Sun Pat

Pictured: I got my friend Gus who’s allergic to peanuts to hold this because it was so disappointing.

Here we go, the big one. In the UK at least. Sun Pat is arguably the biggest brand of Peanut Butter in the country and has been for as long as I can remember.

What I don’t remember, is how it tastes. Or have they changed the recipe? Popping the jar I was expect it a pale, dry, grainy affair. Not so.

Modern day Sun Pat is quite waxy and dark, much to my surprise. Although not as horribly sweet as I remember, it does have a strange undertone that I can’t put my finger on. And it is too sweet. It seems clumsily made – sweetness, peanut-shell-hints, buttery undertones and waxiness homogenise in to a bland, confusing spread. There’s no satisfying elements to this, and almost no after taste, which I think is important in a peanut butter. I feel like I’m talking to a disillusioned rock star who’s constantly distracted. No effort is going in, and although I’m not being driven away to mingle with the rest of the party, the sparse quips and occasional dips in to being good company aren’t enough. No eye contact. It looks depressed. Oh, is that Jif over there? Sorry Sun Pat, I’ve got to go and say hello to this guy, he stayed at my house a few weeks ago. Sun Pat? Pat?

“Oh, yeh,.. sure”.

I sidle away back to where the toasters are, but I don’t take Sun Pat with me.

How has Sun Pat made it this far? Branding? Did it used to be better? I’m going to find out. But in the mean time, get the supermarket’s own. It’ll almost definitely be better.

Salty/sweet scale: 8

Texture – waxy, dry, flat

3/10 Henrys

£1.79 for 340g jar (Asda), £2.39 for 454g jar (Tesco). (£0.52/100g)