G.L. Alfieri Farms

If you have ever visited the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market in San Francisco on a Saturday, you know who "the almond brittle people" are.  They are the folks at the G.L. Alfieri Farms stand, offering up samples of chocolate covered almond brittle (in several forms) to everyone who passes by.  "Almond brittle!  Dark chocolate almond brittle!", the man working their booth will call out.  "Dark chocolate almond brittle with sea salt!"  He generously presses multiple pieces into the hands of anyone passing by.  I'm not sure what their conversion to sales rate is, but I suspect it is rather high, particularly for tourists.  Because that almond brittle is really, really good.  If I have a coffee in hand it completes it, perfectly.  I adore that almond brittle, it doesn't matter how many times I've had it.  It is just so good.

"GL Alfieri has supplied the San Francisco Bay Area with premium local nuts and fruits since the 1970's.'

G.L. Alfieri Farms is about more than just almond brittle of course, they do actually have seasonal fresh produce, but, the majority of their products are nuts (almonds are their primary crop), dried fruits, almond butter, and confections.  I've tried a ton of their products over the years, and I have loved many of them, both sweet and savory.  For many years, they also had a stand inside the Ferry Building, open every day, and yes, always with samples, but that closed during the pandemic, and they did not reopen.  I used to regularly buy little bags of assorted nuts and candies to fill the stockings of my family members at Christmas, and everyone always had their favorite (not *just* the brittle).  If I didn't show up with bags of G.L. Alfieri Farms products, I knew I was in trouble.

Brittle

But let's go back to that brittle.  The signature brittle comes in several forms: plain, cinnamon, milk chocolate covered, dark chocolate covered, dark chocolate covered cinnamon, and dark chocolate covered coffee, all with sea salt.  For the holidays, a peppermint white chocolate version makes an appearance.

Brittle.

• Almond brittle: The plain brittle is the most boring, but it allows the flavors of the quality almonds to come through.  Big chunks of almonds, lovely sweet brittle coating it, nice salt level.  Goes nicely alongside a coffee.  Never my top pick as I prefer others, but, for a plain brittle, it really is good.  ***+.
• Dark chocolate almond brittle:  This is their signature item.  The brittle is sweet and crunchy, great almond flavor, nice pop of salt, and the dark chocolate accents it really well, and gives a slightly creamy component.  Absolutely classic, and pretty much perfect.  Pair it with a nice cup of coffee and you'll be very pleased.  ****+.
• Dark chocolate almond brittle with coffee: This is the same as the previous, but, with a touch of coffee in the coating.  It adds a slight bitterness, and depth of flavor, but actually, I prefer the dark chocolate almond brittle.  ***+.
• Eggnog (seasonal): Eggnog flavor comes through, but this just isn’t very good.  Just sweet.  You miss out on all the goodness of the quality brittle. **+.
• Peppermint (seasonal): This was a minty white chocolate with red and green sprinkles, and almonds for crunch.  It was more of a white chocolate confection than a nut brittle, but I liked how minty it was.  ***+.
• Dark chocolate peanut brittle: Really good.  Sometimes I like it more than almond brittle. The combination of chocolate and peanuts is a classic for a reason.  ****. 
• Pecan brittle: I generally like this more than almond brittle as well, as for me, the pecans give a more interesting flavor than almonds.  That said, I grew up loving pecan pie, so some of this may be just that I really like pecans, and only like almonds. ****.
• Walnut brittle: Didn’t really pick up on walnut flavor.  Liked it better with dark chocolate than plain, but neither were exemplary. ***.

Given how much you may know I love popcorn, to say I was excited when I discovered that they made an almond brittle popcorn is an understatement.  They don't have it often, but when they do, you know I have to get it.   It is a decedent version, with tons of brittle/caramel coating, and slices of almonds.  Super crunchy, super sweet, and super tasty.  Pretty awesome. I wish they had it more regularly.  ****+.

Savory Nuts

G.L. Alfieri offers a large range of savory nuts, ranging from simple roasted and salted to seriously spicy, and many other unexpected seasonings.  I've tried many over the years, mostly almonds, but one of my friends was really into the pistachios, and so I've sampled quite a few of those too.

The winner though is the simple walnuts.  Just plain, simple walnuts.  Clearly a local crop, and, wow, I guess fresh quality nuts really are different.  Just really nice, flavorful walnuts, probably the best I've ever had.  ****.

Applewood Smoked Almonds.

