Jelly Of The Month Club: Los Gatos Black Currant-Wild Raspberry Jam

Tonight, we resume another monthly favorite: Jelly of the Month Club!

For those who are new — each month, we rate and review a new kind of jelly, using the most rigorous of scientific methods:

1) Spread the jelly on an English muffin and eat it
2) Spread the jelly on a Ritz cracker with peanut butter and eat it
3) Spread the jelly on a knife and let our dog Lucy eat it

We’re kicking off the year with a fun little number we picked up in the gift shop of Dr. Frank Wines on Lake Keuka last fall: Los Gatos Black Currant-Wild Raspberry Jam, produced locally by the Los Gatos Bed & Breakfast.

This jam was very dense — almost as thick as the peanut butter itself. It had a tart quality that cried out for a little added sweetness, so we broke from routine a little bit and tried it both with regular peanut butter and a butterscotch-infused peanut butter. It definitely fared better with that extra touch. It also improved quite a bit with a couple drops of honey drizzled on top.

Lucy, on the other hand, was happy to have it on its own…

…and wait, crazy-eyed, for seconds.

Here’s how this Black Currant-Wild Raspberry Jam rates, by the numbers:

color: 5 – the color was lovely and deep, and just looked pleasing.
flavor: 3 – this was a little too tart on its own. It had notes of black tea — hence the idea to lighten it up with a little honey.
jelly-ness: 4.5 – pretty close to the ideal, as far as thickness goes.
jar presentation: 4 – simple but effective; it doesn’t do a lot to distinguish itself, but it works.
awesomeness: 4 – based on flavor alone, it would have been a 3 for awesomeness…but Lossss Gatossss is just so damn fun to say aloud!

All told, this was a pretty good start to the year — lots of promise, but with room for improvement.

“If you don’t want this jam, I take the rest pls.”