Description
Additional info:
aka: fangst brisling no. 1 – baltic sea sprat smoked w/ heather & chamomile
Species (Latin): Sprattus sprattus
Water: Baltic Sea, FAO 27.III.d
Net weight/Nettovægt: 100g
Ingredients: Smoked sprats (70%), cold pressed rapeseed oil, salt, chamomile (0,25%), heather (0,1%)
Ingredienser: Røgede brislinger (70%), koldpresset rapsolie, salt, kamille (0,25%), lyng (0,1%)
Check out the Mouth Full of Sardines blog post about this tin.
See what Matthew Carlson has to say about these sprats.
nickbaileyradio (verified owner) –
My tinned fish budget is pretty modest so I don’t get to buy these as often as I’d like but when I do: whew boy. The smoke, the texture, the bronze skin, all working together for a great bite.
Hream McDan (verified owner) –
EXCEPTIONAL. This is what you hope for when you splurge for that upgrade over your everyday tins. From the first bite, this was ‘whoa.’ The texture is velvet and the fish is absolutely beautiful. Shimmery skin, holds together but perfectly soft and delicate. If you’re a sprat person, if you like just a bit of smoke on your tiny fish, you owe it to yourself to try this.
What does heather & chamomile taste like? Well … I don’t know. I’m not sure how to truly identify those flavors, I would say that there’s a faint hint of something extra in the oil and there’s little bits of flowery-looking things in there too … are those why this is so dang good? Mayyybe? But it doesn’t matter what heather tastes like, all I care about is that this Fangst tin is pure decadence. If you have a few extra dollars to treat yourself today, BUY THIS.
twa101 (verified owner) –
To be honest, I was a bit hesitant to try these as were the first tin of sardines or sprats that I’ve tried that was over four dollars, coming in at $8.50. A hefty waft of smoke hit me when I popped the top and you could tell by their golden color that there is some serious smoke on these puppies. They were tightly packed but very easy to extract from the can intact. There were twenty fish in the tin, ranging from 2.25 inches to 3.75 long and these were the skinniest sardines that I’ve ever seen. As the smell and color suggested, these were heavily smoked. Sprattus baconus. They were moist and soft, but with just enough texture so you know you are still eating whole fish. I was concerned that the tails might be tough, but they were soft, like the texture of a celery leaf, and did not bother me at all. The chamomile & heather provide a mild floral undertone, just barely noticeable over the smoke. These are some special sprats. The only downside is that they are very heavy on the palate and would probably be best shared as part of an appetizer tray than eaten in one sitting by yourself. They are a bit pricey, but definately worth the splurge.
Greg L (verified owner) –
High quality tin of fish. The flavor is outstanding. A rich and deep flavor. I ate the whole tin in a sitting and it felt very decadent. I was impressed that, despite the fish being quite thin, they had beautiful skin and held together when extracted with chop sticks. The texture is velvety-smooth. Overall I was really impressed by the quality of the fish.
I’m afraid I didn’t sense much of the smoke as referenced in other reviews. The smoke was very similar to other brands of “lightly smoked” fish that I’ve tried. However, the quality of the fish was head-and-shoulders above those other brands. I would say if you’re looking for a smokey flavor profile, these may not be the thing. I did enjoy the floral undertones, though. It provided a brightness that is really nice given how rich this tin was.
Definitely will keep these in “the lineup”.
annesha (verified owner) –
This was my favorite tin out of the very good tins I ordered from RTG! I ate these at 1AM while absolutely starving and they felt like a gift from heaven. There’s something really satisfying about how they melt in your mouth with just a slight amount of crunch from the bones (crunch doesn’t even feel like the right word, but I can’t think of another one too). It has a smoky taste but doesn’t taste smoked, the heather and chamomile add a very light herbal taste to the palate. It was rich and I soaked up the rest of the oil with toast. 10/10.
Max D (verified owner) –
Remarkably good, one of my favorite tins.
I hadn’t had sprats before, but now I’ve tried a number of different tins and vendors, and this is my favorite– very lightly smoked, rich flavor, and the heather/chamomile isn’t too intense. I’ll sometimes just have these mixed into a bowl of hot rice as a lunch when working from home (easy with a rice cooker on a timer)– I do think they’re even better when warm.
megan.k.solomon (verified owner) –
This was one of the first cans I ordered, as a tinned fish novice. From when I first opened the can – beautiful! Tightly packed, lightly golden, heather and chamomile visible throughout. Of the cans I tried, this was one of the crowd favorites! I was really pleasantly surprised by the flavor and texture. Perfect size for bites with toast and fixings (I had thinly sliced fennel for sweetness and tomato for acid, I thought this went great together).
wadematthewtroyer (verified owner) –
I always try out new tins on their own before trying to pair with food, so I had these on their own right of the can. They were quite tasty, with a light smoked flavor and a *je ne sais quoi* flavor provided ostensibly by the heather and chamomile. I say ostensibly because I did not detect anything overtly floral or herbal from those flowers, but there was a taste not usually found with fish and they were packed in neutral oil so it must from them. It was a slightly fruity, very subtly sweet flavor, and I mean very subtle.
I was ready to be underwhelmed by this tin based on the ranking on the worldsbestfish.com, but they lived up to the hype in my opinion. Definitely ordering these again and are well worth the price in my opinion. The unique flavor, while not decidedly chamomile or heather, was different enough to stand on their own among the other tins I have tried.
Matt Wells (verified owner) –
These were fabulous. Nice light smoke and saltiness. Like other reviewers I did not get strong heather and chamomile, but at the same time you can tell there is something unique about the flavor.
If I had not had another tin of straight fish open at the same time I would have just enjoyed them but would not have had the same experience of picking out the difference.
Either way I will definitely order these again. Wonderful!
Peter Kupchick (verified owner) –
Another great tin! Could have eaten them all straight from the tin and enjoyed every bite without any additional seasoning needed. Did enjoy some with some naan crackers and pickled onions with a squeeze of lemon. The oil was amazing also.
Kristine (verified owner) –
This is another one that I will continue to order. After opening, first thing I noticed was the brisling/sprats neatly packed and covered with golden hued oil. The fish was delicate in texture and maintained it’s shape save for the few that I mangled while picking up with chopsticks.
Based on other reviews and color of the oil, I was expecting this to be super smoky taste but that was not the case. I found these to be lightly smoked with a subtle hint of floral notes from the chamomile and heather which differentiates this from other canned sprats I’ve had. I ate these straight from the tin, and also had with sunflower bread/cream cheese/capers.
Lawrence Kalinowski (verified owner) –
delicate fish of varying size, laid out symmetrically tail to tail. soft texture, easily spread, lightly bronzed and shimmering.
very lightly smoked, hint of chamomile, hint of heather. the taste follows the nose. chamomile & heather are more obvious in the after taste. a little lime seemed to work well with it.
delicate, light, whimsical, delicious – I wanted to enjoy this tin & I did.
Mike Turpie (verified owner) –
I ate these straight from the tin with chopsticks. These are my favorite little fishies so far! Delicious smoked fish flavor with a yielding texture. Not the least bit dry. They hold together well, but offer little resistance in a great way. I found the smoke to be just right – not covering up the other flavors, but also not subtle. You are clearly eating smoked fish. Like other reviewers, it is hard for me to put a finger on exactly which elements of the deliciousness are specific to the heather and chamomile, but they must be doing something good here. These are my first sprats, but I will be hard pressed to try a different tin next.