Roasted Garlic & Rosemary Crackers from O Pair

Where to Buy:  O Pair on Foodzie

Product Description:

Garlic may keep vampires away, but if you serve these roasted garlic and rosemary delights, you’ll attract everyone else! We lovingly hand-roast our garlic in small batches to the peak of heady, sweet, caramelized perfection and mix it with earthy, resiny rosemary for a peerless pairing of the pungent and the subtle into a miraculously smooth mellowness.

O Perfectly Paired :: Our Roasted Garlic & Rosemary biscuits soften and enhance a crisp, lean Chardonnay. They go exceptionally well with a voluptuous Pinot Noir and reveal why it’s called “sex in a glass.” For a real treat, try them with a light, sweet Schiava and watch the conversation spark.

What I Think:

After having tasted their Blue Cheese & Fig crackers (as well as their Lemon & Mint crackers), I had no doubt whatsoever that I’d also enjoy their other varieties.  This one appealed to me most as I do love garlic, and especially roasted garlic.  It has a sweetness to it that I find irresistible.

The light salt in the dough helps to eliminate the bitter taste that might otherwise be experienced with the rosemary, and what remains is the savory qualities of the herb.  It has a light pine-like taste to it, slightly resinous, and a lovely earthy quality.  What I’m liking most about the rosemary here is that the needle-like leaves are finely chopped and tender – not withy like rosemary can sometimes be. Very nice.

The cracker is lightly sweet with a deliciously tender texture that is delicately crisp and melts in your mouth the way a shortbread cookie might.  This is, all at once:  salty, sweet, savory, and just very, very delicious!

While O Pair recommends pairing this with a wine – I recommend a good Darjeeling tea, perhaps a Margaret’s Hope like this one from Joy’s Teaspoon.  The spice notes of the Darjeeling are delightful when matched with the sweet, savory tones of this cracker.  Serve these at your next tea (or wine) tasting for a bit of culinary nirvana!

My Final Thoughts:

I have tried a few crackers now from O Pair and I must say I am a fan.  I would happily recommend any cracker from this company with complete confidence.  They are uncommonly good – the kind of cracker you’d serve with pride to your guests.  Delicious!

Lemon & Mint Crackers from O Pair

Where to Buy:  O Pair on Foodzie

Product Description:

Bees and hummingbirds find lemon & mint irresistible and so will you. Fresh, bright, refreshing and cool; this one is definitely all about summer. A true sunny basket of taste!

O Perfectly Paired :: We use fresh-from-the-garden mint for a zest that complements floral and fruit notes in a crisp, elegant Sauvignon Blanc; an intense Chenin Blanc; or an aromatic Gewürztraminer. A real stunner of a cookie: our tasters finished these off in one go!

What I Think:

In a word:  YUM!  Of course, one word makes for a very short review, and really tells you very little about these delectable crackers that I can’t seem to stop popping into my mouth.  So in between bites I will try to convey my thoughts about these delightful snacks.

If you’ve tried any of the crackers from O Pair, you’ll recognize their base taste and texture.  They start with a shortbread type dough that tastes rich and buttery, but not overly sweet.  When baked this dough makes for a lightly crisp, flaky “cracker” that reminds me more of a shortbread cookie than a cracker.  It is the savory ingredients added that make these more like a cracker.

Except in this case.  With the combination of lemon and mint, these are much more like a delicately sweet shortbread cookie.  The lemon lends a hint of tartness to the cookie, and the hint of mint offers a refreshing note that seems to rescue the palate from being bombarded with too much buttery goodness (if there is such a thing!)

As I said when I reviewed O Pair’s amazing Blue Cheese & Fig crackers, I am not much on wine, so I didn’t pair these Lemon & Mint crackers with wine, but with tea!  (I must say that these crackers would make a delightful tea-time treat at your next tea party)  For these delicious cookie/cracker/delicious-bite-size-treats, I decided to brew a cup of one of my very favorite teas:  Harney & Son’s Indian Nimbu.

And this pairing is perfect with these crackers.  The crackers not only compliment the lemon-y tones of the tea, but also help to bring out the caramel-y flavor as well.  The muscatel notes of the Darjeeling come through brilliantly.

Oh, yes, I can see myself ordering more of these!

My Final Thoughts:

A deliciously sweet yet savory cracker that is a little more like a cookie than a cracker with these ingredients.  However, as these are a little lighter on the sweetening than the typical shortbread cookie, they do not come off as cloying or too sweet.  Another excellent offering from this company on Foodzie that is quickly becoming a favorite of mine!

Blue Cheese & Fig Crackers from O Pair

Where to Buy:  O Pair on Foodzie

Product Description:

And why not? You may think that blue cheese and figs are a strange partnership, but one taste of our crackers and you’ll never think so again. The moment you open the package you’ll experience an aroma that will call up memories of farmers’ markets luxury delis. We use blue cheese with the pungent tang that defines superb craftsmanship. Combined with our outstanding figs, every bite is a fusion of piquancy and sweetness that is a perfect balance of flavors; sharp, a bit salty, with rustic tones that render a bold, deep mouthful.

What I think:

When I saw the sneak peek on the homepage of Foodzie of what goodies we might expect in our March Taster’s Box, I was very excited to see these shortbread crackers were to be included.  I have been debating with myself about ordering them since I first noticed them as a “new product” on the Foodzie homepage, so I was very happy to see that I would have the opportunity to try before I buy.

These are delightful!

The texture of the cracker is very much like a shortbread cookie.  Soft to the tooth and the buttery cracker melts in my mouth!  I love this – it’s like a savory shortbread cookie!

The blue cheese flavor is not as pungent as it would be if I were eating a chunk of blue cheese as opposed to having it baked into a cracker.  The flavor has been subdued somewhat by the presence of the other ingredients.

In the first couple of crackers, I didn’t really notice much of the fig flavor, although I did notice the hint of sweetness it imparts.  The flavor develops as I continue to snack on the crackers, and I can feel the texture of the fig pulp.  The cracker is at once sweet, sharp, buttery and just a little salty.  Delicious!

O Pair suggests sipping either a Cabernet, Pinot Noir, or a Pedro Ximenez sherry while eating these scrumptious crackers, however, I am not a wine drinker… I prefer tea.  So I chose Superior Pouchong from Drink T to sip as I nibbled on these crackers.  The natural sweet notes of the Pouchong come alive with this pairing, as do the floral qualities of the tea.  I notice a more defined sharpness from the blue cheese and the flavor of the fig becomes more pronounced as I sip the Pouchong.

My Final Thoughts:

This is an absolutely fantastic experience, and I am definitely going to get more of these crackers!  I can’t wait to try them with other teas to see how the flavors develop!