Marcona Almonds - Inedible?

[krissywats]

I purchased some marcona almonds from Trader Joe's that are salted and have bits of rosemary. I was so excited to try a new almond for a snack. I rushed home and opened them up, popped the first couple in my mouth and proceeded to spit them out and gag. They were the most bitter thing I've ever put in my mouth. I can't even describe the level of bitterness because it is unlike anything I've ever tasted. Revolting.

So, is this usual? What's the deal with marcona almonds? Everything I've read online doesn't mention bitterness once - and this isn't rancidity - that I know. It's just bitter like the bitterest greens you've ever tried. Like broccoli rabe. But more bitter.

OK, you get it - they were bitter. My husband thought the rosemary? But I don't think so, I eat rosemary all the time - in all forms and have never encountered bitter.

Thoughts? I'm afraid to open the other bag to see if it's a fluke.

[NuMystic]

"So the elephant in the room is still: how does this not affect other brands?"

It does. This is not in any way TJ's specific.

Being a big almond fan I've eaten large quantities for decades now and regularly came across the occasional horribly bitter amaretto like specimen long before I'd ever walked into a Trader Joe's.

Eat enough raw almonds and you're virtually guaranteed to have the same experience no matter where you're getting them from.

[goodhealthgourmet]

"So the elephant in the room is still: how does this not affect other brands?"

It does. This is not in any way TJ's specific.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm glad you pointed this out. My mom loves the marconas from Costco, and I tried them when I was visiting her. I only took a small handful, and several of them were so bitter I spit them out and abandoned the rest. I've had them from other sources in the past and never come across a bitter one, but those were horrendous.

[NuMystic]

Neglected to mention that not only is it something occuring outside of TJ's almonds, but also outside of the marcona variety altogether.

I was coming across the occasional bitter almond years before I'd ever even heard of Marconas.

Can't speak to whether it is more common in some varieties than others though.

[Kholvaitar]

Something so addictive and expensive I'm afraid to try.

[brancron]

Just to add some evidence to the above. I just finished a 130 gram jar of marcona almonds (a relatively small jar). There were exactly three extremely bitter almonds. The rest of the almonds were sweet and delicious. None of the almonds were rancid, and there was no rosemary. The bitter almonds were not noticeably darker or differently shaped than the others (but I must admit I didn't closely inspect each almond I ate). I'm partial to the recessive allele theory, and will take the contamination by bitter almonds theory as a runner up.

[yippee1999]

Here's a simple recipe for a great marcona almond party snack... But first the backdrop:

Before a little party I was having, decided to pop into Eli's in Manhattan (known for being VERY pricey) to get a few special treats. Saw a quart or so plastic tub of something called Marcona Almonds in olive oil, sea salt and fresh thyme. I'd HEARD of Marcona Almonds...never had them...but this snack looked nice so I decided to add it to my cart. No price to be seen though. Hmmm... Well I just ask at the register.

Got home with my bags and checked the receipt. Realized I'd forgotten to ask about those almonds. WHAAAA???!! $32! That is insane. I am definitely returning these.

But then considering I don't live near the store...would have to make a special trip there...would have to hold onto to them for a week or so before I could get to the store...I thought 'screw it'! I was curious to see what this creation tasted like so...I opened them up and OMG! So creamy! I put them out in a bowl at my party with a sign that read "$32 almonds. Please eat each one lovingly.' ;-) Needless to say everyone loved them.

So anyway, I am guessing that all you need to do is buy yourself some marcona almonds, quickly saute them in olive oil, allow to cool, add sea salt and fresh thyme and voila!!

[polyphonic]

It has nothing to do with the rosemary, I can tell you that much, because I have had this experience with Trader Joe's raw almonds, and not just in a single bag, but on multiple occasions. This has led me to believe that there is an underlying problem in the source of almonds that Trader Joe's uses, and I think this is cause for serious concern. From everything I have read, it appears very likely that this is linked with cyanide content. The reason I suspect this is that in most cases when I have run across one of these almonds, it is not just a bitter flavor but it is also accompanied by strong amaretto overtones.

