Worth Its Salt

This is a review of salt. I know what you're thinking — "Seriously, isn't all salt the same?" One would think so. I certainly did until I got some samples from Pacific Resources International to review. I expected this sea salt would be no different than the Morton sea salt I buy at the grocery store.

But this salt is way, way better. PRI sent me a giant container of their Fine Pacific Salt. It's a powder-fine salt that has a higher moisture content then your average salt. It's not enough to make it clumpy though. It just has a softer texture.

PRI salts are extracted from the southern seas surrounding New Zealand and then sun-dried. And just like it makes a difference, taste-wise, where your produce is grown, it seems as though the region matters for salt too. This salt is unrefined, and yet it just tastes very clean.

They also sent me three shakers of other salt products. There's Chipotle BBQ Sea Salt, Flaky Sea Salt, and Mesquite BBQ Sea Salt.

The chipotle has the same powder-fine texture as the regular salt, but it has a deep smoky flavor with a touch of heat. Imagine a spicy barbecue sauce. I've been sprinkling this on pretty much everything.

The flaky salt tastes like the fine salt, but it has a chunky texture. The chunks aren't hard though. You'd think they'd be crunchy like kosher salt, but instead these flakes melt in your mouth.

The mesquite salt also has that barbecue flavor, and it's also smoky. But it's smoky in the way a smoker is smoky (god, that's an awful sentence). You get that wood chip smokiness rather than the spicy pepper smoke. It's good stuff. Tastes an awful lot like bacon.

Here are all three salts on a plate, so you can see the textures. The white salt on the left is the Fine, the top salt is the Mesquite BBQ, the chunky one is the Flaky, and the brown salt is the Chipotle BBQ.

My partner Paul is a salt-aholic. He literally eats salt by itself, like a snack. I'm sure his blood pressure is through the roof. But he gave his seal of approval to all of these! And he's kind of a salt snob who turns his nose up at anything that isn't pink Himalayan salt. 

The same folks who sent the salt samples also sent over some potato chips samples (made with New Zealand salt). I'll be reviewing those later this week!