Black Cumin Seed Oil Wins 2 Stars at Great Taste 2026: The Judges’ Verdict
Our black cumin Great Taste 2026 verdict is in, and it’s a good one: two stars from the Guild of Fine Food’s notoriously tough blind-tasting panel.
There’s a particular kind of nervousness that comes with entering a competition where the judges taste blind. A panel of food professionals decides, sip by sip, whether something is worth talking about. Black Cumin Seed Oil went into that room like any of our other twenty oils, with no fanfare and no clue how it would land.
What Is the Great Taste Awards?
The Guild of Fine Food runs the Great Taste Awards each year. Food professionals widely consider it the most rigorous blind-tasting competition in food and drink.
Thousands of products go in front of hundreds of judges every year. None of the judges know whose product they’re tasting, what it costs, or how it’s packaged. Judging happens purely on taste, texture and character.
A 1-star result means genuinely good. 2 stars means outstanding. 3 stars, the rarest of all, means one of the best things a judge has tasted that year. In practice, that puts a 2-star oil solidly among the best in its category, out of thousands of entries.
The Black Cumin Great Taste 2026 Verdict
Black Cumin Seed Oil went through four separate tasting panels. Here’s what each one said, in full.
“This has a lot to say for itself. The aroma is not overpowering, clean eucalyptus, peppery aroma. The palate is clean and punchy and goes on and on. We thought of lots of ways to use this, from salads and dipping to drizzling over cooked foods. Unusual, it has a taste that would complement many things. We loved this oil.”
“The judges praised the extraction of flavour, which had incredible longevity in the mouth. They were divided on the taste, some thinking it would be very useful in the kitchen, others disliking the strong ‘diesel’ notes. They agreed that it was a great example of its type, and praised the freshness and intensity.”
“The oil has a great lemony cumin aroma. In the mouth the flavour is very strong, peppery, citrus, herbal and with lightly burnt or bitter notes at the end. A great oil to be used in dressings in small amounts. It leaves a fresh, clean aftertaste.”
“The oil is a lovely amber red colour with a very distinct spicy and nutty aroma. The judges found the flavour very complex. Initially it is very perfumed and soapy but then we found the bitterness overpowering and medicinal. It then mellows out, leaving some interesting flavours in the mouth, so we could see how this has split the judges. It’s innovative, but perhaps needs to be toned back.”
— Great Taste 2026 judging panels, Guild of Fine Food
What the Verdict Means
Four panels, four different reactions, and that’s exactly the point. This isn’t a quiet, easy oil. It has a strong, peppery character that some judges wanted to bottle by the case, while others found it almost too much. Still, everyone agreed on the freshness and the intensity. Every panel noticed that this was unmistakably cold-pressed and unrefined. We did nothing to soften it or make it easier to like.
A Spice With a Very Long History
Long before it reached a small cold-press facility, this oil had a much older life. Nigella sativa, the plant it comes from, was already travelling the ancient world as a valued seasoning.
Archaeologists found black cumin seeds in the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, dated to around 1325 BC. Egyptians had chosen it as one of the items to take into the afterlife.
The plant is native to a wide belt stretching across North Africa and South and Southwest Asia. Today, the world’s largest producers include India, Pakistan, Turkey, Syria, Egypt and Bangladesh. The seed goes by a different name almost everywhere it’s grown: kalonji across South Asia, habbat al-barakah in Arabiс.
Despite the name, black cumin isn’t related to true cumin (Cuminum cyminum) at all. The two plants simply share a common nickname. Its actual flavour, as Great Taste’s judges found, sits closer to a mix of onion, black pepper and oregano, with a citrusy, faintly bitter edge.
Why an Oil, and Why Black Cumin?
It’s a fair question, and one worth answering properly. Why press black cumin into oil at all, when the cumin most people cook with is a completely different plant?
True cumin belongs to the carrot and coriander family. Cooks use its seeds almost entirely as a dry spice, whole or ground, in curries, stews and spice blends.
Cumin seeds simply don’t carry enough oil to make cold-pressing them worthwhile. Because of this, no real industry has grown up around bottling cumin as a table oil. What little “cumin oil” exists commercially is usually a concentrated essential oil. People use it a drop or two at a time for flavouring, not something anyone pours over a salad.
Black cumin comes from an entirely different family, the same one as buttercups rather than carrots. Its seeds hold considerably more oil. Cold-pressing it is a genuine, centuries-old tradition across Egypt, the Middle East, Turkey and South Asia. The result is an amber oil with real body and a bold, complex character, exactly the kind Great Taste’s judges spent four separate panels arguing about.
So the two plants share a confusing name and very little else. One stays a spice rack staple. The other, however, has a much older story: people have quietly pressed it into oil for thousands of years. That’s exactly why it’s the one in our bottle.
Where It’s Used Today
It shows up across an impressive range of cuisines. In Bengali cooking, it’s one of five spices in panch phoron, and cooks scatter it on top of naan bread. In parts of the Middle East, cooks work the crushed seeds into a bold, dark paste called qizha, traditionally paired with tahini or baked straight into flatbreads.
