Seven components, chosen individually

"Sweet needs sour to stay interesting."

Kashmiri almonds are denser and slightly sweeter than commodity badam. Grade A pistachio kernels come shelled and evenly sized — shade varies from pale to deep green with harvest timing, not quality. Jumbo cashews are large whole kernels, not splits: in most mixes the cashews are broken pieces, because a mix is the easiest place to hide breakage. Premium raisins are soft rather than shrivelled.

The berries each do a different job. Blueberries are the roundest and mildest of the three — gently sweet-tart. Blackberries are deeper and more winey, closer to a jam flavour. Rose berries bring the sharpest, most floral acidity, and they are the ones people notice first.

The ingredient list

Ingredients: Kashmiri Almonds, Pistachio Kernels (Grade A), Cashew Kernels (Jumbo, whole), Raisins, Dried Blueberries (with sugar), Dried Blackberries (with sugar), Rose Berries (with sugar).

About the sugar: the three berries are sugar-infused, and we would rather say so on the page than leave it in the small print. This is standard for dried berries and there is a practical reason for it — without infusion these fruits dry into hard, punishingly sour pieces that very few people would eat. The sugar rehydrates them into something pliable and balanced. The four nuts have nothing added to them at all: no salt, no oil, no roasting, no coating.

The details that matter

Colour and size vary naturally between batches — dried fruit is not uniform.

Good to know