Meghan Markle's as always Raspberry -Spread has finally arrived after more than a year of anticipation and a whole rebrand – is the infamous berry brewing of the Duchess really everything she said it has been cracked?
Spoiler: It can be time to 'concentrate' on a new formula.
The precious pots were sold out within a few minutes when they were released on Wednesday, but Femail managed to get the $ 14 Raspberry spread, no less for the first public assessment.
The confection, which Meghan Cheesily described as 'her jam', has had many times many hype around the launch, because she sent 50 pots to famous friends such as Kris Jenner last year under the former name of the company, American Riviera Orchard.
But make no mistake – her brand has now been renamed, and the company claims that the Raspberry Fruit Spread 'is inspired by the recipe Meghan made in her home kitchen.'
The Duchess has previously explained in an episode of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, that her preserves cannot be called technically, because 'jam is equal parts of sugar and fruit'.
“I just don't think you can taste the fruit that way,” she suggested in the show.
For each food and wine, jam is regulated by the FDA and it must come from a single fruit, with at least 45 percent fruit and 55 percent sugar.
Meghan Markle's as always Raspberry -Spread has finally arrived after more than a year of anticipation and a whole rebrand – is the notorious berries brew of the Duchess really everything she said it has been cracked?
The precious pots sold out within a few minutes when they were released on Wednesday, but Femail managed not to get the $ 14 Raspberry spread less, for the first public assessment
The Duchess has previously explained in an episode of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, that her preserves cannot be called Jam technically because 'Jam is equal parts sugar and fruit'
What Meghan sells as always, is not called jam or a reserve – it is a spread, with ingredients of raspberries, organic pure cane sugar, organic lemon juice concentrate and fruit pectin, a natural stabilizer.
On Saturday morning we removed Meghan's seemingly desirable raspberry spread, which arrived in a small box from Fedex.
At the opening we found a 'handwritten' note of Meghan itself at the top, printed on a thick postcard with hair as always branding stamped in gold foil.
When you turn the card, a message is printed in the characteristic calligraphy of Meghan who reads: “Enjoy – Meghan.”
A bit ominous there, megs.
After reading the note, we continued to wade through the packaging to find the jam, which was filled in packing peanuts and wrapped in creamy beige paper, before we finally came to the Pièce de Résistance.
Because we had exhausted the gasket of the souvenir, because the Duchess gave customers no other choice during her first launch, this meant that the 7.6OZ pot came in a brown, cylindrical package, in relief with the Ever-logo ash on the front.
The exaggerated packaging, which would be difficult to reuse because of his box -shaped hole, reminded us more of a luxury candle than a spider that we would throw in the fridge after opening.
What Meghan sells as always, is not called jam or a reserve – it is a spread, with ingredients of raspberries, organic pure cane sugar, organic lemon juice concentrate and fruit pectin, a natural stabilizer
But make no mistake – her brand has now been renamed, and the company claims that the Raspberry Fruit Spread 'is inspired by the recipe Meghan made in her home kitchen' '
Because we had exhausted for the gasket of the souvenir, because the Duchess gave customers no other choice during her first launch, this meant that the 7.6 OZ pot came in a brown, cylindrical package, in relief with the ash always logo on the front on the front
But apart from the packaging, which is really important here, the taste is – and we can't help it, but think that the characteristic product is perhaps a bit of a jam
As soon as we finally reached the spread, what immediately struck us over the container was the tiny size – it is small, with only 215 grams of spread for $ 14, or $ 9 without the souvenir.
It also feels pretty small in your hand, especially because we compared the size with that of Bonne Maman Preserves, which contains 370 grams in a 13 oz pot for around $ 6.
But apart from the packaging, which is really important here, the taste is – and we can't help it, but think that the characteristic product is perhaps a bit of a jam.
Immediately when opening the pot we were stunned by the texture. The spread was very liquid and quite thin – a little 'loose', if you want. If we hadn't known better, we would have thought it melted during the accelerated journey to us.
That said, it is described by the brand as a touch of lemon and a 'liquid texture'.
Usually a jar of jam is thicker and stuck, while when we put our spoon in Meghan's raspberry spread, the consistency dripped like a sauce of the silverware. It was unattractive to say the least.
As far as the taste is concerned, it is extremely sweet – and we mean Real sweet. It is reminiscent of a sugary, raspberry dessert sauce instead of a jam or spread that is meant to be eaten on a piece of toast.
The taste was also surprisingly strong, which meant that we could taste the sour lemon in the spread that Meghan had promised in the description of the product.
Usually a jar of jam is thicker and stuck, while when we put our spoon in Meghan's raspberry spread, the consistency dripped like a sauce of the silverware. It was unattractive to say the least
As far as the taste is concerned, it is extremely sweet – and we mean very sweet. It is reminiscent of a sugary, raspberry desert sauce instead of a jam or spread that is meant to be eaten on a piece toast
It was difficult to eat the spread with the toast, because it was so thin that he dribbled everywhere and made a mess. Our once nicely roasted piece of bread became a sopping wet disaster after just a few minutes
After we tried it at the spoon, so we grinned from sweetness, we spread something on a toasted piece of sourdough, that is where things began to change.
It was difficult to eat the spread with the toast, because it was so thin that he dribbled everywhere and made a mess. Our once nicely roasted piece of bread became a sopping wet disaster after just a few minutes.
The spread is so sweet that it masked the flavors of the sourdough, with only the sugar from the fruit and the tongs of the lemon that comes through.
Spread about vanilla ice cream, a piece of cake or a large stack of pancakes, the spread can work and can even shine. But in itself, or eaten as one might expect to be able to enjoy jam, crumbled the product, or rather dripped, under the pressure.
The jam performed even worse when we compared it to a Raspberry Jelly that was sold in the supermarket Wegman's, and a pot from Bonne Maman, both of whom had a completely different texture and taste than the spread of Meghan.
Both jam were much thicker – so thick, in fact, that you could put a spoon in both and it would stay upright.
They were also a little less sweet than as always the raspberry distribution and did not leave our toast moist.
If Meghan really wants to continue the Jam Route, it seems that the Duchess may have to come up with a different recipe.
The taste is almost there, but it is the consistency that the product takes away – and it makes an absolute failure.
Of the five stars we give it a two.
The Duchess says that Jam is her jam, but we are not that sure. Maybe it's sauce?
