As a life-long American, these were actually something I just randomly tried from a local specialty store. Now I am addicted. I like them better than traditional oatmeal, the taste is more creamy and hearty. The funny thing is that the word "porridge" to me has a connotation of slop that is served as sustenance more than flavor. However, I can tell you that I love this stuff and I feel like it is actually the gourmet version of oatmeal. If you prepare it with water it is quite good, and prepared with milk it is simply amazing.
My Welsh husband recently moved to the US and did not like our oatmeal, or the steel cut version, or any 'porridge' I could find for him. "It just isn't like what I'm used to", he'd say. Then I found Flahavan's in a British shop and they were declared a success. Not wanting to drive an hour each way and pay six dollars a bag for them, I am happy to find them on Amazon for around three dollars a bag and free shipping with Prime. These are very tasty, although I'm more of a fan of the steel cut oats.
Buy FLAHAVAN'S Irish Porridge Oats, 17.5-Ounce Bags (Pack of 6) Now
My household was out oats, so I made a search on Amazon, and decided to try a brand we've not yet tasted. Since I gravitate toward food items from the UK/Ireland (ancestral roots); and because it had such great reviews, I decided to order this.
I prepared it with 1 cup whole milk, and 1 1/2 cups water, and within a few minutes it was done! (I served mine up with a dash of cinnamon, and a sprinkling of coconut sugarafter tasting it alone).
...This is hands down the best tasting oats my family and I have ever tasted! It's not chewy or tough, and it doesn't require pre-soaking to get a smooth texture.
I don't recall having seen this brand in my local store, so when we run out, I'll be re-ordering!
Read Best Reviews of FLAHAVAN'S Irish Porridge Oats, 17.5-Ounce Bags (Pack of 6) Here
I have been eating ONLY Flahavan's brand for about 4 years. I noticed by accident as well, in Wegman's, and now nothing else will do! I just went online to order directly from the Flahavan's site in Ireland since Wegman's just discontinued selling it......not enought of us true Irish porridge eaters I guess. I was excited to see Amazon sells it. It is the best/quickest method when done in the microwave. I do the 1/2 cup porridge to 1 cup 1% milk, nuking for 2:15 minutes [make sure you use a deep bowl, as directed] and it's sensational.....creamy, hearty, great flavor. I add walnuts, Splenda, and sometimes raisins or sugar-free Log Cabin if I'm in the mood. Even if you're not an oatmeal afficionado, try this.......good for you, and soooooooo yummy too.
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After my lifelong mission to find porridge that could please persnickety Goldilocks, I am relieved to say Flahavan's fills the bill.
As a kid I never liked oatmeal, but porridge was so storied I kept trying, since oatmeal was supposedly it. When I was 14, I visited England, finally tried the real thing, and it was love. Unfortunately, back in the States I could never find anything comparable. So I just kept looking. One restaurant had a tasty and properly textured version, which they claimed was a proprietary porridge blend, but they didn't sell the oats, just the meal at breakfast. I've had the discussion many times: you'd expect all oats are oats, and therefore taste similar if prepared in similar fashion, but they simply don't. I tried every kind of oats I could get my hands on, from German and Scottish imports to bulk hippie/health food co-op organic. Steel-cut, rolled, slow, quick, everything! I soaked overnight and boiled stovetop; used milk, water, cream, and mixtures of them in varying amounts. In spite of wasting a lot of time and oats over the years, I didn't give up.
Like another reviewer here, I found Flahavan's at a Wegmans. A brand I hadn't seen before! Surely it would be a failure like the rest, but it's a pretty small package, why not just try? Thank goodness I bought it. I can't speak with authority for those in the UK, because as demonstrated by my not having seen Flahavan's in 20 years of US oat shopping, you must have many brands I won't encounter here. In the US, Flahavan's is the only brand I've been able to find to make porridge oats that taste like the delicious porridge I had in England. And that's just their simple, microwave in 3 minutes oats! Crazy to imagine after all the trouble I've gone to trying to stew up the perfect porridge. Wegmans is foolish for discontinuing Flahavan's, but I'm thankful they had it for me to find when I did.
For anyone out there looking for creamy (oat-creamy, even made with just water), tasty, tender, truly porridge-y oats, do yourself a favor and try Flahavan's. Even if you think you've got something decent---I used to eat McCann's sometimes, but even though other people in my family still buy it, to me it now tastes so bad in comparison I simply can't settle for it. I'm still open to trying new oats, but for me the lifelong fantasy porridge oats quest has found a firm footing in reality with Flahavan's fairytale deliciousness.
I love Smores, the combination of chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers are outstanding. I also love Emerald nuts, so when I saw this at my local grocer, I had to try them. Right away, the biggest problem with this snack is the marshmallows, if you can even call them that. The marshmallows look like erasers from a pencil, and they are as hard as a rock. I am not exagerrating, I nearly broke a tooth the first time I tried to bite one. Are they stale? Expiration date says September of 2012. I am not sure, maybe I got a bad package of these. I am hesitant to buy another box. The rest of the snack mix is fine, the cocoa walnuts, honey roasted peanuts, m&ms, graham chunks and oat clusters all tasted as they should. But the most important part of the "smores", the marshmallows, was a major letdown.