The applewood smoked almonds are regular favorites for me.  They basically taste ... like bacon.  Lovely smokey flavor, nice salt level.  They pair great with cheeses, and I regularly toss them into salads.  My family members also enjoy these, and for years, I always brought a bag each for my mom and sister when I visited.

****.

Lemon Chili Almond.

The lemon chili spiced nuts are one of the more unique flavors, and not a combo I'd think of, but they really work.  They are definitely spicy, and have a lemon flavor too, which is a bit hard to wrap your head around at first.  Really nice kick from the spice, and the lemon is fascinating.  ****.

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Other Almonds

• Slivered green onion: nice salty, strong green onion flavor, awesome for salads.  ****.
• Hickory smoked: similar to the applewood smoked I get regularly, but more salty.  ***+.
• Jalapeño cheddar: Has some jalapeño kick to it, but overall not very interesting, and not as flavorful as I'd expect. ***.
• Wasabi: very subtle. Not enough wasabi for me. ***.
• Tamari: The nuts were kinda soft, subtle tamari flavor.  Not very interesting. **+.
• Cajun: not much flavor at first, builds up to spicy overkill though.  I wasn't really into these, as the spice was intense in the end, and so meh to start. **.
• Oil roasted with salt: decent salt, but oil roasted aren't my thing.  **.
• Dry roasted with salt: I liked these more than oil roasted, but, really, these are just almonds. **+ Decent salt level.

Wasabi Peanuts.

These had all the awesome wasabi kick of a more standard wasabi pea, but were peanuts in some sort of shell instead.  I love wasabi peas, so I expected to like these, but they don't work as well as peas.  The crunch from the shell on them was good, the wasabi flavor was great, but it just didn't mix as well with a peanut for me.  ***.

Lemon Chile Pistachios.

I have mixed feelings on all of the seasoned pistachios.  For the most part, I really like the seasonings.  The lemon chile pistachios were just as successful as the lemon chile almonds.  I really liked the garlic pistachios, such intense garlic flavor.  But ... they are a lot of work, and all the flavor is in the shells, that you ultimately need to discard.  They tend to leave your fingers messy, and a pile of wet shell rubble behind, so not very convenient for snacking on the go.  ***.

Dry Roasted Macadamias (salted).

These were just macadamia nuts obviously, so not particularly outstanding, but they had a kinda nice sweetness to them (even though plain).  Well roasted, good salt level.  Not a local crop though, so I think they must import these from somewhere?  ***.

Sweet Nuts

If you know me, you know I like my sweets, and G.L. Alieri has sweets in spades.  Soooo many kinds of sweet coated nuts.  Most are more coating dominant than nut forward, but I adore some of them.  Usually great with a cup of tea or coffee, or chopped and used on top of desserts.

Raspberry Honey Almonds.

If you like sugar, then, the raspberry honey almonds may be for you.  These are very sweet, but it is a lovely sweetness, and the raspberry flavor is reasonable too.  I'd still like the raspberry to be even stronger, but, the sugar level is great, and they don't taste fake.  Amazing alongside a cup of tea.  ****.

Lemon Honey Almonds: I've also tried their lemon counterpart several times.  They have a nice lemon flavor, and much like the raspberry ones are more candy than nut, with lots of sugar coating.  Definitely sweet.  They also go great with a cup of tea.  ***+.

Orange Honey Almonds: Again, same base, lots of candy shell, a nice sweetness though.  The orange flavor was less strong than others.  ***.

Sesame Glazed.

Way back when I first discovered G.L. Alfieri, I remember quite liking the glazed sesame coated almonds. But over the years I liked them less and less.  The glaze is good, and provides a light sweetness, but the sesame seeds are often quite bitter.  I like the crunch from the sesame seeds, and when I get a batch that isn't as bitter I really like the strong sesame flavor, but too often these just trend too bitter for me.  ***.

Maple.

These looked great, well glazed, but did not have very much maple flavor. **+.

Cinnamon Honey.

These were ok, but much like plain honey roasted, I didn't get the honey roasted aspect much at all, and it is a very subtle cinnamon flavor. ***.