I have always wondered why on earth someone would associate the flavor of amaretto with an almond, because the almonds I have eaten have nothing to do with this flavor. The point here is that since I am not a fan of amaretto flavor, I know when I've tasted it. And I definitely tasted it here. Why is that significant? Because this flavor comes from benzaldehyde, the "bitter" in bitter almonds, and it is bitter almonds that contain this substance, which is non-toxic, but they also contain enough cyanide that one handful of these almonds can kill you.

My guesses are that this is happening for one of the following reasons:
1) There is cross-contamination in the processing facilities, and these are actually bitter almonds that are being eaten, rather than sweet almonds.
2) There is cross-contamination, in that the leeching process used for processing bitter almonds is resulting in a high concentration of bitter almond extract, which is finding its way into the occasional rogue almond in high concentration.
3) There is some of this benzaldehyde or bitter almond extract being used in small doses to flavor the almonds (make them more "almond-flavored?") and occasionally the additive is getting spilled.
4) Perhaps the sweet almond trees themselves are actually cross-pollenating with the bitter almond trees?

It seems to me that 1 and 2 are the most likely causes, and in either case this is potentially quite dangerous. So I strongly encourage everyone to speak up and report these incidents back to your retailer or distributor. We need to get to the bottom of this.

-----------------

After posting the above, I noticed that I had missed the research on the gene theory. I wonder if TJ's raw almonds are also the same Marcona variety...

[tinymango]

i bought the rosemary marconas about..... 5 years ago from trader joes, and i found them quite delightful, it sounds like yours might be rancid somehow, maybe air in the bag somehow??? :/ im sorry you had a bad experience. i really enjoyed the marconas from tj.

[Fin De Fichier]

As we have both made quite clear, it was definitely NOT a rancid flavor at all. Very different.
Also, I must say that rosemary contains a chemical called rosmarinic acid that has powerful antioxidant properties, being several times more effective than the classic phenolic antioxidants (BHA, BHT, TBHQ). It is also slightly more toxic, but that's really not a concern for the small amounts of either type of chemical added to preserve oils. I advise anyone to avoid eating an entire rosemary bush though. Your liver would not be happy with that.
So it would be highly unlikely for TJ's Marconas with rosemary to develop a rancid flavor unless the product had been extremely mishandled, for example, left on the side of an Arizona highway all summer.

[Chocolatechipkt]

Do you still have the package? Maybe you could get it tested/investigated.

[tinymango]

um, im sorry but it still sounds to me like it was time/temperature abused. lord, do you really need to be so snippy? even if it wasnt completely "rancid", it still sounds like the product has gone off in some way.

not sure why you felt it was necessary to include that bit about rosemary in the middle?

[Fin De Fichier]

EUREKA!

I investigated this further myself. At first I found a possibly helpful citation in a publication that charged $15 for a copy of the article. I emailed a friend getting a PhD at Harvard to see if she could get me a copy of the article (all research universities can get online versions of any academic research articles, often from more than 20 years past)

Luckily I found a free online article that had exactly what I was looking for. I'll just simplify it by saying that, Marcona almonds, even fertilizing themselves, are capable of producing the odd bitter kernel. Because they are heterozygous for the recessive gene that causes bitterness. Interestingly the article slightly contradicts itself, implying but not stating that another gene may control the degree of bitterness expression.

This is the key statement:
occasionally the presence of the recessive allele may produce a certain
degree of bitterness.

CASE CLOSED!

