Henrietta Said – Ancho Kimchi Peanuts

Bitter: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Salty: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰

Sour: ⭐✰✰✰✰

Sweet: ⭐✰✰✰✰

Umami: ⭐✰✰✰✰

Heat: ⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰

Quick Flavor Notes: Chile, lime, peanut

Texture: Crunchy peanuts with good chew

Recommended: No

Ingredients: Peanuts, Peanut Oil, Ancho Kimchi Seasoning (Tapioca Dextrin, Salt Spices, Sugar, Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Extractive of Paprika, Natural Flavor, Lime Oil, Lime Juice Solids, Soybean Oil, and Silicon Dioxide added to prevent caking).

Continuing to work through the Henrietta Said variety pack this was a flavor I was particularly excited about. I love kimchi, and I enjoy the smoky, fruity, raisiny flavor of ancho peppers. I do find it a bit funny that all of the Henrietta Said flavors have “wing flavored” in postscript below the main flavor. What’s wrong with them being peanuts flavored like whatever they are, what makes them specifically wing flavors if there’s no chicken flavor present in any of them?

Unlike the Henrietta Said Nashville Hot Peanuts the ingredients list on this one actually expands on what’s included in the Ancho Kimchi seasoning. Unfortunately neither ancho chile nor any ingredients that would typically be a part of kimchi seem to be included. No Napa cabbage (or daikon, or any other vegetable kimchi is typically made from), no gochujang, no gochugaru, no ginger or garlic, and no dried or fermented seafood or fish sauce. There are some unexpanded “spices” and “natural flavors” listed, so anything could be going on there. Once again we see “Extractives of paprika” which shows up far too often in processed foods. What’s wrong with using whole natural paprika?

In terms of flavor the kimchi is completely missing. The beauty of kimchi is the bright dank fermented spicy funk. These don’t have any of that in either the aroma or the flavor. The ingredients do contain citric acid as well as both lime oil and lime juice solids which do give a bit of a sour tang but it’s a completely different experience from the fermented tang of kimchi. When it comes to the ancho I’m not getting that depth of flavor that ancho brings either. The color of these peanuts is also suspiciously bright for something that contains much (or any) ancho as that’s a very dark pepper. Overall these taste like any generic chile lime peanut, though with less heat and less tang than the Snak Club Tajn Peanuts.

I believe the issue with Henrietta Said is that they’re spending way more on slick marketing than on actual flavor development. Their packaging is slick and attractive with plenty of buzzwords but the flavor of these doesn’t live up to the hype. The peanuts are of good quality and they’re seasoned generously, both positive points, and the flavor they have is good, they just don’t taste like what they’re advertised to taste like. I additionally take continued issue with their claims that there are no artificial ingredients and zero sugar in these peanuts. They may be claims which are legal under FDA regulations but they feel hollow based on the actual ingredients listed. For example saying “Zero Sugar” on front and listing sugar as an ingredient, or saying “No Artificial Ingredients” and including clearly processed non-natural ingredients such as tapioca dextrin and extractives of paprika. For those reasons this isn’t a product that I can recommend.