A Foodie’s Guide to Dorset
8 award-winning artisan Dorset food producers
The Dorset food scene has never been so exuberant. With artisan producers, organic growers and acclaimed chefs all showcasing culinary originality, foodies will delight over the county’s local larder. From the vineyards and orchards to the hotplates and distilleries, you don’t have to travel far to get a true taste of Dorset.
Here are 8 must-try foods and drinks for you to enjoy during your holiday in Dorset…
Black Cow Vodka
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Distilled on farmland in the heart of West Dorset, Black Cow established itself as the world’s first milk vodka in 2012, an ingenious way of using up the leftover whey from the farm’s pasture grazing herd. Known for its deliciously smooth taste, creator Jason Barber watched the Black Cow label soar to dizzy heights, after a year spent tasting and tweaking. It’s now one of the region’s most celebrated artisan spirits, an award-winning niche that’s received top honours at the Dorset Food Drink & Farming Awards.
Triple filtered and hand bottled, this smoothest of smooth vodkas is stocked on shelves and behind cocktail bar display cabinets all over the globe, from London’s Groucho Club to Malibu Beach, impressing mixologists with its creamy character. What’s more, the Black Cow blend has a lower environmental impact when compared to its grain-based cousins, relying on far less water. As well as the original, iconic Black Cow Vodka, other flavours include The Pickle House Spiced Tomato Mix and English Strawberry. Black Cow also produces a range of deluxe cheddar cheeses.
Capreolus Fine Foods
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Another thriving food enterprise “making hay” in West Dorset, the multi-award winning Capreolus is a company of artisan charcutiers from Rampisham. Their quest for quality and provenance has taken them all over the West Country to source the finest free-range, wild, and seasonal meats along with exceptional rare breeds.
Meat is cured according to centuries-old methods, air-dried in curing chambers and subtly flavoured with beech wood chips. The charcuterie range includes a seasonal variety of pork, salamis, beef, mutton, wild boar, duck, and pheasant. Judges at the Taste of the West Cured Meats Category picked out Capreolus’s smoked duck breast and Dorset pastrami for gold awards.
Chococo
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Another star of Dorset’s Great Taste awards is Chococo and their handcrafted chocolates. Starting life as a tiny, independent chocolatier in an upstairs shop and kitchen in the seaside town of Purbeck, twenty years on and Chococo runs four Chocolate Houses in the South West. Ideal for congratulations, birthdays, weddings, and thankyous, choose from Chococo’s delectable selection.
Clipper Tea
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Another high-flying enterprise from humble beginnings, Clipper Tea was founded in a Dorset kitchen, the brainchild of a husband-and-wife team. Selling finest-quality Assam tea to local health food shops and cafés, the Clipper business empire now spans the globe with more than 150 products and blends sold in more than 50 countries – all from a factory in Beaminster surrounded by the rolling hills of West Dorset.
Clipper is a ground-breaking brand, the world’s first tea business to switch completely to plant-based, biodegradable, non-GM and unbleached tea bags. It was also the UK’s first Fairtrade tea company, now supporting more than 114,000 producers, families, and villages worldwide. Clipper’s master blenders continue to win awards for their dedication to the tea trade and their loyal and discerning customers.
Dorset Meat Company
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With its commitment to traditional British farming methods and ethically reared meat, the Dorset Meat Company has become a name synonymous with exceptional quality.
Working with twenty small family-run farms working the lush and rolling pastures of Dorset and Wiltshire, the company continues to fly the flag for the smaller farmer and their time-honoured, unrushed principles. Animals are fed only on a natural and free-range diet of pure grass, wildflowers, clovers and legumes, hand-reared to the highest welfare standards and raised in harmony with the local ecology.
Furleigh Estate
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A handful of miles from the Jurassic Coast, the sweeping acres of Furleigh Estate include vineyards, lakes, sleepy pastures and ancient woodlands. Once a dairy farm, the estate now tends to 22,000 vines rooted to its southern slopes responsible for Furleigh’s award-winning sparkling and still wines. The impressive winery houses a state-of-the-art press designed for the delicate process of whole bunch pressing…one of the secrets behind the sparkle. Among the Furleigh Estate’s accolades are an Independent English Wine Awards gold medal and International Challenge silvers. Tours and tasting days are available and the Cellar Door Shop open for business.
Moores
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The Moores family have been biscuit making for more than 140 years, one of the oldest bakers in Britain. Their biscuit dynasty began in the 1860s with the Dorset Knob, a rusk cookie made from leftover dough which is still produced today, along with a bumper selection of sweet biscuits, cakes and granolas. A household name across the county of Dorset, tea drinkers from far and wide continue to enjoy the delicious taste of Moores biscuits.
Palmers
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Another of Dorset’s longstanding drinks producers, Palmers is one of Britain’s most historic breweries, dating back to 1794. Built on the banks of the River Brit, this magnificent brewery was brought by the Palmer brothers during the 19th century, their fermenting prowess the envy of the region. The famous old water wheel is still turning, forged in 1879 at Bridport foundry and part of the Palmers brewery tour. Only the finest whole leaf hops are used to produce these ales, brewed using traditional methods using a Mash Tun, an open top copper and top fermentation.
Discover delicious Dorset when you book a stay with Toad Hall Cottages.