Nicki Sprinz 

How tasty are your organic essentials?

Antony Worrall Thompson tests the best - and worst - organic produce from cheddar to cereal, jam to juice.
  
  


Organic bread

Demeter Artisan 7 grain and seed, 800g, £2.99, available from Fresh & Wild, www.freshandwild.com.
Great loaf, healthy and full of goodness.

5/5

Waitrose wholemeal & seeded batch, 800g, £1.29.
Balanced seasoning with a nice hint of sweetness. A good GI bread.

4/5

Duchy Originals, 400g, £1.19, available from Waitrose.
Looks home-made but is dry and sticky. Needs something extra.

2/5

Asda wholemeal sliced, 800g, 53p.
Has a manufactured feel, but good to wean kids off whitebread.

2/5

Wholewheat loaf, 800g, £1.49, available from www.organicdelivery.co.uk.
Hard and boring. Seriously tough work to eat.

1/5

Organic cheddar

Daylesford, £19/kg, available from Fresh & Wild.
Creamy and nutty with a full-bodied tang. An almost perfect cheddar.

4/5

Marks & Spencer mature, £8.72/kg.
Strong flavour with unusual sweetness. A full, rounded cheese.

4/5

Lye Cross Farm mature, 245g, £2.77, available from www.organicdelivery.co.uk.
Nice flavour, but not crumbly enough.

3/5

Sainsbury's farmhouse mature, £7.89/kg.
Decent chalky texture, but pretty mediocre taste.

2/5

Tesco mature, £6.86/kg.
Very mild - not strictly mature. A good grating cheese.

1/5

Organic blackcurrant jam

Kitchen Preserves Extra Jam , 340g, £3.45, available from Graig Farm, www.graigfarm.co.uk.
The real thing - sweet with whole blackcurrants.

5/5

Meridian spread, 248g, £1.78, www.organicdelivery.co.uk.
A perfect amount of fruit. Nice lip-smacking quality.

4/5

Duchy Originals, 340g, £2.45, available from Waitrose.
A decent jam with tender fruit pieces. Slightly too sugary.

3/5

Waitrose soft set conserve, 340g, £1.59.
Very syrupy. Would work well as an ice-cream topping.

3/5

Tiptree reduced sugar jam, 340g £1.59, available from Fresh & Wild.
Tastes synthetic and pectin-loaded.

1/5

Organic breakfast cereal

Nature's Path mesa sunrise flakes, 300g, £2.20, available from Waitrose.
Lovely taste with pleasant hint of sweetness.

4/5

Whole Earth maple frosted flakes, 375g, £2.67, www.organicdelivery.co.uk.
Good as a snack.

3/5

Doves Farm cornflakes, 375g, £2.15, www.organicdelivery.co.uk.
Uniform commercial flakes.

Tesco cornflakes, 500g, £1.39.
Fairly tasteless - need sugar and full-fat milk.

2/5

Lima cornflakes, 375g, £1.99, available from Fresh & Wild.
Very pale flakes. Healthy, but not much fun to eat.

0/1

Organic chicken

Graig Farm fresh diced chicken, £12.28/kg.
Really flavoursome and juicy meat.

4/5

Sainsbury's drumsticks, £3.99/kg.
Really succulent with nice organic texture and taste.

3/5

Waitrose British mini fillets, £17.99/kg.
Looks and tastes like real meat and has a tasty natural sweetness.

3/5

M&S British mini fillets, £17.99/kg.
Very easy to overcook. Ideal for a stir-fry, as it desperately needs extra flavour.

2/5

Tesco fillets, £17.99/kg.
Pretty stringy, but moist.

2/5

Organic salmon

Tesco farmed fillets, 300g, £4.52.
Full of flavour, but with a questionable dark pink colouring.

4/5

Graig Farm Scottish farmed fillets, £20.21/kg.
Lean, with a genuine meaty flavour and nice texture.

4/5

Waitrose Irish farmed fillets, 265g, £4.99.
Again, very pink - I wonder what is in the salmon's feed? Still this has a good authentic taste.

