Marmite Crisps (Morrisons) By @SpectreUK

Marmite isn't for everyone. People either love it or hate it. There is rarely a middle ground, just one or the other. However, Marmite snack food can have surprising results. I liked Marmite crisps when Walkers made them. Now for whatever reason the Irish company, Tayto, have started making Marmite crisps instead. I don't know why, perhaps Walkers went off them.

On the bag it states; "Warning: highly addictive. You won't be able to eat just one!" I'm not sure if I should be worried by that warning. I mean, I have a whole bag to eat here, and another five in the multipack, how bad can this addiction get? With some small trepidation I opened the bag.

There was a very strong Marmite aroma from the dark dusted crisps inside the packet. Seemingly more flavoursome than the Walkers variety, these new Marmite Crisps blew my socks off with meaty salty Marmite flavour. They were really tasty good indeed. I don't know about addictive, but I needed to lie down after my first packet.

Information on the packet; Per 25g bag there are 129 calories, with 7.3g of fat, 0.3g of sugar, and 0.32g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Marmite Crunchy Peanut Butter - all in the same jar (@NLi10)

My friends at the Junk Food Project often encourage me to try new things - especially if they are trying to get rid of them!  One that was practically thrust into my bag is this jar of Marmite - and jar of crunchy peanut butter - which happen to be the same jar.

I'm not incredibly sure why this exists. Peanut butter is one of those things that people often tell me that they really dislike - and Marmite is also one of those things that a lot of people hate - so the real question is do those groups overlap so you've got a lovely large target market, or are they almost mutually exclusive and the target market is very very small?  And doesn't everyone like a different strength of Marmite anyway?  And I thought smooth peanut butter was more popular?!

Yum - 87% peanuts and 10% yeast extract. And 15 servings seems optimistic, surely you want a lot of this in each go.

And the jar looks decent - very oily though - so much separation and that's possibly due to the extra, unnecessary oil.  A quick stir and then we can spread it out!

Crunchy really doesn't spread that well at all - but then with the extra stickiness of the marmite even the smooth bits kinda don't work much.

So I guess this is all about the flavour - I'm not averse to mixed up flavours - peanut butter with chocolate is fantastic.  Most people go 'eurgh' at that one until you remind them that's called a Snickers.

I'm not sure that even I have added Marmite to peanut butter voluntarily though - it's a little bit of a salt overload.  It does work though - usually the store brand peanut butters add salt as a third ingredient (the other two ingredients being peanuts & violence) but here they've not needed to.  And they've clearly tried to tune the Marmite down to keep the saltiness in check - but still failed.

I love swirly Marmite, with strong bits and mild bits, that's how I eat the stuff. Here - its just the same 'power' the whole way through - and if that's the exact strength of Marmite you have AND you love peanut butter AND you want it crunchy then this is perfect for you.  For me - I'd prefer if this was Marmite Ripple and the strength wasn't homogenous, and I'd probably like the crunchy bits to be a little smaller.

All this said - it's not going to be a challenge to finish this jar - it's salty goodness is brilliant on toast.  But - I think the reason that this jar was handed to me is that I'm in the right spot on the food taste diagram to get the most out of this, and I'd much rather just get an extra spoon dirty and have my favourite peanut butter with my own level of Marmite.

Marmite Graze (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

Love it or hate it. Well it seems that most people have been leaving on the shelf this "New Marmite Graze broad beans, roasted corn and corn hoops in a yeast extract seasoning". Apparently the shop keeper pretty much threw a packet at Cinabar when she walked through the door. Reduced from £1 to 25p in the shop there was a big stack of these Marmite Graze on the shelf.

It puzzles me a little bit. Although I actually don't like Marmite spread on toast, I do love and I really mean love Walkers Marmite crisps. I've even enjoyed Marmite cheese in the past and the odd, and I mean odd Marmite beer. So why doesn't this New Marmite Graze cut it with the "Love it or Hate it" flock of fans? Well, it's unlikely it's the broad beans element in the ingredients, so it's more likely it's the roasted corn and corn hoops.

Personally I love alternative snacks to seeds and nuts. I miss nuts of all varieties and flavours, but with my dietary requirements I now have to look elsewhere for my snacking indulgence when I don't go straight for the crisps.

So on opening the packet there was a strong Marmite aroma from the assortment of broad beans and corn inside. The roasted corn tasted like Marmite flavoured popcorn, but without the 'pop'. The corn hoops tasted like Marmite flavoured very mini Hula Hoops, but without the Hula. The best part about this Marmite Graze was the broad beans. They were very crunchy and were packed full of Marmite flavour.

I'd have been happier if the whole packet had been broad beans. I'm not much of a Grazer these days, so I had these Marmite Graze with my dinner. They went perfectly well with my beef and tomato sandwich. Very nice. I'd have them again.