It also flavours a braided Armenian string cheese known as majdouleh. Cooks have been reaching for this seed for roughly three thousand years, in kitchens from Cairo to Dhaka, long before it ever saw the inside of a bottle with our name on it.
Curious to taste the oil that split a room of professional judges?
Shop Black Cumin Seed Oil →
How to Use Black Cumin Seed Oil in a British Kitchen
Great Taste’s judges suggested salads, dips and drizzling over cooked food. That’s exactly where this oil earns its place on a British table too. It has a strong personality, so start small.
- Sunday roast. Drizzle over roasted parsnips, carrots or squash straight after they come out of the oven, not before. The residual heat releases the aroma without cooking the oil itself.
- Avocado toast. A few drops over smashed avocado on sourdough, with a pinch of flaky salt, turns an ordinary breakfast into something genuinely worth getting out of bed for.
- Hummus and dips. Stir it through shop-bought or homemade hummus, or swirl it over labneh, right before serving.
- Lentil soup. Add a finishing drizzle over a bowl of red lentil soup, at the table rather than in the pot.
- Eggs on toast. A small drizzle over fried or poached eggs brings a peppery lift that plain oil never will.
- Bean salads and vinaigrettes. Whisk it into a simple mustard vinaigrette to give an ordinary bean or grain salad real backbone.
As with all our oils, we make this one for finishing, not frying. Its character lives in that first cold pour, so add it once the cooking is done, not before.
Made the Same Way, Award or Not
That’s really the whole idea behind Black Cumin Seed Oil, and behind everything we make. We press it in modest volumes, without heat, without shortcuts, and bottle it the way it comes off the press. Two stars doesn’t change how we make it. If anything, it confirms something we already believed: working slowly and checking each batch by hand produces something worth the trouble, even when it isn’t universally easy to love.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does a black cumin Great Taste 2026 award matter?
A black cumin Great Taste 2026 award means an independent panel of food professionals tasted our oil completely blind, with no knowledge of the brand, price or packaging. They rated it among the best in its category, out of thousands of entries. It’s one of the most respected quality signals in UK food.
What does black cumin seed oil taste like?
It’s bold and peppery, with citrus and herbal notes and a distinctive lemony aroma. Great Taste judges described it as having real longevity on the palate, though its intensity means it divides opinion. Some find it excellent, others find it strong.
Is black cumin seed oil good for cooking?
Use it cold, or add it at the end of cooking rather than heating it. Its character comes through best in dressings, dips, and as a finishing drizzle over cooked food, not as a frying or roasting oil.
Where does black cumin come from?
Nigella sativa is native to North Africa and South and Southwest Asia. Archaeologists found seeds in Tutankhamun’s tomb, dated to around 1325 BC. Today, farmers grow it across India, Pakistan, Turkey, Syria, Egypt and Bangladesh, in cuisines from Bengal to the Middle East.
Is black cumin the same as regular cumin?
No. Despite the shared name, black cumin (Nigella sativa) and true cumin (Cuminum cyminum) are different plants with different flavours. Black cumin has a peppery, oniony, slightly bitter character quite unlike the warm, earthy taste of regular cumin.
Why is there black cumin oil but not regular cumin oil?
Regular cumin seeds contain very little oil, and cooks use them almost exclusively as a dry spice, so cold-pressing them isn’t commercially viable. Black cumin seeds hold considerably more oil, and people have cold-pressed them for centuries across Egypt, the Middle East and South Asia. That’s why an established oil exists for one plant and not the other.
Where can I buy black cumin seed oil in the UK?
You can buy Natura Harmony’s cold-pressed Black Cumin Seed Oil directly from our online shop and on Amazon UK. You’ll also find it in person at our growing network of independent UK stockists.
What is a Great Taste star rating?
The Guild of Fine Food runs the Great Taste Awards, rating products from 1 to 3 stars based on entirely blind tasting. 1 star means genuinely good, 2 stars means outstanding, and 3-star ratings go to the exceptional handful judges taste each year.
Black Cumin Great Taste 2026: The Recap
- The Guild of Fine Food awarded 2 stars, out of thousands of blind-tasted entries
- Judges disagreed: some loved the bold, peppery intensity, others found it strong
- Everyone agreed on the freshness, and that it was unmistakably cold-pressed and unrefined
- We cold-press it in modest volumes, the same way we always have
- Available from our shop, on Amazon UK, and through our growing list of UK stockists
In short, this black cumin Great Taste 2026 result confirms what we already believed about working slowly and checking every batch by hand.
This oil carries roughly three thousand years of culinary history and a two-star badge from one of the toughest tasting panels in British food. Complicated verdict and all, we’re proud of it. Come and find out which side of the room you’re on.
— Helen Thornwyn, Natura Harmony’s food writer
P.S. Looking for more ways to bring oils like this into your everyday cooking? Our digital cookbook library on Etsy has full recipe collections and meal plans built around the same simple, real-ingredient approach as everything we press.