3/5

Sainsbury's farmed fillets, 230g, £3.49.
Anaemic-looking with little flavour. Ideal for non-fish fans.

2/5

M&S farmed fillets, 530g, £9.99.
Insipid and pale. No classic salmon flavour.

1/5

Organic pasta sauce

Simply Organic tomato & basil, 300g, £1.99, available from Booths and Peckham's.
Good chunks of tomato. Needs a bit more seasoning.

4/5

Meridian tomato & herb pasta sauce, 440g, £1.55, available from www.goodnessdirect.co.uk.
Nice vegetable pieces, balanced seasoning.

4/5

Sainsbury's tomato & herb, 450g, £1.39.
A very manufactured taste but this has good-sized tomato chunks.

3/5

Go Organic Italian tomato & sweet basil, 250g, £2.13, available from www.organicdelivery.co.uk.
Thin, under-seasoned, bitter aftertaste.

3/5

Middle Earth Organics tomato & porcini mushroom, 300g, £3.49, available from Fresh & Wild.
The chef needs to go back to school. Very weird.

0/1

Organic plain chocolate

Dagoba eclipse, 56.7g, £2.89, available from Fresh & Wild.
Great texture, smooth and perfectly sweet.

5/5

Montezuma's very dark, 100g, £1.79, available from www.montezumas.co.uk.
Very rich with an interesting taste.

4/5

Green & Black's, 100g, £1.77, widely available.
Lovely melt-in-the-mouth texture.

4/5

ChocAID extra dark fair trade, 4x100g, £4.95, available from www.chocaid.com.
Although initially bitter, this has a nice consistency and a good hint of sweetness.

3/5

Tesco, 100g, 82p.
A bit cloying and bland. A non-offensive bar.

2/5

Organic apple juice

Luscombe Devon, 74cl, £2.85, available from Fresh & Wild.
Fresh, dry and sharp. Very nice, but I'm not sure children would enjoy it.

5/5

Grove Fresh, 1l, £2.84, available from www.organicdelivery.co.uk.
This has an authentic colour and a genuine flavour. Refreshing.

4/5

Sainsbury's pure, 1l, 98p.
This tastes like apple juice but is pretty standard.

3/5

Duchy Originals refresher, 750ml, £1.99, available from Waitrose.
Too sweet with odd lingering aftertaste.

2/5

Tesco pure, 1l, 99p
A very ordinary juice.

1/5

Organic red wine

M&S Mareante Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, 75cl, £6.99.
Blackcurrant and pepper scents. Needs to be accompanied by food.

4/5

Touchstone Syrah, 75cl, £7.61, available from Graig Farm.
Blackcurrants, blueberries, hints of pepper. Pleasant.

3/5

Bonterra Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, 75cl, £9.99, available from Fresh & Wild.
Earthy and smooth. A good beefy wine.

3/5

Penfold's Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Shiraz, 75cl, £9.49, available from Waitrose.
Quite rounded, rich fruit flavours, dry finish.

3/5

Calvet Reserve Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon, 75cl £6.99, available from Sainsbury's.
Tart and acidic - like you've just cleaned your teeth.

0/1

Organic white wine

Tesco Australian Chardonnay, 75cl, £5.19.
Good deep yellow colour. Peachy floral and sweet. Very easy to drink.

4/5

Sainsbury's Chardonnay Vin de Pays d'Oc, 75cl, £4.99.
A traditional French Chardonnay. A good quaffing wine.

4/5

M&S Mareante Hill Chardonnay, 75cl, £6.99.
Hints of oak and fruit. A New World wine that would go well with food.

3/5

Cuvée Nina Chardonnay, 75cl, £6.97, available from www.organicdelivery.co.uk.
A bit bland. The colour belies the taste.

1/5

Touchstone Sauvignon Blanc, 75cl, £6.99, available from Graig Farm.
Very pale and disappointing. Salty aftertaste.

0/1

 

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