Brandgut churns crispy nut creams from roasted nuts in Hamburg
Brandgut is the Hamburg-based manufacturer founded by Meike Grosch and Daniel Thaung, which has been producing crispy spreads from roasted nuts in copper kettles since September 2014. Six varieties, all vegan, all free from palm oil and emulsifiers, with nut contents between 45 and 52 percent. Not a chocolate spread, but a fairground in a jar.
Brandgut is a small manufacturer in Hamburg-Ottensen where two former advertising professionals churn spreads from roasted nuts. What is called hazelnut-nougat elsewhere is made here without chocolate and without palm fat: almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, cashews, peanuts, or pecans are caramelized in a copper kettle, finely ground, and filled into 160-gram jars. We carry six varieties, each with a name that will first make you smirk and then think.
September 2014, a bag of almonds at the fair
The idea for Brandgut was not born at a desk, but between two rides, as Meike and Daniel still love to tell today, with a warm bag of roasted almonds in their hands.
Meike Grosch and Daniel Thaung had worked together for almost ten years in the creative team of a Hamburg advertising agency. Both were passionate about cooking, both liked going to the fair, and both eventually asked themselves the same question: Why is this flavor only available in November, only in a paper bag, and only for immediate consumption?
In September 2014, this turned into their own kitchen. The first variety was, logically, the "Mandelikat" – the roasted almond in a jar. Afterward, the two experimented their way through the nut shelves, invited friends and family to taste, and kept only what was repeatedly convincing. Their motto still stands above everything they do today: "We burn for you."
The manufacturer has remained small and the address the same: a rear building on Schmarjestraße in Ottensen. Roasting, stirring, filling, and sealing are all done there by the two of them. And because they have remained fond of their original idea, you can still buy loose roasted almonds at Brandgut today, just like in the bag back then, only without the fairground music.
Six nuts, six names with a wink
Each variety carries a pun, and behind every pun lies exactly one nut.
The Mandelikat is the beginning and the classic, mild and marzipan-like, warm as the November market. The Haselgenuss is the most down-to-earth of the six, roasty and deep brown, the honest answer to industrial chocolate-nut spreads. The Peacetazie plays with the word "peace," glows deep green, and at 8.70 euros, is the most expensive on the shelf because pistachios have their price.
It gets milder with the Cashjuhu, buttery-light and the variety that is empty first among children. Stronger with the Erdnussmuss, which has the highest nut content at 52 percent and is salty enough to end up in a satay sauce. And YES, Pe Can is the most caramelly, the only one in the family completely without sunflower oil.
The jars all hold 160 grams and cost between 7.10 and 8.70 euros, depending on what the nut costs to purchase. From the outside, they only differ by the colored ribbon on the beige label and the black lid; from the inside, they differ by everything: the Mandelikat shimmers light and cream-colored, the Haselgenuss darkens to coffee-brown, the Peacetazie glows green like Sicilian gelato. Anyone who lines up all six has a small color scale of the nut world before them.
Four to five ingredients, that’s all that's on it
The ingredient lists are so short that you can read them out loud in the store without taking a breath.
Nuts, sugar, a little sunflower oil, sea salt, and for most varieties, vanilla sugar. That’s it. No palm fat, no lecithin, no flavoring, no preservatives. The nut content is between 45 percent for pistachio, almond, and cashew, and 52 percent for the peanut butter, and because no emulsifier forces the mass together, some oil settles on top in every jar.
This is not a flaw, but proof. The oil layer seals the cream at the top and preserves it, without any additives. Stir the jar vigorously before the first spoonful, then the oil and crunch will redistribute evenly; it is best to repeat this every time you reach into the jar, as the crispy part reliably sinks to the bottom.
Each variety also goes its own way with salt: 0.9 percent in the restrained Haselgenuss so that the nut doesn't tip into the sugary, 1.6 percent in the strong Erdnussmuss so that it remains savory. You can taste that every recipe here was thought out individually and not just a base mass colored six different ways. Anyone with a nut allergy should know: all varieties run through the same small kitchen, so traces of other tree nuts, peanuts, and sesame cannot be ruled out.
What really happens in the copper kettle
Roasting nuts doesn't mean toasting, but stirring them in sugar syrup until the sugar changes its state twice.
Water, sugar, and vanilla sugar are added to the nuts in a large copper kettle, then stirred without a break. The water evaporates, and the sugar crystallizes into a white, sandy layer around each nut. Anyone who stops now has sugared nuts and nothing else.
The real moment comes afterward. The heat melts the white crust a second time, and now the sugar caramelizes: it becomes glassy, becomes shiny, becomes brown. This double pass is the whole difference between a toasted and a roasted nut, and it is the reason why Brandgut creams crunch where others are just creamy.
The copper has a solid reason for this: it conducts heat faster and more evenly than steel, so the sugar at the bottom of the kettle does not burn while the top is still being stirred. Afterward, the cooled nuts are ground, and only then does the cream emerge, with the caramel as part of the mass instead of as a coating. That is why a Brandgut spread tastes roasty, sweet, and crispy all at the same time, while a pure nut butter only shows the naked nut.
What you should start with
If you are trying Brandgut for the first time, reach for the Mandelikat, because that is where it all started and where the idea tastes the clearest.
For breakfast, we like the Haselgenuss on hearty sourdough, with a paper-thin layer of butter underneath. In the afternoon, the Peacetazie goes well over a scoop of vanilla ice cream; a few chopped pistachios on top, and you have a dessert for guests. And for those cooking savory dishes, stir the Erdnussmuss into coconut milk, lime, and soy sauce, and you have a satay sauce on the table for which no one needs a recipe.
Because all varieties are vegan, they solve a problem at the breakfast table that otherwise likes to occur: there is no need for a second jar for some and others. As a gift, a three-pack in a basket works well, preferably mixed from mild, roasty, and green. During the Advent season, the Mandelikat hits the season's tone most accurately anyway; it simply smells like a Christmas market, and a jar of it in the boot is a St. Nicholas gift that even adults are happy about.
You can find more jars under our nut creams, where, alongside Brandgut, there are also Italian and Sicilian houses, and suitable companions in the breakfast selection. At the end of every delivery, Meike and Daniel wish you a "brandguten Appetit" – and you get that surprisingly quickly here.
