We’re in Guatemala these days. This is one of those countries that makes you feel comfortable and welcome as soon as you pass the border. Beautiful lakes, lively colorful markets, sunny weather, and extremely kind people are making it easy for me to spend more time in this beautiful central american country. 

From the magnificent Mayan Ruins of Tikal, the waterfall pools and raw natural beauty of Semuc Champay, to the colonial architecture and cobbled stone streets of Antigua.. Guatemala has a lot to offer… but does it offer good pistachios? 

On my way to Antigua from Semuc Champay, the minivan stopped at a rest stop. it was a nice cool  resting stop in a very hot area of Guatemala.

In this rest stop I found some pistachios from the brand Cachita

Packaging

This 70 gram bag is of the brand Cachita’s.  It’s an eye catching (non vacuumed sealed) packaging with complete information regarding weight, contents, calories etc. The packaging also markets the pistachios as  a healthy snack but with an asterix. Perhaps it is marketed that way because of the Sodium contents, in this case 53mg per portion of 10 grams, or 2 %. The asterix next to the health claim indeed mentions that the product is free of saturated fats and low on sodium. 

Smell

Opening the bag,  the major smell that comes up is a strong woody but not unpleasant smell. 

Visual Aspect

Brown beige and some green. The pistachios themselves are of average size . Most of the pistachios (about 95%) are consistent in size with a small to medium opening with a few completely closed (maybe 3-5). 

Taste

Unlike the previous batch of pistachios tested in Belize City, one of the first things I noticed was that they were less salty. Less saltiness means the taste (or lack of taste) is more easily identifiable.

As I was eating these pistachios, I noticed some good consistent flavor sometimes even floral. The crunchiness seems to be a bit on the lower part of the scale though perhaps due to the fact that the page of pistachios was in my backpack during the long ride to Antigua.

I can also add that while there were a few hard to open pistachios, once they were open they were solid and had pretty good taste and had solid consistency but nothing transcending.

Other remarks

A couple closed pistachios but nothing exceptional to report. 

Value

I think these were 20 Quetzales which is about 2.37 Euros or about 2.5 USD so it’s pretty average. 

Summary

I give these pistachios 2.7/5 stars. A good consistent bunch, not too salty with some flavor but not enough crunchiness or and maybe not enough deliciousness to warrant a higher store but Guatemala is fantastic and you should visit and try the coffee, bananas, and chocolate. 

Are you in Guatemala ? Have you tried these pistachios? let me know in the comments what you thought about them !