Meet the Scots entrepreneur behind world’s only range of peat smoked tomato sauces
The world’s only range of peat smoked tomato sauces has just launched from Glasgow-based businesswoman, Hannah Brown - and the inspiration came from a Bloody Mary. In 2020, the drinks entrepreneur launched a peat-smoked tomato juice - Tongue in Peat - created for bloody Mary cocktails. The inspiration came from her many years working in the whisky industry. She could not understand why it was only the whisky companies using peat, when it created such a unique taste. She decided to quit her job to launch the peat smoked Bloody Mary mixer brand Tongue In Peat in a bid to make bartenders' lives easier when making up the flavoursome cocktail.
Speaking at the time of the launch of Tongue in Peat, Ms Brown said: “I’ve always loved the influence of peat smoke in single malt whisky and being a huge fan of Bloody Mary’s, I have been looking for ways to combine the two. After several bartenders heard what I was doing, they asked me to make batches for their bars and it went from there. After lots of experiments at home to find the right length of smoke time and the best region of peat to use, we finally landed on the recipe for Tongue in Peat that delivered the smoky, flavoursome punch we were looking for.”
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Hide AdDespite winning three Great Taste awards for the mixer as well as it being named “the UK’s best Bloody Mary mixer” by the media, revered by the bartending community and exporting to USA and UAE, sales were extremely small as it was a niche product in a niche market. However, Ms Brown realised more people were cooking with the juice as opposed to drinking it, therefore decided to flip the entire business to use the DNA of the award winning juice to create the base for a range of tomato sauces.
In just 10 months, a range of four sauces have been developed under the new brand name PEAT’D. Of how she knew about how people were using the smoked tomato juice in cooking, Ms Brown explained it was mainly from social media. She said: “The feedback came from a variety of sources including people commenting on our Facebook and Instagram that they were using the bottle to make a drink then using the reminder to add to dishes. We also had consumers from our database emailing us with recipe ideas. Lastly, many of the bars that listed us mentioned the chef/kitchen were wanting to increase the bar's order so they could get bottles to use as ingredients in dishes.”


The pasta sauce range is made using cold-smoking (done in a traditional Scottish smokehouse), which imparts an intense flavour, which gives dishes a deeper, more complex flavour than other sauces. Of the flavour of the sauces, Ms Brown said: “Naturally peat smoking imparts the richest, smokiest aromas that mother nature provides. We use its off cuts from Isle of Islay to create the hack of all cooking hacks as by just twisting off the lid and pouring this jar into any dish, it adds depth with little to no effort required. Some may say, it's ‘Vine Dinin’”.” The range includes Original, Garlic, Chilli and Truffle. The process of developing the sauces took 12 months, as Ms Brown explained: “We spent 12 months developing the sauces working with the same food scientist who originally developed Tongue In Peat. We looked at ingredients which worked well alongside peat smoke as well as the types of notes/aromas people looked for in dishes e.g. chilli, truffle but also a nod to all our Italian counterparts with the garlic/basil flavour.”
Speaking of the new brand, Ms Brown added: “We are so delighted we made the switch! We all have a strong emotional tie to Tongue In Peat, and we would never come up with PEAT’D had it never existed. However, after years of trying to convince bars to make space for a smoky Bloody Mary on their menus, this move into food feels much more viable, healthier and exciting. The initial reaction to the taste and design of PEAT’D has exceeded even our wildest expectations.”
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The sauces are extremely versatile and can be added to a wide variety of dishes, not just pasta. Recipes have been developed by a range of chefs and influencers which showcase them being used across ratatouille orzo, gazpacho, lasagne, truffle tomato soup and even a savoury watermelon and tomato sorbet. Ms Brown’s favourite recipe for winter is a creamy truffle tomato soup served with cheese toasties, made using the truffle tomato sauce.
With the majority of all other tomato based sauces hailing from Italy and showcasing traditional Italian cues through both packaging and flavours used, PEAT’D sits at a juxtaposition to this category as it is not Italian. Instead, it is marking its territory as a challenger brand with its bright, colourful, shelf popping contemporary packaging and its use of Scottish peat smoke infusions.
PEAT’D uses 0.0006g of peat in every one of its 305g jars, with much of the peat used coming from the distiller’s off cuts that are left behind however the team wanted to ensure they gave back (a lot) more than they take from the land. That is why Ms Brown and the team have spearheaded the formation of an industry wide initiative which has brought together a group of small to medium sized distilleries (plus PEAT’D) to form a cooperative where a percentage of total sales will be donated to help fund peatland regeneration with a particular focus on small crofters, which will launch in early 2025.
For a full range of recipes, e-shop, gift boxes and details behind how it’s made, please visit https://peatd.com/. New recipes are published each week.
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