When I see a new tinned product, I can't help but buy it, with the aim to try and blog about it as soon as I can. But that doesn't always happen. For example, some time ago now, Heinz launched a new range of flavoured baked beans (sorry - Beanz), which were on an introductory offer in most of the supermarkets for a while. I took this opportunity to buy a tin of each of the five different flavours, with the intention of writing a post about the new products when I'd tried them all.
Of course, time flew by, I'd only tried about three of them, and then Heinz went and brought out another new range of Beanz, completely putting me to shame on my tardiness. Likewise, I've bought tins that have sat on my shelf for so long that they've gone out of date, or are no longer sold at the supermarket where I bought them, or even have been discontinued by the manufacturers. And there are a whole load of other tins which I have tried, but not quite got round to writing a blogpost about yet.
So, one of my resolutions for 2015 was to pull my finger out with regards to the blog, updating it far more regularly, if necessary writing the posts as more concise reviews of tins rather than full 'stories' about them. I will be working through my stash, not leaving new tins languishing on my shelves for months, and actually getting round to writing about the ones I've already tried. To start things off in that vein, I now present to you the long-awaited - but no longer new - Heinz Flavoured Beanz family!
From left to right in the family portrait above, we have: Barbecue Beanz, Curry Beanz; Cheddar Cheese Beanz; Fiery Chilli Beanz and Garlic & Herb Beanz. They retail for around 90p per tin in most supermarkets. Each label has the usual Heinz aquamarine blue at the top (which apparently is a nod to the livery of Fortnum and Mason, the first shop in the UK that sold Heinz Baked Beans), with a different colour beneath, and an illustration of one or more of the added ingredients at the bottom.
I realised that there was no way no way I was going to be able to be as creative with these tins as the food alchemists Bombas & Parr, who created a 'flavour experience' for each of them back in 2013, so I decided that I would just try each of the tins as beans on toast, but varying the type of bread used for the toast, and any other toppings added, to fit with the flavour of the beans. Each would then receive a mark out of Tin (10), starting with the first alphabetically: Barbecue.
The Beanz: Barbecue flavourLabel colour: Smoky Orange
Added ingredients: The illustration on the label is presumably of a pile of some kind spice. Quite what spice that might be is anyone's guess - even the ingredients list does not tell us; it just says "spice". "Paprika extract" is listed, but as a colouring. Also added are "Herb extract", and the always slightly dubious-sounding "Smoke Flavourings".
The toast: No barbecue would be complete without a burger of some kind; with that in mind I served up the beans on a toasted burger bun.
The taste: The smokiness and sweet, mild spiciness of those commercial sauces sold as "BBQ sauce" was immediately noticeable in both smell and taste. It was actually quite nice, and made for a far more interesting-flavoured sauce than normal baked beans. Eating these you feel you could be a cowboy in the old west, heating them up on the campfire after a long day on the ranch. If you really use your imagination.
Optional extras: A slice of processed cheese, the kind that no-one ever eats apart from at a barbecue, completes the look of the "bean burger".Mark out of Tin: 7
The Beanz: Cheddar Cheese flavourLabel colour: Cheesy Yellow
Added ingredients: Cheddar cheese, obviously - though not actually very much of it, given that it only makes up 2% of the 390g tin. Interestingly, these beans also contain the least tomatoes of the family - only 21%.
The toast: If someone says "Cheese and Beans", I immediately think of jacket potatoes, but since I was looking for bread-based options, I compromised and went for a couple of toasted potato cakes instead.
The taste: On opening the tin I wondered if my concerns about the lack of cheese would be allayed, as the sauce looked a lot yellower than normal beans. But sadly not; cold from the tin, there seemed to be barely any cheesy taste or smell at all, and only slightly more so when heated up. Perhaps the lower proportion of tomatoes was a way of trying to make the yellow colour more apparent. One of the best things about beans with cheese on top is that the cheese just starts to melt, giving a lovely gooey tomatoey mess. With these beans though, having the cheese incorporated in prior to heating just gives the sauce an unpleasantly gloopy texture.
Mark out of Tin: 2
The Beanz: Curry flavourLabel colour: Err...Curry House Wallpaper Purple?
