"I've never tried anything like this": We visited Derbyshire artisan bakery which won Britain's Best Loaf award

Miyo Aoetsu, who runs artisan Kuma-San Bakehouse in Matlock, spent an entire night perfecting her innovative Lemon and Earl Grey Loaf before leaving her Derbyshire house at 6am to attend the finals of Britain's Best Loaf 2025 competition in Birmingham.

The hard work paid off and the judges praised Miyo for the ‘sensational’ combination of floral earl grey and refreshing lemon.

Her brioche was not only crowned as British Best Loaf 2025 – it has also scooped the first place in the innovation category.

Miyo, who baked 50 different versions of the brioche before she was happy with the results, said: “Lemon is acidic and acidic juice can make the dough hard. I wanted it to be soft as a brioche. That’s why I went through so many different versions. But it was worth it. The judges said it was the best loaf by far.”

This is a second British Best Loaf award for Miyo who first started baking as a hobby when she was 40, before becoming a professional baker five years ago – following a two day micro bakery course at Forge Bakehouse.

In 2023 she was crowned and praised for her Brioche Japanese – a soft and sweet green loaf which contained Matcha tea and chocolate.

Miyo, originally from Japan said: “I lived in France and Luxemburg where they make fresh bread twice a day. It was my hobby to go to every bakery in town. In Japan soft and fluffy bread is very popular. We also use tea to bake. I decided to combine the two and the fusion of Japanese and Western baking became my speciality.”

Miyo runs her bakery from her house in Matlock with customers from as far as Leicester showing up at her doorstep to get baked goods.

She said: "I love baking from the bottom of my heart. Baking community is wonderful. I made a lot of friends through baking and my customers are great.”

Miyo, who has lived in South of England before moving to Derbyshire, added: “People in Derbyshire are friendly. Life is much calmer than in the South or in London where people are very busy and don’t have time to stop and talk to each other.”

We visited Miyo at her house in Matlock this week to try some of her innovative Lemon and Earl Grey Brioche.

The loaf was soft, incredibly fluffy and full of flavour. At first, I could taste the floral earl grey, with lemon notes becoming more apparent with time. The bitterness of lemon complimented the sweetness of the loaf.

The hint of floral taste paired with citrusy notes created exceptional mix of flavours. I’ve never tried anything like this before. I was absolutely amazed.

Miyo bakes a wide range of goods which can be pre-ordered online – from sourdough bread, through brioches to sweet buns including popular Japanese Bakewell Buns.

The menu is published on Kuma-Sun Bakehouse Facebook page each week and customers can submit their orders via email before picking up ready-baked goods on Saturdays.