Strawberries and almonds are an unlikely combination that just seem bizarre to me outside of a cake or tart. Tom’s Farm Strawberry Almond puts these two flavors into the mix and left us with a perplexing flavor result that isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea. Tom’s Farm made a surprisingly artificial flavor choice with the strawberry that I didn’t expect. People who are fans of Jolly Ranchers and other candy strawberry flavors will be excited by the flavor of these almonds. I expected more of soft and creamy natural strawberry flavoring, but I’m not a fan of the artificial. So, today’s almonds will probably create a clear divide between people who love these almonds or just aren’t that into them. Hate, would be a strong word to use here, because they are still likeable, if not odd for most. I’ll let you decide for yourself if these are for you, so here’s my review of Tom’s Farm Strawberry Almond.
Packaging:
Ripped off once again! I’m missing another gram of almonds in this package! Tom’s Farm, if you’re listening, you can ship me 4 almonds as of today, but I’ll continue keeping count. I’ll even let YOU decide the flavor!
So, this slender package that should contain 30 grams only had 29 grams in it. Again, this has been the norm, which is unfortunate… This tiny package that contained a total of 23 almonds, also included some mutants. There was a mutant triplet almond or fused organic mass that looked like it was straight out of Squidbillies. Looks like this pack slipped through quality control…
The artwork has a giant, bountiful wicker basket of strawberries featured at the center. I really liked the bright greens and reds of the color palette. The strawberry clothed almonds were also very cute today. I thought the design was clever. The almonds aren’t only wearing candy coated helmets this time. They are wearing the leafy tops of strawberries as hats and the flesh of strawberries as tiny panties.
There were also quite a few hearts in the design. The top outer edge of the packaging has a string of hearts across it. This got cut off in my image unfortunately… I assume that the hearts are because strawberries look like hearts? Maybe? I’m not sure about that design choice, but I guess it loosely makes sense.
The final touch of having the almonds dance like little strawberry clothed ballerinas was also very cute. Someone worked hard on the design for this packaging. Respect.
Flavor:
Tom’s Farm Strawberry Almond is one of the most artificially flavored almonds I have tasted in their lineup. It has a candy-like strawberry flavor that reminds me of Jolly Ranchers or maybe even Fruit Loops. The candy coating on these almonds is very, very thin. It’s more of a glaze than a complete shell. While the faux strawberry flavoring is intense at first, it doesn’t last long before giving way to a pure almond taste. Once you hit the almond center, the flavor of these almonds ends up being the strongest flavor of almonds out of all the nuts I have reviewed. Without a thick outer shell of candy coating, the almonds are much more apparent. The flavor finishes with a strong earthiness of almonds, which is one of the stronger points of these almonds. At least I can taste them!
Aroma:
There’s not a whole lot to say about the aroma today, either than these almonds have a strong, artificial strawberry candy aroma to them. While the strawberry glaze on these almonds is quite thin, you still can’t smell the earthy notes of almonds through it. There’s something about artificial flavoring that leaves snacks smelling unidimensional and Strawberry Almond is a perfect example of this.
Verdict:
These are far… far… from my favorite almonds from Tom’s Farm. Again, these are just too shockingly artificial tasting for me. While Jolly Ranchers and those strawberry wrapped, strawberry candies your grandmother gives you are fine on their own, combining that flavor profile with the nutty, earthiness of almonds is a recipe for disaster. The artificial flavoring by itself is easy to like, so people who can more easily forget the follow-up almond flavor or can enjoy both flavors simultaneously will appreciate these almonds from Tom’s Farm. I guess I’m saying that there are plenty of other well-thought out and cohesive flavors available from Tom’s Farm than this outlier. They aren’t bad, but they aren’t good either, so whether or not you pick these almonds up for a snack, you’re bound to either like them or dislike them.
So, what do you think about strawberries with almonds? Are there any other fruity flavors that would work well with these almonds? Let me know in the comments!
If you’re interested in hearing more about Korean snack nuts or instant ramen, check out my on-going series, Noodle Story: An Exploration of Korean Instant Noodles and my other series, I Think I’m Going Nuts: An Eyeful of South Korea’s Little Snack Nuts, here on Medium.