Information on the packet; At 28g this packet was 123 calories, with 4.8g of fat, 0g of sugar, and 0.42g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Marmite Ale (@CamdenBrewery) By @SpectreUK

This is an unusual ale from Camden Town Brewery - Marmite Ale. You'll either love or hate it! I have a bit of an unusual relationship with Marmite. I don't actually like it spread on toast, but I do like other products with a Marmite flavour, such as Walkers Marmite Crisps and I tried a Marmite cheese once that was really tasty. So maybe I'll like this Marmite Ale? Cinabar's Instagram poll was sort of for it, but now it's time to open the can and find out…

 

At 142 calories this Marmite Ale is brewed with a trio of Malts including Pilsner, Raunch, and Munich, whereas Perle hops were used for bitterness, well, not forgetting the additional Marmite flavour too. The back of the can mentions that the Pilsner and Munich Malts have been toasted for a "bready balance", which makes me worry slightly about the flavour. I usually like a packet of Ready Salted crisps with an ale on an afternoon, but with this Marmite Ale I decided to have a packet of Walkers Marmite Crisps.

I first opened the crisps, as I know I love those. I hope I like the beer, because I've got four cans of it! With equal amounts of anticipation and apprehension I then cracked open the can. There was a pleasing fizz from the dark contents. There was a strange meaty smell mixed in with the aroma from the sweet biscuity malts. This 4.8% in volume Marmite Ale has a deep brown colour to it. I'd mistake it for a Porter if someone just passed it to me and didn't say what it was.

On taste this Marmite Ale tastes a lot like liquid beef jerky! No really, it does. If you like beef jerky, well, liquified… this is for you! There is a strong salty meatiness and slightly toasted smokiness to the flavour that just reminds me almost exactly of beef jerky. It's bizarre. On the first sip I decided I just didn't like it. And then strangely went back for a second sip. And then a third. I then found myself eating the crisps along side taking a mouthful of this bizarre tasting beer with each handful of crisps.

I've never tasted a beer like it. And yet after a while I realised most of my beer glass was empty and my Marmite crisps were quickly disappearing too. It was the smokiness that I was finding moreish and the meaty flavour complementing the crisps. It weird, it's brilliant, it's Marmite Ale!

Marmite Crunchy Peanut Butter (Asda) By @Cinabar

As curious combinations go I think this nails it. I like Marmite, I’m not the world’s biggest fan of the stuff but there is something lovely about a slice of toast and Marmite served on the side of a bowl of hot tomato soup. I like strong flavours. I like peanut butter too, but here I have a confession, I like it a an accompaniment to sweet things, think peanut butter and banana sandwich… mmm….
This jar has been on the shelf for a couple of weeks which never usually happens when I have an exciting Foodstuff Find, but I think I was a little scared of the jar and wasn’t sure what to expect. I blame Papa John’s Marmite Dough Balls as they were too strong for me and out me off Marmite in general for a bit.
I finally got round to opening the jar at breakfast and was a little surprised by how wet the the contents were, it was a little glossy. I did stir it a bit with a knife to see if it had separated in the warmth, but it was the same texture through and through. There was minimal aroma, just a light nutty scent. I put some on bread and dug in, well after staring at it for a while and realising there was nobody else in the house who would go first. Okay so initial reaction is the this is really nice. Unexpectedly so. The texture is good because they is a crunchy peanut butter with plenty of big pieces of nut. The flavours are not too strong at all, the peanut butter is the dominant taste and the marmite undertones work with it perfectly. The Marmite is still strong, but it is well balanced and it actually makes a fab combination. Who knew, I really should have opened this sooner.

New Marmite Biscuits (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK

Marmite is one of those products people either love or hate. I should probably start this blog with a disclaimer; I don't like Marmite. Although I know that sounds a little off to be blogging about something flavoured with a product I don't like. I also haven't liked all of the Marmite flavoured products that have recently came out, such as; Marmite Cereal Bars, Marmite Truffles, and Marmite Chocolate. However, for some reason I absolutely love Marmite Crisps. I just can't have enough of them. So, I keep trying with other new Marmite products… Marmite Biscuits can't be all that bad, can they? I do like oaty biscuits, and these are oaty biscuits that are flavoured with Marmite. So…

There was a smell of Marmite when I opened the first mini packet of four Marmite jar shaped biscuits. I popped the first biscuit into my mouth and found that it had a decent oaty crunch. There was an oatiness to the flavour to start with, and as the biscuit bits washed around my mouth the saltiness from the Marmite flavouring came through, and then the full Marmite taste kicked in - and kicked pretty hard too! I'd certainly recommend trying these Marmite Biscuits with a slice of cheese and maybe some butter. The oatiness and saltiness should compliment the cheese. It probably doesn't matter what cheese you have, but I reckon the stronger the better if you don't want to be too distracted by the after Marmite kick. I don't mean that in a bad way… it's just that people either love it or hate it!

