Is jarred tahini supposed to have a bitter taste? This is one of the brands I've tried:

I usually dilute tehina quite a lot; at least, for hummus... But I don't recall bitterness.

Can you contact the brands themselves? Sesame seeds can go rancid--perhaps that's the culprit.

 
It's slightly bitter. Not something you'd eat out of the jar with a spoon like peanut butter.

It has a strong taste on its own a little like dark sesame oil

Maybe try a batch of hummus and if it's still too bitter for you then I assume you have a bad jar.

 
Thanks Erin & Joe. I believe Joe nailed it...I was thinking it would be sweet like a peanut butter.

Have used it before in hummus, but never tasted it straight off a spoon, like I recently did.

Won't be doing that again any time soon.

Made up a beautiful batch of hummus using reconstituted dried chickpeas. Hadn't made that version before.

 
Did you not cook them? I use soaked, but not cooked, chickpeas for falaffel, but for hummis

Ive always boiled them until very soft.

 
I think the brand matters. My health food store used to grind their own, either raw or roasted...

They used to sell it in small 4 oz. containers, and it wasn't bitter at all.

But one day, they were out, so I had to buy one of those ones you bought, the Joyva one. I was so disappointed, because it was bitter. I threw it out.

I found another brand, in a tall glass jar that was much better. I'm out now, and of course I can't remember the brand, but the next time I go to the health food store, I'll let you know.

 
I think they all have a slight bitterness but it also tends to go stale and taste like rancid oil

pretty rapidly. That may be part of the problem.

 
Oh ya...soaked overnight, then cooked. Hummus turned out great. I'd always used

canned chickpeas and found these to be much nicer. Used about half for a huge batch of hummus and the other half for a tikka masala dish (without the chicken).

 
I use this brand (see link) and I keep the opened jar in the fridge. The key...

...is to stir very thoroughly when you need some, as the solids settle to the bottom of the jar and have to be worked back in to the body of the product.

Mine was opened months ago and I just used it for some white bean hummus last week. I tasted it beforehand, just to make sure it wasn't "off". It was fine, and only slightly bitter, which I consider to be proper.

I would love to try a freshly made batch sometime.

Michael

http://www.tarazifoods.com/store/product.php?productid=16133&cat=0&page=1&featured

 
I found out how important it can be to use dried chickpeas from a source with HIGH turnover!

I bought some dried chickpeas from a grocery store once because I had heard how much better the hummus is when you soak and boil dried chickpeas rather than use canned.

These things must've come over on Marco Polo's wooden ship, because they were awful! Waaaay past their useable life. I didn't realize it at the time, since I wasn't aware that dried beans/legumes/etc. can go bad on the shelf. I swore I'd use canned from that point on.

Then a friend put some homemade hummus in front of me a year or so later, and it was divine! I asked what brand of canned chickpeas she used, and she feigned horror that I would use anything out of a can and not dried chickpeas.

I told her my experience with dried chickpeas and she opened my eyes to what probably happened.

Get them from a (popular) middle eastern grocer or a health food store that has high turnover on dried beans/legumes etc. If none are available, I would use canned.

Michael

 
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