I hosted a baked beans tasting party and here are the results (feddit.uk)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by Piece_Maker@feddit.uk to c/casualuk@feddit.uk

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Before we continue: I'm not the original author of the Reddit post, however I did partake in this event and am reposting here with permission.

From my r/AskUK post I’ve learned that people have very strong opinions about beans. This was a blind taste test so my friends had no idea what beans they were trying, please be mindful of that in your comments.

I refrained from scoring as I cooked them and I didn't want to skew the results. I did however try all of them and I have to admit, quite a lot of them had a unique taste and texture. There were some very good beans, some (I quote my friends here) tasted like ‘Baphomet's balls’ or ‘animal feed’.

A few brands unfortunately didn’t manage to get: HP, Co-op own brand, Amazon own brand , Ocado own brand, Biona, Mr Organic Baked beans, Suma (just managed to get low sugar one). I think by the last round, everyone was fed up with beans and would not be able to eat any more as we tried 23 different brands!

The spreadsheet with all results.

Edit 2: The very reason this bean tasting party started was because my partner loves Branston so much, I couldn't buy any other beans. There were some people in the group that loved Branston. We were all shocked at the results

Edit 3: I almost forgot I didn't stress enough how bad the low scored beans were, they were truly disguising

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[-] brewery@feddit.uk 9 points 3 weeks ago

I am slightly surprised Heinz scores so high as expected some of the own brands are the same but cheaper. Not going to lie though, it is my favourite so I wait for a deal then stock up.

What really surprises me is that Holland and Barret have their own brand?!? Does it come with extra vitamins or some health claims that it cures leprosy?

[-] Piece_Maker@feddit.uk 8 points 3 weeks ago

The H&B ones were absolutely awful. They were loaded up with all kinds of herby flavours that just ruined it. Like someone had just haphazardly emptied their spice shelf into there without caring about which ones are actually going to work.

They were also one of the more expensive ones on the list!

[-] brewery@feddit.uk 2 points 3 weeks ago

Sounds awful! Half the point of beans is that you know what you're getting and it works for certain dishes. If you want to upgrade them you can but it needs to be the same starting point. I love masala beans (something like https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/recipe/masala-beans but my own version) from time but a herby mix would be horrible. I'm not doing that for an English brekky though, just a bit of brown sauce on the side.