F.J. Vargas, M.A. Romero and I. Batlle
Departament d‘Arboricultura Mediterrània, Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA),
Centre de Mas Bové, Apartat 415, 43280 Reus (Tarragona), Spain, e-mail: [e-mail]

Bitterness in almond is controlled by a single recessive gene with two alleles: S (sweet) dominant over
s (bitter) and was first identified by Heppner (1923, 1926). This monogenic relationship has been
confirmed by almond breeders and the genotype of some cultivars has been known. Most Californian and
some Mediterranean almond cultivars are heterozygous for bitter (Ss) and a number of homozygous
sweet (SS) have been also identified through crossing (Kester and Asay, 1975; Kester et al., 1977;
129
Spiegel-Roy and Kochba, 1977, 1981; Grasselly and Crossa-Raynaud, 1980; El Gharbi, 1981; Vargas
et al., 1984; Vargas and Romero, 1988; Dicenta and García, 1992; Kester and Gradziel, 1996). Among
the heterozygous cultivars (Ss), it is possible to find sweet (‘Atocha‘, ‘Marcona‘) or slightly bitter
(‘Garrigues‘) kernels. Dicenta and García (1992) suggest that slightly bitter forms must correspond to
heterozygous trees (Ss) and occasionally the presence of the recessive allele may produce a certain
degree of bitterness.

[Fin De Fichier]

One more supporting citation:
Fruit breeding by Jules Janick and James N. Moore
"Since several biochemical steps are involved in the reaction, the inheritance pattern may be more complex than described. [exactly as I hinted above...I had not read this citation at the point I made the first post] Crane and Lawrence (1947) reported that when the almond cultivar 'Marie Depuy' was pollinated by pollen from a bitter almond, the seeds were decidedly bitter, suggesting a xenia effect...Inheritance of bitterness in peachXalmond hybrid populations is more complex and shows quantitative variation."

PeachXalmond hybrids are more common in the Med. as rootstocks than in California, because they are more drought and disease resistant. Peach pits are bitter too. Those plants being around to serve as rootstock sources could explain why Mediterranean almonds are more prone to this random bitterness phenomena than Calif. almonds. The writers go on to state that:
"Variation in amygdalin content may account for flavor differences and the distinct flavor characteristics claimed for Mediterranean produced almonds"

[krissywats]

Wow! You really DO research!

I'm so glad you found this and I can put my mind at ease that I'm not nuts (pun intended) and that I do know the difference between rancid and the bitterness I experienced with the marconas.

I have experienced this since that first time with the marcona almonds and I noticed the ones that were bitter were darker in color. so now I simply avoid the darker ones. I'm also extremely sensitive to bitter, as I said (super taster, and all) so if it's possible for some of the nuts to pick up some of this trait rather than being fully bitter, I would surely notice that as well.

Thanks again for all your hard work!

[samherndon]

i just opened a bag of marcona almonds yesterday, from trader joe's, and found the same incredible bitterness! unfortunately i was not in a place to spit them out. i was hoping it was a fluke but several handfuls later... the same experience.

i see the above genetic research about bitter versus sweet. is this bitterness still linked with cyanide? are these occasional super-bitter almonds likely to contain the higher levels of cyanide found naturally in bitter almonds (even after supposedly being roasted)?

[samherndon]

thanks for this posting. i found the same experience with tj's rosemary marcona almonds.

any more info on the link between this bitterness and the presence of cyanide? are the bitter almonds that sneak through in trader joe's rosemary roasted marcona almonds likely to contain high levels of cyanide? is amygdalin accounting for the bitterness, and is amygdalin associated with cyanide?

still tasting the bitterness i experienced in two handfuls of almonds last night.

[2m8ohed]

This is an old thread - but I wanted to thank the posters above for the informative research. I recently had the exact same experience with TJ's marcona almonds with rosemary. I got a couple of incredibly horribly bitter ones in the bag, definitely not rancid, and not the rosemary. But I have never experienced this with the Marconas from Costco or even a different type from Trader Joes' (in oil, might not be available any more). I think I'll stick to the ones from Costco from now on!

[Fin De Fichier]

Since I was the resident troublemaker on this thread, I'll response to the latest posters.

