Queue up track number 8 on the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour album (or just refresh your memory here)…
Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to Strawberry Fields.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.
Strawberry Fields forever.
This is a really bad review I know, and it’s tough doing it, but here’s my logic.
Let’s say you grew up on a strawberry farm, and your dad grew up on a strawberry farm. So you know more about strawberries than most people know about TV. Not only do you successfully market and sell your fruits “as is” - you also combine them with other things in order to make something better. Now, I am not the owner of a successful farm, but I would think the most logical extensions would be jellies/jams and assorted strawberry flavored spreads for toppings of sweet kinds of foods. Things to go on a kids sandwich, or on pancakes, or with your ice-cream, for starters. But no, no - not Tassleberry. Lured by the sweet smells of local farming success, they decided to go a little ‘fruity’ when they branched into the world of online food sales including Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar, Strawberry Dressing and Veggie Dip, and … Strawberry BBQ Sauce - a “different” idea that didn’t have to taste this bad.
And on to the review.
Smell/Aroma
It smells like a combination of BBQ sauce and fresh strawberries. You’ve never smelled anything like this in your life. Pretty much horrible. Made me snortle.
Before Cooking Flavor
It’s been awhile (I think since Jackaroo or Borderline) that a sauce has almost made me gag. Dipping my finger into it was like touching the contents of a dirty diaper, just touching it made my stomach turn. When I tasted it, it reminded me of something my daughter might make if I were to leave her in the kitchen alone. All the other stuff they added to this just kept spinning the spiral of badness even further. If you take a Coors Light and add some nutmeg and some fine hops, you’re still drinking a crappy beer.
Consistency
It doesn’t move at all in the bottle. After a complete upside-down flip, it remains absolutely motionless - sitting there for about 15 seconds - before it plops down with another gut wrenching movement.
After Cooking Flavor
Cooking doesn’t improve this one - see above.
Ingredients
Pickled strawberries, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, onions, butter, garlic, liquid smoke, sweet smoked paprika, ginger, cinnamon, mustard.
Nutrition
All natural.
Marketing and Packaging
If someone were to want to do a strawberry sauce, I would urge restraint in the strength of strawberry flavor used. I would start with a KC style sauce, add a dab of strawberry flavor and then try it. Maybe add a little more, or a little less - try it again. I feel as if the big guy just told someone to make a strawberry BBQ sauce and left someone without taste buds to do it. In this one, they add some odd choices including ginger, cinnamon, and butter which makes for an uncomfortable palate combination.
Website: Tassleberry Farms
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I agree. My kids love strawberries…..anything berries. However, not BBQ sauce with strawberries. I would have to say it made me snortle.
I would totally disagree with Liz. There is a company in california that knows how to make strawberry BBQ. Its called Carlsbad Gourmet. Strawberry note on the back end of the flavor profile not like the tasselberry review. Check out Carlsbad Gourmet. I don’t work for him, I just know his products. -Chef Matt-
I reviewed this sauce on my site last year. It is without a doubt the worst bbq on the planet. I can’t imagine what they were thinking when they released it.
It was so bad I called them and they sent me another bottle, just in case mine was bad, and it tasted just as bad.
Agreed! I’m actually nervous to try their Strawberry Jamaican Jerk Sauce…