Mint sauce

Tesco Finest Mint Sauce €1.75 for 185g €9.45 per kg

Okay, we’re going to split hairs here for a second. Tesco tell us on the front of the jar that this is made, not with any old vinegar, but oak-aged balsamic vinegar from Modena, which sounds very impressive. However the very first ingredient listed is bog standard white wine vinegar, which would suggest there is a whole lot more of that in the mix that the balsamic variety. Leaving that minor gripe aside, we liked this a lot. It is made with a lot of mint – 27 per cent – and had a pleasingly sharp flavour as a result of all the vinegar washing around in the jar. The ingredient list is pretty pure for a mass-produced product and, while some people might like their sauce sweeter or mintier, we liked it.

Verdict: Very fine

Star rating: ****

Colman’s Classic Mint Sauce €1.89 for 250ml €7.56 per kg

This is undoubtedly the most well known mint sauce in this country and is very widely available. It is nicely priced and tastes pleasingly familiar. A full quarter of the jar is made up of mint leaves but despite that relatively high percentage, it is the tangy vinegar flavours and the sugar which really come to the fore. While Pricewatch is a fan of the sharpness on show here, it might be too much for some palates. The ingredient list is nowhere near as pure as some of its rivals and we were unimpressed that the company still feels the need to add colouring to give it extra greenness.

Verdict:Old school

Star rating:***

Mrs Darlington’s Mint Sauce €2.65 for 180g €14.72 per kg

This, we are told on the front of the jar, is “made with love”. It is also made with modified maize starch and E141 (natural colouring) although Mrs Darlington does not put that on the front. It is made with 21 per cent mint and that flavour predominates, which is very much to its credit – we were less enamoured with the sugar aftertaste but that could be a personal thing.

It has a pleasingly thick consistency and has the texture of a home-made mint sauce. It is increasingly available in shops big and small – we found it in our local butchers – and while it is not the best mint sauce we have ever tried, it is certainly not the worst.

Verdict:Grand

Star rating: ***

Hot Mint Jelly €4.95 for 275g €18 per kg

Okay, so this is a jelly rather than a sauce and is consequently a good deal sweeter than the competition and the consistency is very different but we still liked it. It is made with just 4.6 per cent mint and that relatively small percentage lessens its impact significantly. Each jar contains 1.7 per cent chillies and they give it a kick which is surprisingly hefty, although we are not entirely convinced that the marriage of chillies and mint works as the former dominates leaving the latter to fade into insignificance. This might not be what you’re looking for with your lamb roast but it works very well in a sandwich.

Verdict: Hot

Star rating: ***

Stokes Real Mint Sauce €4.25 for 245g €17.34 per kg

We sourced this jar of high-end sauce in Dublin’s Fallon Byrne and paid a fairly hefty price for it, so obviously we had high expectations. In terms of taste and texture it did not disappoint. It is made with 16 per cent mint, unrefined raw cane sugar and white wine vinegar and all three flavours coalesce rather splendidly in the jar.

Initially it is quite sweet but slowly the vinergary kick builds up. The mint, despite being soaked in liquid for God knows how long, retained a nice leafy texture and the ingredient list is pleasingly pure. It is expensive, mind you.

Verdict:Pretty gorgeous

Star rating: ****