Kimbal Musk, owner of The Kitchen & founder of Me.dium, is one of our mentors at TechStars. Kimbal has given us a bunch of great recommendations for artisan producers, one of which was Rancho Durazno Peach Preserves. I still have yet to try them, but keep reading – I’ll explain.
On Wednesday I headed over to the Boulder Farmers Market to pick up a jar of the peach preserves to taste. Usually I meander around the market, but this day I was on a mission. In – get peach preserves – and out. Well until the Rancho Durazno lady threw me for a loop. I reached for the peach preserves and said “I’ve heard your peach preserves are the best, I can’t wait to try them.” Preserve Lady, “Actually the apricot is even better.”
In my mind I thought, it might be good but it can’t be better than Harvest Song Apricot Preserves. The current stand-alone apricot preserve champion in my mind.
But then I started to take her more seriously. You see, there were these cute, fresh, sun-kissed little apricots sitting there next to the jam and I recognized them. Just a week or so prior I bought a small bag and they were delicious. As I imagined what those tangy little apricots might taste like packed inside a jar, I realized that there could be better apricot preserves out there and if there were, I had to know about it. So, went in for the peach and out I came with the apricot.
I brought it home and immediately pulled out my Harvest Song to taste them side by side. Although skeptical, I started with the Rancho Durazno and served myself a spoonful.
Reactions: Tangy, just a little sweet – very fresh tasting. Yummy. Thicker in consistency and smaller chunks of apricot, but you still get that delicate fruit and velvety skin in every bite. Good enough to continue eating straight out of the jar.
Ok, Harvest Song next..
Reactions: A little sweeter and absolutely luxurious in texture. The large, delicate slices of apricot in nearly every spoonful allows you to really get that full, rich and tangy flavor. Amazingly, you can still see and taste the soft, velvety skins of the apricots.
Hmm…I liked them both. But I had to select a favorite. Back and forth I went, Rancho Durazno —> Harvest Song —> RD —> HS, until I realized I liked them both… a lot. Maybe I was allowed to have two favorite apricot jams. Both used really good quality apricots, both used minimal sugar, both let the bright, tangy flavor of the apricot shine. Both of them rocked.
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