Jake’s Nut Roasters – Fire Roasted Hatch Chile Almonds
Bitter: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰
Salty: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Sour: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Sweet: ✰✰✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Heat: ⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Dusty, peppers, dirt, tang, hint of fire
Texture: Crunchy and dry
Recommended: Conditional
Ingredients: Whole Dry Roasted Almonds, Salt, Maltodextrin, Jalapeno/Hatch Chile Pepper, Spices, Citric Acid, Natural Flavor, Tapioca Starch
I don’t really care for almonds. I’ve always found it curious that they’re known for requiring a ton of water to grow (and thus often a hot topic in California where many are grown due to persistent drought conditions) given how dry and chalky they usually are. When I want mixed nuts I typically buy custom nut blends from Nuts.com in order to make one that doesn’t include almonds. So why did I buy these? I wanted a bit of a change of pace from peanuts so thought I’d give almonds another try (and unfortunately there’s a dearth of companies making spiced versions of other nuts).
I actually purchased a variety pack of these from Jake’s but this was the only flavor that looked like it may be spicy. The ingredients are fairly straightforward – dry roasted almonds, maltodextrin (which is used to create powders from wet or liquid things), hatch and jalapeno chiles, and some spices. I do think the label is thus being a bit misleading as this promised Hatch chile flavor but they’re sneaking in some (cheaper) jalapenos there. In terms of aroma they have the characteristic almond dirt-like scent but to their credit they are rather crunchy.
Jake’s Nut Roasters Fire Roasted Hatch Chile Almonds do have some chile flavor, though it comes across mainly as a non-specific type of heat. There’s perhaps the barest hint of fire roasting in the aftertaste and some of the characteristic jalapeno grassy vegetal tang but not the depth of deep roasted flavor I expect for fire roasted Hatch chiles. The almonds themselves are no better and no worse than any other almonds I’ve had. They have the dry crunch and vaguely dusty and dirt-like flavor that all almonds have. The seasoning does help distract from that some but as I’ve eaten them I’ve just thought about how much better this would be if it were on peanuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios, cashews, or pretty much any other kind of nut.
These won’t be a re-buy for me and I can’t recommend them personally, though if you like almonds you may find them appealing. The seasoning doesn’t scream fire roasted Hatch like the can proclaims, but the seasoning itself is tasty enough. Therefore I’ll give these a conditional recommendation – try them out if you like almonds.
