The Slow Story

Scottish miso, slowly made.

Slow Sauce is a fermentation project that began rooted in tradition, adapted to place. We make small-batch miso and shoyu using Scottish-grown gluten free oats and British peas, aged in oak barrels in the hills of Aberdeenshire.

Founded by fermentation obsessives Robin Sherriff and Jonathan Hope, Slow Sauce is part kitchen experiment, part agricultural rethink. We take the classic Japanese method of koji fermentation and reimagine it with the ingredients that we have here - creating something new that’s still deeply respectful of where it came from.

It’s miso, but not as you know it. It’s sweet, savoury, punchy stuff. Slather it on toast. Stir it through porridge. Sip it hot in the morning. Dress your salad. Glaze your veg.

We ferment slowly, seasonally, and seriously. No short-cuts. No imported soy. Just well-grown ingredients, wild weather, barrels, time, and care.

Jono Hope (The Chef)

Jonathan Hope heads up our brewery in Banchory, Aberdeenshire. A chef of over a decade, he’s cooked in some of the UK’s most celebrated kitchens – most recently for Yotam Ottolenghi at Rovi. In 2020, he started making miso under the name Kultured, supplying London’s top restaurants. Now, he’s channelling that same creativity and discipline into Slow Sauce, turning Scottish ingredients into something truly special.

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Robin Sherriff (The Scientist)

Robin Sherriff – koji devotee, mould whisperer, and full-time fermentation obsessive. He’s been tinkering with microbes for as long as he can remember, turning curiosity into craft. With an MSc in Gastronomy (and a thesis on Japanese whisky), Robin founded The Koji Kitchen and the Fermenters Guild UK to champion good fermentation in all its forms. He’s also the author ofThe Science of Fermentation (DK, 2025), a deep dive into the techniques, traditions, and future of fermenting. If you’ve ever dreamed of oat miso made with the precision of a scientist and the soul of a storyteller, Robin’s the one bringing it to life.

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