Description
Ingredients: Sardines (Sardina pilchardus), olive oil, spicy aroma, and salt.
Pepus Baby Sardines in Spicy Olive Oil 10/12
$8.00
When you buy the sardines under the Espinaler branding, you’re getting fish caught locally and processed fresh by master canners. When you buy the Pepus brand, it’s still the work of the same master canners, but the fish may (or may not) be caught locally and may (or may not) be processed from frozen. Many people can’t tell the difference, and love the savings.
115g (4.05 oz) tin
In stock
Reviews
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Ashlee McClelland (verified owner) –
Just a tinge of spicy, definitely not “spicy” but great pepper aftertaste. Meaty. I enjoyed these a lot. Not sure they are a standout at the price point but a solid tin. 👍
Sarah Voorhees (verified owner) –
My tin included 10 sardines that were larger than I expected in golden colored oil. No peppers or other accompaniments like some other spicy or spiced sardines. The fish were relatively intact with an in between bite, not mushy or overly firm, and very moist. The spice is very muted but noticeable. I enjoyed them we a quick lunch on crackers and will ord r again.
Hream McDan (verified owner) –
Wow. An absolute banger. Ideal texture for a sardine of this size, medium-firm yet perfectly flaky and completely moist. Flavor came across more spiced than spicy but there was a depth of flavor that made this very easy to enjoy. I’d probably put this as a 1.5 out of 5 on the spicy scale.
Definitely recommend. I had forgotten that this was an Espinaler spinoff so I set my expectations to “I bet this will be pretty good” … and then the first bite made me do a double-take. It’s a really REALLY good tin that rivals some of the best spiced sardines that I’ve had, especially in terms of texture. Try this one.
ahoehler (verified owner) –
These little guys have a nice kick at the top of your throat each time you put one down, but it falls off quick enough that you just have to have another right away. Each one was nice and firm, and the can overall was tasty. However, the one I got was scale city with nearly every bite, but once I got acclimated it was good times. Probably wouldn’t get again, but I don’t regret this one!
emosberger (verified owner) –
This was a really great tin of small sardines, I think it was even better than the Espinaler tin I had recently. The fish (about 10 or 11) were nice and tender and the spice level was enough to be noticed, perhaps a 2/5 scale. Probably something I would try again if I want an affordable tin of sardinillas.
Chris Therrien (verified owner) –
This tin yielded 10 small sardines packed in a nicely spiced olive oil.
The sardines were tasty, but not uniform. Some fish still had their tails on and some did not. Some of the fish—those on the bottom—fell apart more easily than the ones on top. Some fish seemed to have a slightly more pronounced flavor. It was hard to tell because I ate these with Espinaler Sauce and pickled red onions, but all of the fish were moist and tasty regardless.
The quality of the olive oil that the sardines were packed in was fine: adequate for its purpose, but probably not something I would use to dress a salad. It did have a nice heat level, and a bit of spicing as well.
Eating these reminded me of King Oscar sardines (a tin at less than half the price). My guess is that you’re paying more for this product because the Pepus brand is affiliated with Espinaler. Overall, I just can’t justify the price. It’s like buying a quality brand at an outlet store—but without getting much of a discount. You can buy a comparable tin of Espinaler sardines for 50 cents more and it would probably be better quality.
4 fish out of 5 (for quality) + 3 fish out of 5 (for value) = 3.75 fish 🐟🐟🐟¾
Matt (verified owner) –
Agree with other reviewers that these are not super spicy. That said, they are very tasty! Fish was a Goldilocks size – not too big, not too small. The size of the sardine on the box is accurate. Texture was firm but not dry. These held up great in a summer salad and added some great peppery flavor.