Hello pistachio appreciators,

So these pistachios are pretty popular, you see them everywhere. Marketing and recognisable packaging makes these quite popular, and there are quite a few reviews of them around the web.

We did not review these yet as they are are quite common and we saw a few reviews here and there talking about low quality and bugs inside which made us weary of trying them.. but as we were passing through Los Angeles on our way to Australia, we thought we’d pick some up and try them out for you.

The packaging

These come in a recognisable streamlined bag using 4 colors, a nice bright green for the main text “PISTACHIOS”, a sort of beige for a “Get Crackin'” badge and the “Roasted & Salted” text and white for the brand name and the weight information.

This pistachio package also has side windows for getting a cheeky look at the pistachios. These side windows, perhaps like the cutouts of a fancy cocktail dress, attempt to give the package a type of elongated silhouette.

The back of the package contains the usual nutritional facts and some marketing/health speak telling the pistachio-loving reader that “scientific evidence suggests but does not prove” that eating nuts is good for you .. bla bla bla.

What else can we say about the packaging? it’s a verified non GMO and it’s gluten free.

There is also a description of the roasting process and how these are great.

Visual Aspect

They look pretty good. Kind of medium and full. The shells are a bit beat-up but exposing some nice greens and purples..  some fine salt dust can be seen on the shells upon closer inspection.

Opened, (and they open easily),  we can see the nice colors, a pastiche of beiges and purples and greens. Does the taste match the looks?

Taste

First of all, while these have a crack,  it’s not super crackful.  In terms of crunch in the teeth, these have a good consistency and break nicely.  In terms of flavor, they are a bit lacking compared to other pistachios we’ve reviewed..  maybe slightly too roasted? but still, they are pretty addictive and a good snack and they’re not too salty.

We did get the few bad ones that leave a bad taste in the mouth and ruin the next 4 and the flavor is not consistent across all pistachios, but overall they’re still ok, and thankfully we did not find any insects or other weirdnesses.

Conclusions

These pistachios are ok. Just ok.  They’re a good snack but pistachio lovers should not have huge expectations.  They have good consistency and have reasonable freshness and balance but are not transcending in terms of deliciousness and are certainly not “Wonderful”. We give these pistachios a score of: 3.8/5