The Modern Gourmet Variety Pack Infused Oil, 11.8 Ounce

These are dark days for fans of three-leaf balsamic vinegar. The selection is thin and the prices are high, which led me to experiment with The Modern Gourmet Variety Pack of infused balsamic. The variety pack comes in four flavors -- Apple Cinnamon, Blood Orange, Pomegranate and Mango.Balsamic vinegar is derived from cooked grapes and its dark brown colour comes from its years of ageing in different wooden barrels (e.g. oak, chestnut and cherry). Aged up to 100 years, the highest quality is expensive. Thankfully, commercial balsamic is a cheaper mix of a strong vinegar, grape juice, sugar and caramel flavoring.The Modern Gourmet brand is the cheaper mix, which isn't a bad thing. However, the infused flavors couldn't mask the sour taste. I tried each flavor except Apple Cinnamon as a salad dressing with olive oil and found each to be jaw-aching. I couldn't bring myself to give it a fourth try (and cinnamon isn't one of my favorite flavors).My preferred brand is  Roland Balsamic Vinegar of Modena , a 3-Leaf quality as rated by AIB (Italian Balsamic Tasters), an independent association of tasters. This one- to four-leaf scale is a rating system that ranks quality with four leaves being the best. The one leaf may be best for using on salads but the four-leaf ranking would indicate using very sparingly indeed (i.e. one drop or maybe two). This culinary treat is so special and its sweet and sour tastes go well with foods such as spinach, goat cheese and even strawberries.I tried the Modern Gourmet infused vinegar on salad, fruit (pears) and vegetables (celery and cucumber) as well as with fresh bread. I couldn't find a combination I enjoyed.Rating: Two stars.

Great gift to give to someone or to keep for youself. Nice and tasty variety. Great stocking stuffers for the holidays.

I should have read the description more carefully because these are really small so the value was not what I was expecting. However, having said that the flavor is wonderful. I tried the berry one first and it is not very berry (which I like) it is nice and tangy.

I'm not sure if it was the type of oil or what, but none of these were good as a salad dressing. They all tasted musky and left a lingering aftertaste.

I don't cook often, but when I do I try to use one of these in my dishes. They are soo good, and flavor your food slightly with what their infused with. Definitely recommend!

Teeny tiny bottles and the flavor of the fruit is not really detectable. Disappointed and it wasn't cheap.

Really nice gift for the price, but small. Just be aware of the size you're ordering. I ordered this and the infused balsamic, and together they made a nice little gift. However, they're sampler size, not full-size bottles.

This item was ordered as a gift and shipped directly to my family member. We completed and sent this as a gift. When it was received, there was no card or anything showing who it was from.The product may be great but I would not recommend sending this as a gift.