Added ingredients: Like the barbecue beans, these contain the non-descript "Spice" and "Herb Extract", as well as the slightly more specific "Curry Powder", but even then we are given no indication as to the what sort of blend this might be other than it contains wheat, mustard and celery, as they're all common allergens. There is also some rapeseed oil, but more than a little unexpectedly, the first ingredient listed after the standard beans, tomatoes, sugar and water is apples, which would seem rather out of place in a curry, let alone a tin of beans.
The toast: No contest here - it had to be a naan.
The taste: The sauce looked a lot more liquidy than standard beans, and had an odd sheen to it, as if there was a layer of grease on the surface - caused by the rapeseed oil, perhaps. The smell on opening reminded me instantly of garam masala, which typically contains more of the sweeter spices: cinnamon, ginger, cloves. Indeed, the beans did taste incredibly sweet - possibly accentuated by these spices, but most likely caused by the addition of the apples. These are also the only beans in the family which do not contain any vinegar, which probably doesn't help matters. The curry flavour was certainly very mild; I would favour more of a chilli kick to it, accentuating the savoury notes rather than the sweet, but with Chilli Beanz in the range as well, maybe Heinz didn't want to make these ones too spicy.
Mark out of Tin: 4
The Beanz: Fiery Chilli flavourLabel colour: Fiery Red
Added ingredients: I had been expecting to see "chilli powder" in the ingredients, but in fact it just lists "chilli", which perhaps is the fresh kind as in the illustration on the label, which bodes will for the beanz actually being fiery. More unspecified spices and herb extracts too, as we've come to expect, and also garlic puree.
The toast: I'd bought this strangely-shaped cornbread in Sainsbury's ages ago, and it had been in my freezer ever since. Chilli and corn are a brilliant combination, so this seemed ideal.
The taste: The first smell to hit me on opening the tin was cumin, though curiously the next day when I was putting the rinsed out tin into the recycling, all I could smell was cinnamon. Cumin was immediately apparent in the taste as well, along with a hint of paprika, followed by the kick of the chilli. It wasn't enough to make your nose run or your eyes water, so "fiery" is probably still a bit of an overstatement, but it was pleasingly noticeable. I wish the Curry Beanz had been this spicy, and then these ones even more so, but I suppose not everyone likes it hot. Only some, apparently. Like the curry ones though, these were again too sweet for my liking.
Mark out of Tin: 5
The Beanz: Tomato with Garlic & HerbsLabel colour: Herbal Green
Added ingredients: Given that they make up the name of the product, you'd think that Heinz might actually spill the beans (sorry) on the herb front this time and tell us which ones they used - but no. The most they let on is that the sauce contains both 'herb extract' AND 'herbs', surely making these the herbiest beans known to man. Only the illustration on the label gives any indication as to the ingredients, showing a selection of herbs next to a few cloves of garlic. Basil and parsley are certainly there, plus what I think might be marjoram, and possibly even a sage leaf too - but it's not easy to tell. These are also the only member of the family to feature 'tomato' in their name - and indeed they contain the most tomatoes of the lot - a whopping 38%.
The toast: My immediate thought here had been garlic bread, but I wondered if that might overpower the beans' own garliciness. Tomato, garlic and herbs sounded quite mediterranean to me though, so I opted for an Italian-style tomato focaccia roll instead.
The taste: There are actually flecks of herbs visible in these beans, and though I can't discern individual herb flavours, they can definitely be tasted too, lending a rather sophisticated, grown up note to them. They seem much less sweet than some of the other beans too, a plus in my book. The garlic is noticeable but not overpowering, lending a nice backnote to the sauce. Definitely one of the more successful of the flavoured Beanz.
Mark out of Tin: 8 - Best Beanz of the Bunch!
So, there you have it - my verdict on the members of the Heinz Flavoured Beanz family. A couple of them I would consider buying again; another two were OK, but nothing special, and one will certainly never darken my cupboard doors again. But on the whole I would say you're probably best off buying a standard tin and adding your own flavourings to it. There must be a whole world of other flavour combinations out there - but that's something for future posts. When I actually get round to trying out some ideas and writing about them, that is - which I am adamant I am going to do this year...!
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