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Other Almonds

• Butter Toffee: NOMS NOMS NOMS.  Always delicious, very sweet and perfect with coffee, although sometimes too much or too little toffee coating. Seems inconsistent.  Subsequent reviews: NOMS!!! Great sweet toffee layer.  Really sugary and sweet, tons of coating. [ Great, sweet, buttery, awesome! ] [ So much candied layer.  Very sweet.  Totally don’t know there are almonds in here! ] ****+.
• Jordan: Standard Jordan almonds, good crunch from candy shell.  Subsequent reviews: nice crunchy shell, sugary, noms! [ Nice crunch, candy, yum! ]  [ Great ratio of candy layer to almond.  Good crunch.  I really like these. ] ****+.
• Honey Roasted: Nice roasted flavor, some sugar coating, pretty good, but not much honey flavor. ***.
• Cappuccino: kinda chalky, not much cappuccino flavor. **+.

Caramelized Mixed Nuts.

The mixed nuts is a mix of pecans, almonds, and cashews.  The coating had a slight burnt flavor to it, but not in a bad way.  They were sweet.  There was something else going on in them too, but I couldn't quite pinpoint it.  I could never decide if I liked these or not.  They were fine, but I think I just like so many of their other flavored nuts more than these, so I'm not sure when I'd pick them.  I think they'd be great crumbled on top of assorted desserts, with ice cream, or even just with some fruit and whipped cream.  For just munching on, I prefer their other nuts.  ***+.

Burnt French Peanuts.

I hadn't ever had burnt french peanuts before these, but apparently they are a classic.  They looked too intriguing to pass up.  Basically just a candy coated peanuts, with strange little balls in the coating.  And the coating is red.  They reminded me of Boston Baked Beans (the candied peanuts, not real baked beans), but with bumps.  Crunchy, sweet, and I can see why someone would like them.  Interesting, but I don't think I'd get another batch. ***.

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Other Nuts

• Peanuts
• Boston Beans: Hmm.  The burnt french peanuts reminded me of what I'd call Boston Beans.  These were basically just peanut M&Ms.  Peanuts, thin chocolate candy shell.  I liked more than peanut M&Ms since I could taste the peanut more, but overall, not that interesting. ***.
• Butter Toffee: Meh, the butter toffee is actually lost on these, it comes out just sweet and peanuts aren’t very good either.  **+.
• Walnuts
• Sesame Glazed: Nice flavor combo, goes well with tea. ***.
• Maple walnut: Meh. Slight subtle maple flavor, goes well with walnut, but fairly bitter.  I like the plain walnuts considerably more. **+.

Chocolate Nuts & Other Confections

G.L. Alfieri does a lot of things well, but it turns out, chocolate confections aren't one of them.  I think their downfall stems from the fact that they just don't use particularly high quality chocolate, so even though some of the flavors are great, and the base nuts are high quality, the lower end chocolate just masks all of that.

I've tried many of the nuts, with coatings made from milk, dark, or white chocolate, and several other kinds of chocolate coated things, and for the most part, they let me down (although there were a few winners).

Mint Chocolate & Coconut Almonds.

Mint Chocolate Almonds: 

These are really tasty!  Basically like a Thin Mint wrapped around an almond.  Great flavor, creamy coating, and nice crunch from the almond.  ****+.

Coconut (white chocolate): 

Beautiful coconut flavor, creamy sweet coating. Lots of coconut flavor.  I like these. ****+.

Eggnog White Chocolate Almonds.
(Seasonal)

A seasonal offering only, eggnog, which uses white chocolate as the base.

Nice eggnog flavor, very spiced, but in a good way.  I like this one, nice flavors in here. ****+.

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Other Almonds

• Chocolate Covered:
• Aspenmint: Roasted almonds, coated in chocolate with mint flavoring, rolled in powdered sugar.  The mint flavor is nice  but chocolate is pretty low quality.  ***.
• Dark Chocolate Covered Orange Honey: These are their classic orange honey almonds, then coated in dark chocolate.  The orange and chocolate flavor actually go together pretty nicely, strong orange flavor, although lots of flavors going on here.  Crunch from the candy shell was a surprise under all the chocolate too.  Wouldn’t buy it, but it was good enough and I enjoyed my sample. ***.
• Dark Chocolate Covered Toffee: Pretty good, toffee gets a little lost though because there is so much (mediocre) dark chocolate.  The almond flavors are lost as well.  Would be better with less chocolate. **+.
• Mocha Truffle: Don’t really get mocha taste at all, just lower end chocolate and too much of it. **.
• White Chocolate Covered:
• Candy Cane (seasonal): almond covered with a layer of chocolate, then layer of mint white chocolate. Decent peppermint flavor, but the chocolate layers is lost, you mostly just taste sweet creamy white chocolate.  Nice crunchy almond but almond flavor lost too. ***.
• Lemon Creme: Coated in lemon flavored white chocolate. Very lemony, but just way too much lemon.  Very, very sweet.  Subsequent review: decent lemon flavor.  I enjoyed this this time. Very sweet, yummy. ***.
• Yogurt: not too sweet, good yogurt coating, pretty decent. ***.
• Orange Creme: White chocolate and orange flavored coating.  Sort of like a creamsicle, but very sweet.  Too much coating to almond ratio, you totally lose the nut. Subsequent review:  Not much almond flavor, very very sweet, kinda fake tasting, meh. **+.
• Pumpkin Pie (seasonal):  Sweet and nice at first, but then way too much nutmeg on the finish.  Didn't really like. **+. 

