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Top Pick Of The Week

July 5, 2005

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Peanut Butter
This gourmet peanut butter has earned its stripes: P.B. Loco in Jungle Banana and Raspberry Dark Chocolate.

P.B. Loco
Loco For Great Peanut Butter


CAPSULE REPORT: P.B. Loco does a great job with flavored peanut butters. They’re not just bread spreads: They become ingredients for sauces, dessert toppings and more. If you can’t imagine Sun-Dried Tomato Peanut Butter, after your first bite, you won’t be able to imagine life without it. Sweet flavors like White Raspberry Chocolate Peanut Butter are a candy or dessert unto themselves. And the Sumatra Cinnamon and Raisin is a must-have: You’ll probably want to buy two jars.

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We feel especially sorry for people with peanut allergies, for they will never know the joys of P.B. Loco.

We have tasted, enjoyed, and written about some fine peanut butters; but we were looking to fall in love anew when, earlier this year, we met this wonderfully flavored line of PBs.

We regret that the busy re-tasting schedule at THE NIBBLE has caused a delay in sharing P.B. Loco with you because, like us, you may be chomping at the bit for a banana or raspberry white chocolate peanut butter. P.B. Loco is a line notable not just for a vivid variety of flavors, but for a silky smooth texture and a melt-on-the-tongue body: no “stick to the roof of your mouth” peanut butter here.

Flavors

Currently there are a dozen flavors. The line leans to sweet PBs, with a couple of savories plus Classic Creamy and Classic Crunch. They’re all good, and of course we have favorites: four sweets and a savory. We’ve already mentioned two of the favorite sweets, but they bear re-mentioning:

  • Raspberry White Chocolate tastes exactly as it sounds: spread it on sliced chocolate pound cake for a memorable peanut butter sandwich.
  • Jungle Banana tastes exactly like someone mashed a ripe banana into creamy smooth peanut butter. It rivals Chunky Monkey ice cream as our favorite banana-based food. There is also CoCoBanana—chocolate banana. That’s chocolate banana, not coconut banana—and a lesson to all about naming things with clarity if you don’t want to confuse customers.
  • Sumatra Cinnamon & Raisin, simple as it sounds, is not the sweet stuff a commercial manufacturer might produce, but a complex mix of dark flavors from cinnamon so deep it radiates chocolate notes, and large plump raisins.

Sure, you can spread these PBs on white bread, raisin bread, semolina, raisin bagels, anything you choose. But you also can:

  • Make sandwiches using pound cake, carrot cake, banana bread or zucchini bread; or use the P.B. to top brownies, plain cakes and cookies.
  • Make ice cream sandwiches with cookies, ice cream, and a layer of one of the chocolate PBs (we loved vanilla ice cream with Raspberry White Chocolate or Jungle Banana).
  • Or, hold the cookies and just top plain ice cream with some PB. If it sounds sticky, remember: These PBs are not your run-of-the-mill stuff.

We regret that one of our favorite flavors is on hiatus (that’s polite talk for “discontinued”). For dessert we made angel hair pasta with Sun-Ripened Apricot as the sauce, some diced stone fruits for added dimension and a bit of shaved white chocolate “Parmesan” for fun. The ripe flavor of apricots leaps out of the jar of Sun-Ripened Apricot, which contains large chunks of the dried fruit. It was like eating apricots with a side of PB; now it’s a fond memory.

Sumatra Cinnamon

P.B. Loco: This most elegant of peanut butters could use a logo and label makeover. In this case, we promise you: while the graphics lean to the homemade, the goods are inside the jar are the height of sophistication.

But Life Isn’t All Sweet (Thank Goodness!)

Then there are the savory PBs. In contrast to the silky smoothness of the sweet PBs, the savories can a bit gritty due to the ground-up ingredients.

  • Sun-Dried Tomato is an exceptional experience. Small chunks of sun-dried tomato will get stuck in your teeth like Jujubes—and just as with that childhood candy, it is fun un-sticking them. Use this spread for everything from canapes and tea sandwiches; on sandwiches with roast beef, turkey, chicken or ham; on linguini or fettuccine as Sun-Dried Tomato Peanut Butter Sauce. Dynamite!
  • Asian Curry Spice is serious business. Our jar was a bit too gritty, as if some cardamom pod got ground in with the seed. Our first tasting months ago was positive, and we would go back and try another jar. Mix it with fettuccini for instant sesame noodles; or spread some on a roast beef, chicken or duck sandwich for a Thai turn.

It is true that after tasting through 11 of 12 PB flavors we were a bit loco: crazy in love. While you’re supposed to accept loved ones the way they are, we would like to change the jejune label with a smiley face and tongue. This is definitely not kid stuff. Although, you’ll have to hide the sweet Locos from the young ‘uns, for sure.

—Karen Hochman
Updated February 2008

FORWARD THIS NIBBLE to your PB-loving friends.

P.B. LOCO PEANUT BUTTERS

SAVORY: Asian Curry Spice, Classic Creamy, Classic Crunch, Sun-Dried Tomato
SWEET: CocoBanana, Creamy White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Duo, European Cafe Mocha, Jungle Banana, Raspberry Dark Chocolate, Raspberry White Chocolate, Sumatra Cinnamon & Raisin
  • Flavored
    $6.95
  • Classic Creamy or Crunchy
    $5.95
  • Gift Boxes
    $21.50 to $23.50

P.B. Loco
We can’t believe we ate the whole thing. But we did, and
we can’t wait to do it again!

Purchase online* at PBLoco.com.

*Prices and product availability are verified at publication but are subject to change. Shipping is additional. THE NIBBLE does not sell products; these items are offered by a third party and we have no relationship with them. This link to purchase is provided as a reader convenience.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, special offers, contests THE NIBBLE prior issues archive, product gift-finder and more, visit the home page of TheNibble.com.

Tasty Recipes That Won’t Stick To The Roof Of Your Mouth

Ultimate Peanut Butter Book Peanut Butter and Co. Peanut Butter Cookbook
The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book: Follow Americas favorite mantra—peanut butter makes everything taste better. Click here for more information.
Peanut Butter & Co.: Discover the tips and tricks that built a New York City empire. Click here for more information.
Peanut Butter Cookbook: 101 deliciously nutty and fun recipes. Click here for more information.


Mates For Your P.B.

Peanut Butter Mixer Peanut Butter Cup Molds Jelly Knife
Peanut Butter Mixer: The peanut butter mixer says goodbye to the oil slick atop your favorite spreadable treat. Click here for more information.
Peanut Butter Cup Molds: Team your favorite peanut butter with top shelf chocolate—viola, gourmet peanut butter cups. Click here for more information.
Jelly Knife: This knife-cum-spatula's unique jar scraper lets you spread ALL your peanut butter with ease. Click here for more information.

 

© Copyright 2005-2008 Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. Images are the copyright of their respective owners. All information contained herein is subject to change at any time without notice. All details must be directly confirmed with manufacturers, service establishments and other third parties. The material in this newsletter may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Lifestyle Direct, Inc.

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