I think there are 2 main possibilities: 1) The xenia effect, which the research paper I posted above said can occur in almonds and cause a sweet phenotype to revert to the bitter phenotype because of its recessive alleles. 2) Simple cross contamination of almonds being collected from bitter almond trees for the production of "natural" almond/amaretto flavor. I don't think the almonds are flavored post harvest (polyphonic's #3) because the label would have to disclose that and adversely affect the product's marketability. (who'd buy almonds with added "almond flavor" listed as an ingredient?) Nor do I think almonds are somehow leached of their benzaldehyde and sold later as marconas, because after such a process they would taste terrible, all the nonpolar oils would be removed. I think they would have the mouthfeel of compressed cardboard. And they are probably macerated to get all of the valuable non-petroleum based benzaldehyde extracted. (I think this might be Polyphonic's #2, but I'm not sure) And besides there's a problem with either of these processing theories: how would one almond in 200 magically escape the process? Has anybody found a non-sugar shell coated M&M, ever, in a pack of M&Ms?
Some thoughts about each plausible theory:
The xenia effect assumes that Marcona almonds orchards are either next to bitter almond orchards, or that the orchardists maintain a few bitter peach X almond hybrids around to serve as seed or whip source of rootstocks. Well, EDS said you can't wrangle cats but you definitely can't wrangle bees! There's going to be cross contamination in either scenario if the cultivars bloom at the same time and are close enough together. I suppose you could cover a couple trees with a big net, on pollination day, if you had to isolate them. Importantly, the xenia effect, since it might only involve one gene not activating correctly, probably leaves a nut that looks exactly like other marconas.
The cross contamination assumes that the facilities for producing bitter & marconas harvest and process at the same time, and whatever machine collects the fallen nuts accidentally picks up a few bitter almonds on the border between orchards. (NB they actually look like a dried up green peach at this point, so they are all identical) There are a couple problems with this theory: mostly importantly we'd assume these nuts look slightly different from Marconas. Nobody including myself has noticed the appearance of the bitter nuts to be any different from the marconas. I can't be 100% sure, but I'd expect an actual bitter peach/almond hybrid, or even a known bitter almond cultivar, to be noticeably small and rounded compared to the rather flat marconas. Second, since it's an obviously controllable factor unlike the pollination, you can assume they'd put the orchards far enough apart to ensure it doesn't happen. The almond doesn't fall very far from the tree...haha. But I wouldn't completely rule cross contamination out. It's still got something going for it.

So the elephant in the room is still: how does this not affect other brands? Maybe the majority of sweet almond orchards are far from bitter almond orchards, but the one used by TJ's happen to be close together. I really doubt there's an easy way to separate and/or process the almonds to remove the bitter ones, if they have same shape. But maybe there's some odd subtlety to the processing that other brands have discovered, like only exporting marconas from the center of the orchard to North America, because they know of the possible outcome of xenia pollination and the trees far from the bitter almonds have almost no chance of being cross pollinated. Would be interesting to hear from a European on whether marcona almonds there sometimes demonstrate the characteristic of odd, random ethereal bitterness. I was in Europe last summer and purchased a very expensive bag of premium marconas at El Corte Ingles in Bilbao. Not a single one was bitter. Nor did I see bitter almonds for sale there.

BTW - I don't think cooked versus raw is a factor. Again, there's the "how would one escape" issue. I've never found a raw anything in a package of cooked anything. All the nuts we've experienced with this issue were roasted, and one can purchase raw marconas that seem entirely free from the phenomena. This article says you'd have to cook *macerated* almonds to remove most of the amydalin, and even then not completely: http://www.cookuk.co.uk/techniques/Co... Based on the extremely powerful flavor of the TJ's rogue almonds, I have no personal doubt that eating a large quantity of them, say more than 1 cup, would be dangerous. There's a lot of the glycoside in there, clearly. It was like having CRC throttle body cleaner sprayed in one's mouth.

So, hopefully I've made this less of a mystery, while certain aspects of it definitely do remain a mystery!

[Fin De Fichier]

I'm sorry to have to be a "thread bumper" but I want to re-open this.
I've had a similar experience w/TJ's Marcona Almonds. 2 in the bag were impossibly bitter. However, I have a theory that I'm surprised nobody else has postulated. There is such a thing as a bitter almond that contain much higher levels of benzaldehyde (almond odor) and a glycoside that yields cyanide on hydrolysis. Therefore they are poisonous in large quantities and their sale is illegal in the US but not in Europe. <<sarcasm>>Our state looks out for us - yeah!<</sarcasm>> Cf. the wiki article on almonds for a detailed write-up.