Information on the packet;
The 120g packet contains 5 x 4 packets of biscuits, with 122 calories per 24g packet, having 4.4g of fat, 1.3g of sugar, and 0.5g of salt. See photograph for ingredients.

Marmite Fudge (Chocolate Falls, Scarborough) [By @Cinabar]

We've been off adventuring in Scarborough, but of course we still have been keeping our eyes open for Foodstuff Finds. Sure enough on the sea front in Scarborough sits a confectioner with an amazing array of goodies within. Chocolate Falls predominantly sells fudge, and it is creative homemade fudge too using different chocolate bars and interesting goodies. There is every flavour you can think of, from Toffee Crisp to Orange Aero. There are also a few flavours you might not have thought off too... like this Marmite Fudge.
I’ve tried the official Marmite chocolate which even as a Marmite lover I found it bizarre and garlicky, and so I was a little bit wary of this fudge but knew I had to give it a try.
The fudge is an ominous black colour and sat of the shelf next to a jar of Marmite just so there is no mistaking its main ingredient.
I cautiously tried a slice, and was pleasantly surprised. The fudge was lovely and soft, and gave a lovely initial hit of sugar and butter followed by the distinct Marmite taste. The Marmite wasn’t too strong and its yeasty tones were blended perfectly with the sugary fudge flavour, and produced an amazing result - sweet Marmite. Thankfully they haven’t messed with the flavour and there is no weird garlic taste which the official chocolate bar suffered with. Beyond all my expectations this was really clever stuff, and the bitey taste of the Marmite just worked as a fudge variety! Both the shop and the fudge are really worth checking out if you are in Scarborough, and made me wish I had bought a few other fudges to try. The theory being that if they can make Marmite fudge this good, I suspect every fudge bar in the place is absolutely divine. :-)

By Cinabar

Marmite Truffles (Paul A Young)

It is no secret that I was both desperate to try Marmite chocolate and then hugely disappointed with the official bar. Everybody who had tried it told me that Paul A Young's version was ‘the’ Marmite chocolate to try. Sadly as the chocolate isn’t sold online, and is only available in the London shops, it has taken a while for me to locate. You wouldn’t believe how excited I am about trying this chocolate though.


The truffles are packed in a simple metallic box, decorated with purple ribbon. Inside the box each chocolate is given its own purple paper case to sit in, and the pretty chocolate shines temptingly within.
These truffles have a dark chocolate casing, with a smart glittery gold sheen on their surface. The aroma encapsulates rich dark tones of cocoa, but no Marmite on initial inspection. As I bit into the chocolate, there was a rich yeasty Marmite flavour that appeared, this developed as I chewed but was ingeniously taken over by the sumptuous tones of cocoa that blended the two tastes together perfectly.
The chocolate shell cracks easily when bitten despite having a decent thickness. The ganache like filling is soft and silky with a lovely smooth texture. The chocolate used is full of flavour, clearly of an excellent quality.
These truffles are very clever, they play with the Marmite flavour and allow it to develop and then just before it overpowers they carefully allow the cocoa to come back on board. It shouldn’t work, but there is no questioned that it does. It has been a long time since I last tried a chocolate that wowed me this much, the flavours work in union and make an amazing taste sensation. If you get the opportunity I can’t emphasise just how much you should try these, I just wish they were sold online.

Marmite Very Peculiar Milk Chocolate (BHS)

When I first heard about this weird sounding chocolate bar I was remarkably keen to try it. I love Marmite, and its associated branded products usually fill my taste buds with joy. Their cashew nuts are second to none, and who couldn’t like the crisps.
The thing is Marmite has a salty flavour, and both nuts and crisps work well with salty tastes.
I do like the saltiness of peanut butter with chocolate though, so there is hope for this strange bar. The title of the product contains the phrase ‘Very Peculiar’, so I had prepared myself for something a little odd. I opened the box, and the yellow foil wrapper also had the words ‘Very Peculiar’ emblazoned all over it, as a final warning of there being something strange ahead.
I peeled back the foil and smelt the chocolate, which had a very curious aroma, sweet, chocolaty and with the unmistakable smell of Marmite. I stared at the chocolate for a moment, and finally tried a piece. My first thought was that it was just a weird mix of tastes that didn’t go together. I like salt and chocolate together, but mix in that yeasty flavour and the tones of garlic and onion and it no longer tasted right. I ate a few more cubes and all I could think was that there were far nicer varieties of curious chocolate combinations on the market. The flavour isn’t evenly distributed, one of the chunks was quite mild, and one contained very strong garlic. The more I ate the less impressed I became, and I eventually stopped after just four cubes, having given it the best try I could before feeling a little sick.
After around ten minutes of eating the chocolate, my mouth was still filled with garlic and chocolate tastes. The Marmite flavour had gone, but a weird hint of sweetness and savoury onion also lingered. I actually had to brush my teeth. Not good.

