Chef Grey Poupon

Winning at the World-Wide Mustard Competition

October 6, 2007 – 3:25 pm

By Barry Levenson, Curator of the Mt Horeb Mustard Museum

Every year more than three hundred mustards from all over the world compete for medals at the World-Wide Mustard Competition, which is held in conjunction with the Napa Valley Mustard Festival. Beginning around December 15, entries make their way to Mount Horeb, Wisconsin where the Mustard Museum staffers process them, sort them, and prepare them for the first round of judging to be held in late January. Mustards that survive the preliminary round advance to the medal round (early February) and the medal winners then go to the Grand Champion Round (mid-February).

There are nineteen categories, corresponding to the growing range of mustards and mustard-based products on the market:

Sweet Hot
Honey
Dijon
Coarse-grained
Classic Hot
Pepper Hot
Horseradish/Wasabi
Herb/Veggie
Fruit
Garlic
Spirit
Deli
American Yellow
Exotic
BBQ Sauce/Marinade
Salad Dressing
Mustard-Based Hot Sauce
Organic
Packaging (not judged on taste)

What if you have entered your mustard in the “wrong” category? That’s where I come in. I evaluate each mustard entry to make sure it is in the category best suited to its flavor profile. If a mustard maker has entered its tarragon mustard in the “Pepper Hot” category, I will gently move it to the “Herb/Veggie” category so that it has a realistic chance at winning.

Why must a mustard company submit an entire case – twelve jars – for each entry? There are several reasons for this requirement. First, breakage on the way to Mount Horeb is not uncommon. Second, we use a fresh jar for each of the three rounds. Third, one jar goes into the Museum collection, replacing any older jars that are already there. Fourth, we give jars away to our volunteer judges. Fifth, the Museum staff will taste each mustard and use a fresh jar for this “private” tasting.

How Mustards are Evaluated

Who are the judges? We bring in food writers, chefs, restaurant owners, and individuals we know to have a keen palate for mustard. In case you were wondering, I don’t judge the mustards. Even though I have tasted many hundreds of mustards over the years, I find that I know too many mustards and mustard makers. I usually have my own “private tasting” just to keep me in shape.

The mustards are all tasted “blind”. Each mustard receives a number within its category. For example, “3-4” is the number of the fourth mustard in the third category. A few hours before judging, mustards are well shaken, opened, and about two to three tablespoons are placed in small plastic cups that are affixed to upside-down Post-It™ notes that have the corresponding number of the mustard written on it. The mustard samples are covered, placed on trays with their competitors, and brought to the tables where the judges will uncover them and rate them. Judges never know the identity of the mustards they are tasting. They know them only as “3-4” or “7-24” or “14-33.”

How are the mustards scored? Judges rate each mustard on three separate criteria, using a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best).

The first criterion is “Mustard Fidelity.” How “mustardy” is the sample? In other words, if one were blindfolded and given a taste of the product, how easily would the judge conclude that he or she is tasting some kind of mustard?

The second criterion is “Category Fideility.” This measures how close to the expected flavor profile the mustard comes. For example, if the category is “Fruit Mustard,” how fruity is the mustard? Does it deliver discernible fruit in its taste?

The third criterion is flavor or the “yummy factor.” Yes, it is subjective but this is what it’s all about, isn’t it? Is the mustard delicious? Judges consider finish, texture, and other factors but ultimately it comes down to this: “How much do I love it?”

Not all criteria are equally weighted; the actual weights are top secret – even my wife doesn’t know them. But I have someone input the raw scores into a computer and the final scores are tabulated.

You can imagine the daunting task that the judges face, especially in the preliminary round when every mustard is tasted. How would you like to taste 40 different hot pepper mustards? But our dedicated judges take their responsibilities seriously. They understand that each mustard must be judged for all three criteria; failure to judge even a single mustard disqualifies that judge’s score sheet. Generally, about eight judges will score a category in the first round and a judge may score in as many as four rounds.

My goal is to narrow the field in each category down to anywhere from 7 to 10 mustards for the second or medal round. Sometimes, though, the difference between number 10 and number 11 is so slight that it seems unfair to draw that line. I then will expand the final round up to 15 if the closeness of the first round scoring seems to warrant it. I would rather have a few too many for the second round judges than arbitrarily exclude a mustard that was so close to being in the top group.

The second round generally takes place a week after the first and we repeat the same procedure, using fresh jars. The top scoring mustard earns the Gold, followed by the Silver and Bronze medal winners.

Over the next two weeks, I host several tasting sessions for the Grand Champion judging. Here each of the 18 Gold Medal winners (the design/packaging category is not eligible) are ranked by up to fifty different judges. The criteria are admittedly difficult to describe but I ask the judges to consider which Gold Medal mustard best exemplifies its category. It’s a kind of “Best in Show” judging. After tabulating the results, we crown a Grand Champion.

More on the World-Wide Mustard Competition

What can you do to maximize your chances of winning a medal? (1) Most important of all is to send the freshest product you can. (2) If you can’t decide between categories, enter a mustard in both or in multiple categories. (3) If you are not sure which category a mustard should be in, ask me for help. By the way, crisp fifty-dollar bills attached to entry forms are always appreciated but have absolutely no effect on the scoring.

How do the judges taste the mustards? Generally, mustards are tasted on white plastic tasting spoons (3,000 per box) and judges clear their palates with water. Sweet-hot and honey mustards get pretzels. Deli mustards get corned beef. But as a rule, our judges are tasting “plain.” (We do offer beer to our hot pepper mustard tasters because they deserve it for what we do to their mouths.)

I can’t imagine a mustard maker not entering every single one of his/her mustards in the World-Wide Mustard Competition. The cost - $35 per entry – is absurdly low compared with almost all other tasting competitions. The rewards can be enormous. What you do with the great publicity that comes with a medal is, of course, up to you, but it can easily translate into increased sales that make your $35 investment the best investment you will ever make. (For example, the Mount Horeb Mustard Museum will typically sell about 200 cases of the Grand Champion mustard each year.)

One mustard maker once told me, “The World-Wide Mustard Competition is nice but the real prize is the bottom line.” Of course, every year he enters every mustard he makes, and in multiple categories. Sure, winning is always a good feeling but when it comes to mustard, it’s good business, too.