Nut source

December 7, 2007 8:42 AM

My dad loves nuts and I'd like to get a gift box of quality nuts of some kind. I want to order something but I'm wary about getting dried-out / grocery store nuts placed in nice packaging. Are there any nut mail order places worth raving about? Who is the Chocosphere of the nut world?
posted by chips ahoy to Food & Drink (14 answers total)

I suppose they're not exactly "quality nuts," but the 4-pound can of Smokehouse almonds I gave my dad one Christmas was a huge hit. Quantity has a quality all its own, you could say.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:46 AM on December 7, 2007

Virginia is pretty legendary for our peanuts, which are larger than what you find in other parts of the U.S., and it's pretty traditional around here to give them as gifts.

Here are the brands I recommend without hesitation:

Hubs. Most of the houses I entered as a kid had one of these cans in it somewhere. Probably my favorite.

Adams: I used to live in this community, which is primarily known for its peanut farms. Great stuff. I gave these as gifts a couple of years ago.

Hope that helps.
posted by 4ster at 8:48 AM on December 7, 2007

If I need to give gift nuts, my go-to source is Austinuts. They dry roast, and have very high quality stuff. I've shopped from their brick-and-mortar Austin store and also placed orders to ship. They only ship UPS, and only in the U.S. (don't know where you are), but I recommend them without exception.
posted by pineapple at 8:51 AM on December 7, 2007

Sorry, that links seems to not be working. Try this: Austinuts, or you can Google them.
posted by pineapple at 8:54 AM on December 7, 2007

Nuts Online sells (obviously, you would think) nuts (and various dried fruits, spices, teas, et cetera). They sell bulk quantities as well gift baskets, tins, and trays. (So far I've ordered dried fruit but not nuts from them.)
posted by yz at 8:57 AM on December 7, 2007

Harry and David's has pretty good nuts. I always enjoy them. All their nuts are a little better than Smokehouse, which is saying something since good walnuts can be hard to find.
posted by ewkpates at 9:04 AM on December 7, 2007

"as well as", of course.
posted by yz at 9:06 AM on December 7, 2007

Koeze is pretty darn good. Good enough for Zingerman's to sell their peanut butter. It's a small, family owned business from where I grew up. They have their roasting in house, I believe.
posted by Stewriffic at 9:07 AM on December 7, 2007

You could also try Local Harvest. Search for "nuts" and wherever your dad lives and it'll show the closest seller. It's a great way to get fresh, organic, often heirloom or otherwise hard-to-find produce and foodstuffs.
posted by dogrose at 9:24 AM on December 7, 2007

Fastachi in the Boston area. They are SO good and ship everywhere, it appears.
posted by jdl at 10:35 AM on December 7, 2007

Bazzini Nuts are AMAZING. The 5 lbs bag of super colossal salted pistachios is a great gift. They were the best pistachios I've ever had. Very fresh and tasty.
posted by spec80 at 11:31 AM on December 7, 2007

My great uncle used to send us a bag of nuts from Fiji's every year. The nuts were in the shell, shiny beautiful and just waiting for a nut cracker. They were pretty good.

However - when I lived in Silicon Valley, I picked up a cheap net bag of walnuts from a farmer's market. The nuts were not beautiful - they hadn't been steam cleaned and polished. The nuts were not perfect - there were a small number in the bag that were damaged or contained shriveled meats. They were, however, the most delicious walnuts I've ever had.
posted by plinth at 12:30 PM on December 7, 2007

Nuts Online sells (obviously, you would think) nuts (and various dried fruits, spices, teas, et cetera). They sell bulk quantities as well gift baskets, tins, and trays. (So far I've ordered dried fruit but not nuts from them.)

I second Nuts Online. I first heard of them because they were involved in the Jericho nuts campaign, and I've been very satisfied with the quality of their products.
posted by gyc at 1:27 PM on December 7, 2007

I'll second Austinuts. The roasted (and variously flavored) cashews are really good.
posted by sevenless at 4:28 PM on December 7, 2007