Marmite Cereal Bars (Waitrose)

Many thanks to the people that emailed/twittered me to let me know about these bars being released, I do really appreciate it. It helps so much with the quest to try something new every day!

It is perfectly reasonable to have Marmite for breakfast, i.e. spread on toast. It is also perfectly reasonable to have a cereal bar for breakfast, particularly if you are in a hurry. What doesn’t seem quite right to me though is a Marmite cereal bar. Don’t get me wrong I don’t sit in the Marmite hate camp by any means, it is just that cereal bars are always sweet and ideally chocolaty!
The smell of the bar is distinctly of Marmite, salty and almost meaty. In taste it was also quite salty with an aftertaste of Marmite which gave a flavoursome kick. The texture was good, not too solid, and it comes apart easily. It is filled with different cereals and oats, that do give a similar texture to a Tracker bar, but without the chocolate chips (obviously).
To be honest the bar does what it says on the pack, it is well presented and has the expected flavour and nice texture.
I personally would rather have a sweet cereal bar, and a bag of Marmite nuts for a snack in the afternoon.

Marmite Oven Baked Cashews (Selfridges)

Firstly I would like to apologise for covering two Marmite products in one week, but these really were too good to make you all wait.
The product consists of cashew nuts dusted in a marmite flavour powder, and my word these two flavours go well together. Obviously nuts and salt go well together, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Marmite with its salty zingy taste makes a match made in heaven when mixed with cashew nuts. This is just about the nicest of the Marmite products I have tried, and I can’t emphasise how well the combination of flavours work. If you have the a slightest bit of love for Marmite in your heart, you really ought to give these a try.

Marston’s Pedigree Marmite (Sainsbury’s)

This Marmite is a special edition flavoured with Marston’s Pedigree, presented in a very smart jar the shape and colours of a cricket ball for the Ashes. I actually purchased this jar in Sainsbury’s, but noticed that Selfridges are running a huge promotion with this Marmite, so if you are having trouble locating some those are two good places to start. I remember a few years back when a Guinness edition became available and it was really hard to find in the shops.
The Marmite itself starts off in flavour in a very similar way to regular Marmite, but the aftertaste that follows it is mellower. The softer flavour is that of the beer, and it actually makes this Marmite a little less sharp than regular Marmite. I could imagine that this would actually be a good place to start if you had never tried Marmite before as the flavour is a bit more forgiving. I really liked the Marmite, and could happily convert to the new flavour. Well worth seeking some out, hopefully this should be easier to locate than other previous Marmite limited editions.

Marmite Crisps [Unilever] (Waitrose)

These are by special request from ‘Jim's Chocolate Mission’, who asked me to keep an eye for this new product. Walkers already make Marmite flavour crisps, so these do seem an odd addition to our shelves. Still, what follows is a write up of Unilever’s version of Marmite crisps. Unilever’s are sold in black packaging, where as Walkers bags are yellow.
In flavour, well what can I say; they have a strong dose of Marmite goodness. There just is no mistaking the fantastic taste; the crisps are even speckled with tiny brown dots of Marmite. Marmite is perfect for crisps with its meaty (although vegetarian) strong salty taste. The Walkers variety always seemed a little toned down for me, and I know non Marmite fans who would still indulge in the Walkers crisps. I wouldn’t advise it on these ones, as these have a more authentic stronger flavour. I think they are heaven and give them the thumbs up!

Marmite Gift Set (Selfridges)

I have a helper today helping me write – Paddington.

I’m sure you have all seen the adverts with Paddington bear and his new found love of Marmite, instead of Marmalade? Well there is now a gift set available showing his new alliance. Perfect for those of you who know someone who is a Marmite fan, or just want to treat yourselves.


I am not going to do too much of a review of Marmite for you, after all ‘you either love it or hate it’. I am in the love it camp, Marmite on toast with a bowl of tomato soup – heaven. The salty, meaty (but vegetarian) Marmite and sweetness of the soup make for combination perfection.

Fresher’s Spreadies -Marmite (Asda)

How neat is this? It’s a snack pack with some cream crackers, a small pot of Marmite, some Laughing Cow cheese and a plastic spreader. (Fear not Marmite haters, this is also available with a mini pot of Branston’s pickle instead.)

I had a bit of a disappointment when I opened my pack, the crackers were broken.

I don’t just mean a bit broken, I mean they were in hundreds of pieces.

Had I been at work, it would have been more disappointing, but as I was at home I replaced them. All the ingredients are very nice, and it makes for a nice snack. I do hope my broken crackers were a one off, and that they are not the victim of poor packaging through the transportation process to the supermarket.