A couple of months ago Josh introduced me to Blue Diamond’s Wasabi/Soy Bold almonds. The first time he ever had them he had purchased two small tubes from a local gas station and said, “dude, you need to try these.” First off, I love spicy shit and second, I love having it burn the living shit out of my nose. Wasabi is the best of both worlds as there’s nothing quite as good as a good horseradish nose burn — I like to equate good horseradish to a harsh chemical burn, mmm.
I popped three or four into my mouth and sucked the wasabi dusting off the little morsels per Josh’s recommendation — whew, what a rush! Ever since then, ever increasing package sizes, we have been addicted to the Wasabi/Soy and have even attempted to branch out to their other flavors like Lime/Chili, Salt and Pepper, Maui Onion and Garlic, and Jalapeño Smokehouse. While the Wasabi/Soy rocks, the only other one that I like on a regular basis is the Salt and Pepper. For some reason both the Lime Chili (while decent) and the Maui Onion and Garlic (sucks) just don’t do nearly enough for me.
Recently we’ve noticed a definite change in the strength of the Wasabi/Soy. It’s so tamed down now that I have eaten entire handfuls of the stuff and not even got the slightest burn in the old nostrils! It’s obvious that this shit is popular or they wouldn’t be upsizing the packaging like they are but why feel the need to dumb down the product when the previous strength was obviously what got it to where it is now.
While I’m disappointed that I don’t enjoy the same chemical experience that I have before, the almonds are still enjoyable and I do enjoy purchasing them now and again, especially when the gang is over. They have certainly come to replace the usual old tortillas and salsa or something even less healthy.
While these are great, just be careful not to eat too many or the next day…
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May 12th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Just a brief thought — it’s possible that your resistance to wasabi has gone up, which would make it seem as though the product’s been reformulated to be less potent. I used to get that crazy wasabi headrush every time I ate sushi, and now it only happens when I put a dime-sized glob of wasabi paste on my chopsticks and suck it down. Of course, you may be totally right about them taming the product, too.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:44 am
James,
It certainly has crossed my mind as I am much less affected by spicy foods (like hot sauce) but I remember it simply taking 3 or 4 almonds at most to get that rush and now, even with a handful (~10), nothing is occurring.
Perhaps I should get some real wasabi and/or jarred horseradish and see?
May 12th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Wow…is that James Norton of CityPages fame? Bill, I think your blog just hit the big time!
If you love wasabi, I recommend finding a sushi place that does marinated tobiko (flying fish roe). Locally, I’ve had these both at Origami downtown and Bagu in south Minneapolis. I’m sure you can find them elsewhere but it may be a little beyond Osaka or Kami.
The last ones I had at Bagu must have been marinating for quite some time — it obliterated the inside of my nose (in a good way). Besides a nice textural and taste combination (slightly sweet rice, salty/crunchy roe and then the blast of wasabi) they make an attractive presentation. Origami has several marinades so you get a neat little row of sushi — bright orange, red, black, green.
I also discovered the wasabi almonds last summer — really good. I haven’t had them in a while though so can’t confirm/deny the dumbing down. Thanks for highlighting good products!