I know rancidity very well, I'm quite sensitive to it. Peroxides have a very distinctive taste and I've had freshly opened packs of Planter's peanuts I found inedible. This was definitely NOT a rancid flavor. It also had a strangely ethereal quality which I would expect from the release of gaseous cyanide (a very small amt., not lethal) or more likely, the easily volatilized benzaldehyde. It seems to spread out into my entire mouth from the meat of the nut. Few flavors can do that at room temperature. LIke menthol from a mint.

I think what is going on is one of these 3 possibilities:
some true bitter almonds are slipping into the Marcona almonds during harvesting
a Marcona almond is being pollinated by a nearby bitter almond tree leading to a hybrid seed with bitter characteristics. (quite unlikely, but possible)
a Marcona almond is really a bitter almond after all, that has somehow been prepared for consumption by high heat frying to inactive the glycoside that would yield cyanide. A few of them slip past the treatment.

Do we have an almond expert in the house? In any case, I've been curious for many years to try a bitter almond. I kept meaning to buy some when I was in Europe but forgot. I'm convinced what I tasted was a bitter almond, so, I'm glad I had the experience. Too bad they are toxic in stomach-filling quantity - I rather liked the taste!

[krissywats]

What you describe sounds exactly like my experience - It did not seem at all like rancidity which is why I posted originally. and it was the FIRST nut I had out of the bag and was concerned if they all tasted that way.

I did not care for the flavor, but bitter is not a flavor i enjoy except in very small quantities and typically only accompanied by sweet (like a super dark chocolate).

I'll be interested to hear what others have to say. Thanks for posting this!

[Fin De Fichier]

Thanks for clarifying your experience. I forgot to mention that, rancidity, by its very nature, would tend to "spread" to the other nuts unless they were protected by an antioxidant like Vitamin E or TBHQ. I do sometimes experience, for example, a batch of hazelnuts where they are all at varying stages of rancidity, some worse than others. But the rest of the nuts in this case, as you and I both experienced, were just fine.

[butterfly]

My understanding is that a sweet almond tree pollinated by a bitter almond tree will not produce a bitter almond. If you plant the sweet almond that was pollinated in this way, it could produce a bitter almond tree that could produce bitter almonds. I think you just got a few bad ones. If they whole bag was bad, then there was obviously a problem in the processing (they certainly process them differently for the US market, where they will sit on the shelves longer).

[brancron]

This is exactly correct. It has nothing to do with rancidity. There was a previous thread here on exactly this topic wherein it was explained that with Marcona almonds, a few in every hundred or so has much higher levels of that chemical, and is therefore extremely bitter.

[Chocolatechipkt]

I've had problems with rancid nuts at TJs, so I will no longer buy them there. The marcona almonds I've bought from WF have been great, but sometimes you have to dig to find a container that's not just dripping in oil.

[ChefJune]

Marcona Almonds are one of my favorite guilty pleasures. and I've never noticed a bitter flavor!

[lynnlato]

Never had a bitter experience w/ the plain. I've been hesitant to try the rosemary ones and your experience suggests that I stay w/ the plain ones. Take 'em back... something was wrong, girl! Get you some of the plain ones! :-)

P.S. As the other posted suggested they are a bit like crack!

[krissywats]

I eat the one's with rosemary now all the time. However, I figured out it WAS rancidity and it was just one nut in that whole bag.

However - I opened a bag a while back of the rosemary and salt variety and forgot about it. About a month later they had the EXACT same bitter flavor as that unfortunate very first one I tried.

Seriously - do not be afraid of the rosemary variety. They are fantastic!! I've gotten all my friends now addicted and we go through many bags per week.

[lynnlato]

Oh, well thanks for that info. I will try the rosemary ones now then. I was just recently introduced to these little gems and I'm a total addict now too!

