above and beyond delicious, and less than 10% of 15,000 entrants received this award. 

The panel described this drink as: “A well-made example of this style, without being mouth-puckeringly dry on the finish. A good pre-dinner drink with ice and an amuse-bouche of some kind. Really very, very good.” 

With another judge adding: “This is an exceptional sloe gin Negroni where the quality of the ingredients comes across. Good stone fruit flavour and a nice level of bitterness. We felt like it could be served in a very good bar and not be out of place.”

One of the business’ bestsellers, The Salted Caramel Espresso Martini also impressed the panel and was awarded 1-star, which only 25% of other entrants received. The Cocktail Society describes this drink as ‘Expertly blended, using the best ingredients we can find’ and it is evident that the judges agreed, placing it in the category and commenting: ‘simply delicious – A food that delivers fantastic flavour.’ 

The judges were also extremely impressed with The Salted Caramel Espresso Martini, commenting: “Attractive in the glass, with a persistent head. The aroma carries pleasing coffee notes along with a hint of caramel. The palate is clever, a great balance of sound abv, clean coffee notes, the gentle impact of caramel with pleasingly subtle salinity – a really attractive balance.” Another judge continued to say: “This looks fabulous, has a lovely creamy mousse and what a nose; mocha with rich creamy chocolate. Great balance and elegance. Lovely.”

The Cocktail Society is the UK’s leading cocktail delivery and subscription box service, also offering delicious premixed bottled cocktails, DIY cocktail kits and cocktail hamper gifts. The aim is to bring bar quality cocktails home, which is why all of its cocktail kits and subscriptions come with easy to follow step-by-step instructions and all the equipment needed so that each of its products exceeds this standard.

You can find all the results from The Great Taste awards here: https://greattasteawards.co.uk/results