Meghan Markle’s raspberry spread, known as Ever After, has finally been released after more than a year of waiting and a complete rebrand. The big question now is, does the Duchess’ famous berry creation live up to all the hype?
Spoiler: it might be time for her to ‘concentrate’ on a new formula.
The highly sought-after jars quickly sold out within minutes of their release on Wednesday. However, FEMAIL was able to secure a jar of the $14 raspberry spread, complete with special keepsake packaging, to provide the first public review.
This sweet treat, frequently dubbed by Meghan as ‘her jam,’ has been eagerly anticipated ever since she sent 50 jars to celebrity pals like Kris Jenner last year when the brand was still known as American Riviera Orchard.
But make no mistake – her brand has now been rebranded to As Ever, and the company claims that the raspberry fruit spread ‘is inspired by the recipe Meghan crafted in her home kitchen.’
The Duchess previously explained in an episode of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, that her preserves can’t technically be called jam, because ‘jam is equal parts sugar and fruit.’
‘I just don’t think you can taste the fruit that way,’ she suggested on the show.
Per Food & Wine, jam is regulated by the FDA, and it must come from a single fruit, containing at least 45 percent fruit and 55 percent sugar.
What Meghan is selling under As Ever is not called a jam or a preserve – it’s a spread, with ingredients of raspberries, organic pure cane sugar, organic lemon juice concentrate, and fruit pectin, a natural stabilizer.
On Saturday morning, we unboxed Meghan’s seemingly covetable raspberry spread, which arrived in a small box from FedEx.
Upon opening, we found a ‘handwritten’ note from Meghan herself right on top, printed on a thick postcard with her As Ever branding stamped in gold foil.
When you flip the card around, there’s a message printed in Meghan’s signature calligraphy that reads, ‘Enjoy – Meghan.’
A bit ominous there, Megs.
After reading the note, we continued wading through the packaging to find the jam, which was padded in packing peanuts and wrapped in creamy beige paper, before we finally got to the pièce de résistance.
Because we’d splurged for the keepsake packaging, as the Duchess gave customers no other choice during her initial launch, it meant that the 7.6oz jar came in a tan, cylinder-shaped package, embossed with the As Ever logo on its front.
The over-the-top packaging, which would be hard to reuse due to its jam-shaped hole, reminded us more of a luxury candle than a condiment we’d throw in the fridge after opening.
Once we’d finally reached the spread, what immediately struck us about the container was its minuscule size – it’s small, containing just 215 grams of spread for $14, or $9 without the keepsake packaging.
It feels quite small in your hand, too, especially as we compared its size to that of Bonne Maman preserves, which contains 370 grams in a 13oz jar for around $6.
But packaging aside, what really matters here is the taste – and we can’t help but think As Ever’s signature product might be in a bit of a jam.
Immediately upon opening the jar, we were taken aback by its texture. The spread was very liquid and quite thin – a bit ‘loose,’ if you will. If we hadn’t known better, we’d have thought it melted during its expedited journey to us.
That being said, it is described by the brand as including a hint of lemon and a ‘fluid texture’.
Typically, a jar of jam is thicker and sticks together, whereas when we stuck our spoon into Meghan’s raspberry spread, its consistency dripped off the silverware like a sauce. It was unappealing to say the least.
As for the taste, it’s extremely sweet – and we mean really sweet. It is reminiscent of a sugary, raspberry dessert sauce rather than a jam or spread that’s meant to be eaten on a piece of toast.
The flavor was also surprisingly strong, which meant we could taste the sour lemon in the spread, which Meghan had promised in the product’s description.
After trying it by the spoonful, which left us grimacing from the sweetness, we spread some on a toasted piece of sourdough, which is where things began to take a turn for the worse.
It was difficult to eat the spread with the toast, as it was so thin that it dribbled everywhere and made a mess. Our once nicely toasted piece of bread became a sopping wet disaster after just a few minutes.
The spread is so sweet that it masked the flavors from the sourdough, with only the sugar from the fruit and tang of the lemon coming through.
Drizzled over vanilla ice cream, a piece of pie, or a big stack of pancakes, the spread may work, and may even shine. But on its own, or eaten as one would expect to be able to enjoy jam, the product crumbled, or rather dripped, under the pressure.
The jam performed even worse when we compared it to a raspberry jelly sold at the grocery store Wegman’s, and a jar of Bonne Maman, which both had a completely different texture and taste than Meghan’s spread.
Both of the jams were much thicker – so thick, in fact, that you could stick a spoon in both of them and it would stay upright.
They were also a tad less sweet than As Ever’s raspberry spread, and didn’t leave our toast soggy.
If Meghan really wants to continue down the jam route, it appears the Duchess may need to come up with a different recipe.
The taste is nearly there, but it’s the consistency that takes away from the product – and makes it an absolute failure.
Out of five stars, we give it a two.
The Duchess says that jam is her jam, but we’re not so sure. Maybe it’s sauce?