[AntarcticWidow]

Marcona almonds are bitter when they are raw. Absolutely terrible. But I buy them raw and dry roast them on the stove top over low-medium heat in a stainless steel frying pan.

Is it possible that a batch of raw almonds slipped passed their QC ...?

[butterfly]

That's strange. I eat raw marcona almonds all the time (practically every day!)... they shouldn't be bitter. Here in Spain the raw ones are used all the time in baking and sweets with no accompanying bitterness.

[butterfly]

They are definitely bad. There shouldn't be any bitterness. They are much creamier and milder than regular almonds and they turn quickly.

[ExercisetoEat]

They sound like they are rancid. Marcona almonds have such a high oil content that I've found they don't keep as long as other nuts. I've had a bag of TJ's rosemary marcona almonds that I opened and then didn't finish for a few weeks. They had the same bitter/rancid flavor when I tried them after several weeks. I'd take them back and try a new bag. Marcona's are usually delightful.

[sfkjeld]

Crack?.... Oh yeah. I am totally addicted. I do prefer Whole Foods, but TJ's used to be serviceable. But what happened to them? All but gone suddenly. Anyone have an explanation?

btw krissywats, don't buy another package. We don't need competition for this delicacy.

[torta basilica]

I couldn't find the Rosemary ones at the Newport Coast location the other day. :( I laughed at the person who thought they were too salty - I ADD more Maldon salt and rosemary to the bag & shake it up really good...

[sivyaleah]

Something had to be wrong with them. I find them to be almost buttery, crispy and deeply addictive!

[Loren3]

In Minnesota we get them from Lund's. They are never bitter, always wonderful. I like Lund's because they are not overly salted or drenched in oil, like some that I've had.

[Cathy]

Maybe it's the rosemary flavor. Plain ones from Costco seem to have less almond flavor and a light crunch, to me at least.

[coney with everything]

Agree with other posters. Try them from Whole Foods, they are delicious! And TJ's will take yours back

[MMRuth]

Also, in Manhattan, you can get them at DiPalo's for $9.99 a pound - much cheaper than WF - and many other places.

[Bob W]

Whole Foods marconas are what got me hooked on this devilish treat. They are like crack dipped in crack. (Not that I would really know what crack tastes like, of course.) But, once they hooked me, they jacked the price up to $14.99/lb. For that I can get two pounds at Costco -- they aren't slathered in oil like WF's but they are still delectable.

And since I can incorporate them into my Zone-ish diet, so much the better. I used to eat marconas at home and TJ's crunchy blister peanuts at work but the peanuts have been displaced and now it's all marconas all the time.

[Bob W]

I eat marcona almonds with every meal -- I usually get them at Costco, $6.99/lb. When I get to the bottom of the can they sometimes turn bitter but that should never happen with new ones.

I'd return the bag to TJ's and try the other bag you have.

[krissywats]

At your behest, I ventured forth. Well, first I had my husband venture forth. He tried the already open bag and said they weren't bitter at all to him.

Hmmm. I know i have a lower tolerance for bitter than he does, but most anyone with tastebuds would've had trouble with what i tasted.

So, I took two more out of the original bag and first i licked it, then nibbled, and yep, no bitterness. I'm guessing from all of your reports and from my second try, unfortunately the first one's i pulled out of the bag were bad. I've eaten a dozen or so now and they have all been fine.

Thanks everyone for your help (and encouragement!)

[Cathy]

Take the first bag back to TJs- or at least tell them this story. They will refund your money.

[ziggylu]

Really? These are like crack in our house! I can only buy them when we're having company otherwise we'll eat the whole bag in one sitting.

They were off the shelves in here in AZ for a bit and just came back a couple weeks ago. I haven't bought any since they've come abck(need to invite some people over! LOL)...hope they haven't changed the recipe!

Trader Joe's is so good about returns. Open the other bag too to see how they are and if they're both bad take them back for a refund.

[amanda3571]

hahaha! They are like crack in my house too, ziggylu!

Personally, I find TJ's oversalts their marcona almonds. If you have Whole Foods nearby - definitely try theirs. Marcona's are absolutely delicious...