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Chocolate Covered Fruits.

• Chocolate Covered Cherry: Very flavorful. Layer of red cherry infused chocolate, layer of dark chocolate, then cherry.  Really intense cherry flavors, quite nice.  Subsequent review: Pretty good, lots of dark chocolate, flavor goes well with cherry. ****.
• Chocolate Covered Cranberry: Decent, but not memorable. ***.
• Dark Chocolate Covered Dried Apricot: Not very good dark chocolate and lots of it, but nice sweet apricot. Subsequent review: Nice snap from chocolate, good flavor combination, nice sweet moist apricot. ***.
• Chocolate Covered Blueberry: ratios way, way off.  Tiny little blueberry, tons of milk chocolate, then tons of blue white chocolate.  So much chocolate, so little blueberry.  Not good.  Same meh quality chocolate as others. **+.
• Dark Chocolate Covered Pomegranate: The dried fruit was totally lost, too much chocolate, and not very good dark chocolate at that. **.

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Other Chocolates

• Dark Chocolate Almond Nugget:  Dark chocolate covered marzipan filling.  Very sweet smooth filling, same mediocre dark chocolate.  Sorta nice. ***.
• Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Bean: chocolate same as all their other chocolate, espresso bean forgettable. **+.
• Rocky Road Fudge: Chocolate fudge with walnuts and marshmallows.  Pretty creamy.  Not that chocolately.  Low end marshmallow, whole mini marshmallows.  Would have preferred more like a marshmallow swirl layer or something. **+.
• 70% Dark Chocolate Almond Bark: meh!  The quality of the dark chocolate just isn’t there, no depth of flavor.  Almonds not particularly flavorful either.  **.
• Dark Chocolate Button: not good at all, just kinda waxy boring chocolate. **.

Candy

G.L. Alfieri always has a few sweet candy items packaged in their packaging, but I think they just repackage another brand.  I don't think they make any of these in-house, and they never offer samples of these.

Sour Gummy Bears.

 I'm pretty particular about my gummy bears, and I didn't like these.  They were too chewy, not as bad as Haribo brand which I really don't care for, but still too chewy for my taste.  They weren't really sour.  They didn't have much flavor at all.  And coated in way, way too much sugar. **.

Savory Snacks

They also offer up a selection of savory snacks, that I suspect are also just rebanded items.

Cajun Mix.

 The cajun mix contained salted peanuts, glazed sesame sticks, and chili rice snacks.  All were fairly standard - the sesame sticks were slightly sweet and a good contrast against the spicy mix.  The peanuts were a bit boring, but did have some of the cajun seasoning on them.  The chili rice sticks tasted a bit stale.  Overall, a decent enough mix, but I wouldn't get again. ***.

Vegetable Chips.

I really love veggie chips, so I enthusiastically bought two bags of these without even trying them.  Rookie mistake, particularly for a place that is so generous with their samples!  The mix contained sweet potato, purple sweet potato, green beans, squash, carrots, and taro.  

The chips were all really, really greasy.  I loved the veggie selection, and the flavor of the veggies was quite intense, but they were ruined with grease.  Would not get again.  Of the mix, my favorites were the purple sweet potato, they were fairly thickly sliced and really crispy.  The green beans were the most interesting, really, really flavorful.  The rest (sweet potato, squash, carrot, taro) were fairly standard, but like I said, too greasy. **+.

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Other Savories.

• Salted Corn Nuts: Huge chunks of corn, really nice and crispy, perfect salt level.  Some of the better ones of these I’ve ever had. ****.
• Habanero Corn Nuts: Decent kick to them, crispy, but small size kernels, not like the salted ones.  Would have liked bigger corn kernels. ***.