Comments on: A Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nut Smackdown

By: pomai

pomai — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:25:33 +0000

Ann, you're right! I think I copied and pasted the results, and changed the scores properly, but forgot to modify the comments for Diner C. Oops. At least I put the correct scores. Just disregard Diner C's 'halves' comments, as those are most likely Diner A's. My bad.

Speaking of Macadamia Nuts, Don Quijote brought in Hormel brand SPAM flavored Macadamia Nuts. I kid you not! I'll do a review on it some time soon here. That's a must!

By: Ann

Ann — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 04:25:55 +0000

Is it just by coincidence that Diner A and Diner C’s (first two) comments under the Halves category are exactly the same? Or am I imagining things?

Thank you for doing a great in-depth comparison/test! I always wonder which to get while I’m visiting home….standing in the mac aisle of Longs Drugs and staring at the huge selection! Drats, I just finished giving away the last box too! Better think about ordering online now.

By: pomai

pomai — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:12:13 +0000

Freddy, there is no Hilo Hattie Hattie brand that I know of. I know their retail outlets SELL Choc. Macadamia Nuts, but never heard of their own label. On average, Hawaiian Host is usually the most expensive – even when on sale, which is expected given they’re the leader in the industry and considered THE name brand. I think they’re worth the extra, what? 50 cents a box? Great taste, quality and consistency in every box. Can’t go wrong with Hawaiian Host.

By: Freddy

Freddy — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:13:01 +0000

Cool! I love Dark Chocolate!!! Which one is normally cheaper: Hawaii Host or Hilo Hatiie??

By: pomai

pomai — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:41:13 +0000

Noe, last I checked, KMART (of all places) carries the Hawaiian Host Executive Whole Macadamia Nut Chocolates. The leather-clad box puts the “Executive” in it. It was $12 for a standard-sized box.

HawaiianVacationsGifts, glad purveyors like you appreciate posts like this. This was one of the more exhausting efforts on The Tasty Island yet!

hollyamber, do you remember which outdoor market or where exactly it was located, or what brand those Kona Coffee Covered Mac Nuts are? That’ll further help me help you find it.

By: hollyamber

hollyamber — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:25:31 +0000

PLEASE help me find KONA COFFEE COVERED MAC NUTS! i will be forever indebted. i got them at the outdoor market in honolulu (while on vacation) from a nice asian couple at their booth…I have been saving them for months! haha! almost OUT
TRY THESE- THEY ARE GR8.

By: HawaiiVacationGifts

HawaiiVacationGifts — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:25:24 +0000

A really incredible post! I sell chocolate covered macs on our site so it was really interesting for me to see the taste results. I may just have to adjust my inventory!

By: noe

noe — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:11:09 +0000

wow great smack down challenge…good to know! we usually buy Hawaiian Host anyway. Just fyi, at Christmas we received for the first time as a gift, a box of Hawaiian Host Executive with whole Macadamias. it was great and gone in no time. i dont know where they sell it though?

By: Nate

Nate — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:23:56 +0000

Pomai,

thanks for doing all this legwork! I appreciate it.

We’ll be going to Costco later this week.

Aloha!

By: pomai

pomai — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:29:22 +0000

Debbie-chan, most of the Mac Nut Chocolates in this taste test were purchased at Don Quijote, with just few others from KMart.

Nate, I just got back from Don Quijote today (Sunday 8/17/08), and they had the Hawaiian Host non-scenic box carry pack for $10.39 as a ‘Manager’s special’. This includes six 5 oz. boxes.

The scenic box carry pack (six 7 oz. boxes) was 18.59. So that’s a good deal at Costco for the scenic box carry pack. Otherwise, if the box design doesn’t matter (the chocolates inside are the same, you just get a little less), you might wanna’ check out Don Quijote.

By: Debbie-chan

Debbie-chan — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 02:36:08 +0000

Can’t remember exact prices, but you might check out the Kaheka Don Quijote. The have a good mac selection, and their prices are decent, more so if they’re having a sale.

By: pomai

pomai — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 02:36:00 +0000

Nate, That’s a very good price. I purchased the Hawaiian Host scenic box used in this smackdown individually at Don Quijote at $2.99 (regular price), making that about $18 for a 6-pack. You can get the non-scenic HH box, which has the same classic, original chocolate Macadamia nuts for $2.49 on sale individually, but it’s not nearly as “pretty” on the outside as the scenic box, having less “made-in-Hawaii” appeal to it.

You might wanna’ pick up the Sunday Honolulu Advertiser tomorrow, as that will have all the ads for sales. Retailers here often include Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts in their ads.

I’ll check ABC Store’s price later this evening. Food Pantry (Waikiki) too.

By: Nate

Nate — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 02:00:15 +0000

I just saw the Hawaiian Host Scenic Box Carrypack (6 each, 7-ounce boxes) going for $13.99 at the Iwilei Costco. Anybody seen a better price than that (ABC maybe)? I gotta take like 25 boxes back to the mainland.

By: pomai

pomai — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:28:50 +0000

Howzit Raph’, I know which one you’re talking about. That one is made by Island Princess. Good stuff. Their Toffee Macadamia Nut Popcorn is also da’ bomb!

It would probably take me an entire month’s worth of blogging – and a few hundred dollars less in my wallet – just covering all the various products made with Macadamia Nuts.

Cecelia, I wasn’t surprised Hawaiian Host would be at the top, and near the top in the competition. The originator is always hard to beat.

Amy, we had two judges on our panel who preferred dark chocolate as well, so, not surprisingly, they favored the samples that leaned that way.

sd, you know what’s funny is, my sister used to live in Missouri, and she said the Costco out there sold Hawaiian Host Macadamia Nut Chocolates! Of course more expensive than here, but still!

Hi Duckey, can you get Macadamia Nut product in the UK? If so, I’d imagine they’d be quite expensive.

Susan, speaking of the cheapest, as mentioned in the write-up, I was very impressed with the Island Sunshine brand. Very good chocolate, and decent-sized mac nuts. I must note though, that you can get the Hawaiian Host non-scenic box for just about 50 cents more than Island Sunshine, so that’s something to consider.

Debbie-chan, arigato for the 411 on the white chocolate. I’m a white chocolate fan, but since you mention that it doesn’t compliment the nut, perhaps I’ll stick with the other types.

Howzit Jenny and Kelly. Mahalo for stopping by!

By: raphael

raphael — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 09:34:27 +0000

howzit brah??? hey the last time i was in oahu….my brother–a navy guy–took me to the base exchange (BX) where we got those huge plastic barrels of mac nuts covered in toffee, chocolate, and dusted with cocoa powder. omg those were crazy. also, we picked up some mauna loa mac nut sampler which had the salty stuff…..as well as kona coffee covered mac nuts….those were simply divine!!!! that was back in 2006 when my brother got married and shipped off to japan. we’ll have to come back to da islands for those mac nuts great job with the smack down and photos pomai!