A Salt & Vinegar Pilgrimage to the UK: The Real McCoy’s Salt & Malt Vinegar Coated Peanuts

The first salt & vinegar snack that I sampled in the UK came in a family-sized sack - The Real McCoy’s Salt & Malt Vinegar Coated Peanuts. McCoy's is a brand that belongs to KP Snacks, a British company that dates to 1853. According to the internet, it started out making jams, pickles, and such but transitioned to peanuts in 1948.

This was not my first salt & vinegar peanut rodeo having tasted Planters' version. Unlike those, these came coated in a fluorescent yellow shell. I neglected to check if they glowed in the dark.

The tangy cocoon was nice and crunchy with a medium-low level of vinegar tang. If you pour some in your hand and throw them back, you get a nice sour on your tongue. The malt vinegar flavor was delicious. Eating these was like eating Tootsie Roll Pops in that you get the tangy shell before you get to the nutty centre.

These were addictive.