Mayver's Smunchy Protein+ with 5 Super Seeds Peanut Butter

 Rating: 7/10

• 🥜 Category: Peanut, Smooth/Crunchy, Plain
• Country of origin: Australia
• Serving suggestion: Spread on unseeded toast with fresh berries and a dash of cinnamon/cardamom/ginger, or dolloped in the middle of a fresh Greek yoghurt & oat bowl (topped with heaps of tang - think lemon and blueberry)

This one is not for plain flavour enthusiasts, but if you love an adventure give it a go.

The flavour of this spread is very interesting. As usual Mayver's nails the peanut flavour intensity and salt levels, and this leans extremely savoury, but then ever so slightly sweet - like there is a very vague memory of vanilla. Maybe because it's so rich, to me this jar just begs for some acid or something zesty and fresh to pair it with.

The texture is really addictive. It's truly in the middle of smooth and crunchy, with added excitement thanks to the 5 super seeds (chia, linseed, hemp, sunflower, and pepita FYI). It's a pleasant experience akin to eating cookie dough with plenty of mix-ins, but savoury.

I won't say much about the Protein+ claim since that isn't why I bought this product, but it's worth mentioning that unlike in the Mayver's Smooth Chocolate Protein+ PB, I don't think the peanut flour took anything away from the texture or flavour.

I do really like this stuff but it gets a little bit too much a little bit too quickly. It's visiting town for a couple of weeks and taking you with them to tick off everything on the list of things to see and do and eat, sleep be damned. You need some time to do nothing and reset, but it was worth the journey (probably).

Sanitarium Natural Smooth Peanut Butter

Rating: 2/10

• 🥜 Category: Peanut, Smooth, Plain
• Country of origin: Australia
• Serving suggestion: None

Sorry Sanitarium, this one is a total bust. The only redeeming thing is that it's just roasted peanuts in a container, with no sugar or salt, and so you can at the very least bury it in a million other tasty things and it might turn into something palatable.

This took forever to finish and it was not easy - I had to constantly think about different peanut-based dressings to toss my noodles/salads/tofu through. On its own it tastes like cardboard, even a smidge bitter, like the peanuts are a little stale. The texture, even for a natural peanut butter, is awful and doesn't mix well at all. If something could be oily and chalky at the same time, this would be that thing.

It's a no from me.

Mayver's Smooth Chocolate Protein+ Peanut Butter

 Rating: 5.5/10

• 🥜 Category: Peanut, Smooth, Flavoured
• Country of origin: Australia
• Serving suggestion: Mixed with Dutch processed cocoa powder and a splash of hot water to loosen, spread onto toast and topped with sliced banana

I think this was actually my second time purchasing this (the first pre-peanut butter blog), and, strangely, both occasions were very similar. On my most recent trip to Sydney, we stayed at a serviced apartment (for multiple reasons - proximity to a long run location, more space, access to a laundry, etc. etc. but also because it had a working kitchen) and I purchased this spread to make breakfast bagels. On the previous trip to Sydney, which was to run City2Surf, I also stayed at a serviced apartment and purchased this same spread to top my pre-run breakfast toast. Perhaps the combination of 'chocolate' and 'protein' just gets me excited when I'm looking for a quick thing to snarf before running unexplored roads, and, I reason, I won't have to buy additional flavourings (cinnamon, cardamom) or the protein bread I like if I know I won't get enough protein later in the day. (Note: I'm not obsessive about macros but I am very active and try to eat lots of plant-based meals, so I do think about protein.)

Anyway, I had the same reaction as I did the first time - it's okay, maybe slightly better than okay, but requires some dressing up to actually make this exciting when I'm at home, in my kitchen, and I do have access to additional flavourings.

Let's start with what I like about it - the base, as with all Mayver's products I've tried - is enjoyable, as in the peanut flavour comes through with no staleness. It's not too sweet, as I expect: it's not marketed as a Nutella/chocolate spread alternative but more a flavoured peanut butter, and this is reflected in the sugar content being quite low to begin with.

Now the not-so-good: the chocolate flavour is so slight it's almost not worth it. As per my serving suggestions, I am pretty much always adding extra cacao powder (Gewürzhaus has a gorge one) to amp the flavour right up because I love to be punched in the face in the morning. Also, yes, there is slightly more protein compared to the regular degular PB as per the jar's claim - owing to the extra peanut flour - but this makes the spread really gloopy (which I fix using a bit of hot water).

Are these tradeoffs worth it? You decide. (By you, I mean the future Retno who is on the next Sydney trip deciding which breakfast spread to buy at an unfamiliar supermarket.)

Bega Simply Nuts Smooth Natural Peanut Butter

 Rating: 8/10

• 🥜 Category: Peanut, Smooth, Plain
• Country of origin: Australia
• Serving suggestion: Mixed into overnight oats with vanilla yoghurt and stewed pears in chai spice

I have amassed a mishmash of peanut butter tasting notes on my phone, meaning to transfer them into actual, full-blown reviews, but then one whole jar was finished, and then another, and then another... Excuses aside - here we are, ready to dive back in to the delicious world that is peanut butter.

Boy have we got a dark horse here. I didn't expect much from this jar, which is Bega's entry into the natural peanut butter race (I may have outgrown their Never Oily, Never Dry product, but I think a proper review is only fair). But honestly - I don't have any faults with this! As evidenced by the fact that it took half the jar for me to take a photo because I just kept going back and using it.

The texture is great (for a natural peanut butter - we are grown and know the tricks by now, flip ya jar upside down on occasion, give it a solid mix it around, yadda yadda). It's peanutty and the salt level is ideal, meaning it's versatile enough to be used in a weeknight stir fry but tasty enough to hold its own as an oat topper or toast spread.

Nothing about it is mindblowing, but at the same time, this guy is your reliable, dependable, all around good bloke. Doesn't seem to add heaps to the conversation but you'd invite them to your dinner party anyway, trust them to be punctual, and appreciate their presence.