I live for pickles. Dill pickles, sweet pickles, bread and butter pickles, horseradish pickles. Pickle spears, pickle chips, deli pickles, whole pickles, mini pickles. Fried pickles, pickles on sandwiches, pickles in bloodies, pickles by themselves. It doesn't matter. I eat them all. So when I heard about this place, I knew that I had to ask for some.
You can order varieties separately on the website, or in gift packs, which end up being a bit cheaper because you're typically ordering 4-9 jars together. So I selected the "classic gift pack", and the "pickle power pack." When I opened the box, I also found a few recipe cards to use with the pickles, which I thought was cute, and a hand written note telling me who sent them to me, also making me feel like I was buying from a person, and not a machine.
The classic gift pack contains "phat beets," a pickled beet, "bee n beez," a naturally sweet pickle with raisins, "windy city wasabeans," a soy wasabi green bean, and "green tomato condiment," a curried green tomato. The soy wasabi green beans blew me away, as did the tomatoes, but I really didn't care for the "bee n beez." There was nothing sweet about them; the raisins failed to do their job. And the brine tasted bitter and unappealing to me. The beets were very delish as well, with an after-kick of clove and cinnamon stick.
The pickle power pack contains "slices of life," a sliced dill pickle, "spears of influence," a cumin-lime pickle, "the people's pickle," a garlic dill pickle, "kool gherks," a whole dill pickle, and "hotties," a spicy sriracha-habanero pickle. The "spears of influence" were very unusual and delicious, and while they are advertised as spicy, they really weren't. There was a tiny kick, but it didn't burn my mouth out, which I was a bit worried about. The "kool gherks" and "slices of life" really did nothing for me though. They were basic, and in a brine that I again did not care for. It didn't taste like dill to me at all. Therefore I wasn't expecting much from "the people's pickle" either, but they were tangy and garlickly heaven, and definitely one of my favs.
These pickles are definitely pricey, but they are worth it once you find the flavors that you love. Each jar is swimming with fresh herbs and spices, and whether or not I loved the pickle variety, I knew that they were of the highest quality. My recommendation is to skip the regular sounding pickles (besides the cumin-lime and garlic pickles) and go for the odd varieties, such as the beans, tomatoes, and beets. They are perfect for having people over, and for bloody mary's galore! These flavors were the ones that knocked my socks off, and leave me wanting to try the "handy corn" and "smokra" next! Plus a lot more of those wasabeans! read more
