Phantom Gourmet: Honey Mustard Taste Test

BOSTON (CBS) - The Phantom Gourmet recently taste-tested supermarket honey mustards.

The four sweet-and-tangy sandwich spreads were French's, Grey Poupon, Gulden's, and Koop's.

Koop's fizzled out at the bottom of the heap. This strangely fruity contender pulled the old bait-and-switch: it looked like honey mustard but somehow tasted more like a blend of peanut butter and jelly.

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A small step up from there, French's at least passed the "tastes like mustard" test. But, it had a weird dehydrated-vegetable flavor, which Phantom attributed to the odd inclusion of "carrot" on this brand's ingredient list.

In short, the runner-up is Grey Poupon. While this upper-crust brand puts out a fine version of regular Dijon mustard, its honey mustard pales by comparison. Astringent, under-salted, and remarkably bitter, at the end of the day this French contender just didn't cut the mustard.

At the top of the food chain is Gulden's. Even though this excellent honey mustard was sweeter than the rest (in fact, it had twice as much sugar), there was enough salt and savory flavors to keep it all in balance. Gulden's is rich with complex notes of molasses, honey, and apple cider vinegar, with just enough tangy power to kick up a ho-hum ham sandwich.

For more food and fun, watch the Phantom Gourmet every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. on myTV 38.