Now one of Meghan’s favourite publications publishes a vicious negative review of her jam

Meghan Markle has said that making jam is – indeed – ‘her jam’. 

However, taste testers across various publications appear torn on the verdict of her As Ever offering – technically referred to as a ‘spread’ – with many slamming it as ‘runny’ and even comparing it to ‘baby food’.

The confectionary preserve had so much hype surrounding the launch, as she sent 50 jars last year to famous friends such as Kris Jenner under the company’s former name, American Riviera Orchard. Now reincarnated under her new lifestyle brand, it is sold on the site along with herbal teas, honey, and the like.

The Duchess of Sussex previously explained in an episode of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, that her preserves can’t technically be called jam, because ‘jam is equal parts sugar and fruit.’

‘I just don’t think you can taste the fruit that way,’ she suggested on the series.

Per Food & Wine, jam is regulated by the FDA, and it must come from a single fruit, containing at least 45 percent fruit and 55 percent sugar. 

But despite Meghan’s adjusted ratio, critics have also panned the spread as being ‘too sweet’. 

Others however have suggested it may have worked better as a sauce or a topping – while a few admitted they enjoyed the ‘refreshing’ taste. 

Meghan Markle has said that making jam is – indeed – ‘her jam’. However, taste testers across various publications appear torn on the verdict of her As Ever offering – technically referred to as a ‘spread’ – with many slamming it as ‘runny’ and even comparing it to ‘baby food’

Some have suggested it may have worked better as a sauce or a topping – while a few admitted they enjoyed the ‘refreshing’ taste 

Here, FEMAIL has rounded up the very polarising judgements across the board…

THE CUT: ‘It’s slimy and viscous’

The Cut – once thought to be the favoured publication of choice for the Duchess – offered a divisive mix of reviews from various staffers.

However, many were scathing in their takes. 

‘I was put off by the texture. It’s slimy and viscous, a bit like baby food. Generously, raspberry purée,’ said features writer Emily Gould.

‘I wouldn’t pay $14 dollars for this. Its consistency is a little too thin for my taste — you really wouldn’t be able to spread it on toast,’ editor Catherine Thompson added.

The Cut – once thought to be the favoured publication of choice for the Duchess – offered a divisive mix of reviews from various staffers

‘But it does taste like real raspberries, more tangy than sweet.’

Meanwhile, fashion news writer Danya Issawi offered: ‘It’s somehow simultaneously chunky and runny, somehow very sweet and also perhaps salty? Equal parts “Hmmmm, do I like this? I don’t think I like this” and “Wait, I kind of like this.” I could see this growing on me or myself completely forgetting about its existence. 7/10. I wouldn’t pay full price for it, though.’

TODAY : ‘I would call this a syrup’

Joseph Lamour, of Today, who our owned by NBC, a publication sympathetic to the Duchess wrote: ‘I was assuming a thick texture when I opened the jar and almost spilled it all over myself….. I would call this a syrup, compote or coulis. Meghan is calling it ‘spread,’ though — so spread it is! 

‘I don’t think the spread would work on a closed sandwich, though: It would likely sploosh out of a peanut butter and jelly — er, spread — leaving your hands a sticky mess. ‘

THE TIMES: ‘It’s a bit sweeter than I’d like’

The Times‘ Keiran Southern found the consistency to be ‘slightly runny, certainly compared with the jams I am used to’.

‘It’s a bit sweeter than I’d like, but it tastes fresh,’ they admitted. ‘Fresher than my usual supermarket jam, anyway.’

The Times ‘ Keiran Southern found the consistency to be ‘slightly runny, certainly compared with the jams I am used to’

Elsewhere however, Phyllis Akalin called it ‘banging’.

‘Reader, I wanted to hate Meghan’s “spread”, but it was banging,’ the review read.

‘Not too sweet and sugary, zingy … I am a sucker for sour fruit, and the As Ever jam was just the right amount of sour.’

NEW YORK POST: ‘There’s nothing unique about this’

‘It tastes like the same kind of raspberry spread/jam/jelly/preserve that you can buy in any supermarket in the United States,’ the Post‘s food critic Steve Cuozzo said.

‘It tastes fine. Raspberry jam always tastes fine. There’s nothing unique about this.’

However, editor Zachary Kussin complained that the offering ‘has a really high acid profile, making it completely unenjoyable’.

YAHOO! Entertainment: ‘We were disappointed’

‘We were disappointed,’ Yahoo!‘s entertainment team admitted in their taste test.

‘The jam has been called ‘runny’ – the As Ever description says it’s supposed to be (it’s a “fluid texture so it can be drizzled, spread, poured”) – and that was a complaint in our Yahoo kitchen taste test, but it went beyond that.’

They also didn’t enjoy the lemon addition – rather than refreshing, they found it to be ‘acidic’ and someone even asked if they got ‘a bad batch’.

Reportedly, the most positive verdict as someone simply stating: ‘It’s fine.’ 

INSTYLE: ‘Really good’

‘I am not a food writer and don’t pretend to be, but as a regular old consumer, this jam is really, really good,’ InStyle‘s Rachel Burchfield.

‘When I asked my husband how he would describe the jam, he said, “I have never really thought about how to describe jam. I’ve never even really about jam.” That’s when a lightbulb went off for me. For me, jam has always been secondary to whatever more interesting carb I was spreading it on.

‘This jam, I’d eat without any other accoutrements. Don’t tempt me with a good time.’

MAILONLINE: ‘We were left grimacing from the sweetness’

Immediately upon opening the jar, MailOnline’s Femail team in the US was ‘taken aback by its texture,’ and found the spread to be ‘very liquid and quite thin’.

‘Typically, a jar of jam is thicker and sticks together, whereas when we stuck our spoon into Meghan’s raspberry spread, its consistency dripped off the silverware like a sauce,’ they continued. ‘It was unappealing to say the least. 

‘As for the taste, it’s extremely sweet – and we mean really sweet. It is reminiscent of a sugary, raspberry dessert sauce rather than a jam or spread that’s meant to be eaten on a piece of toast.’ 

The tasters found the flavour to be ‘surprisingly strong’ but were left ‘grimacing from the sweetness, we spread some on a toasted piece of sourdough, which is where things began to take a turn for the worse’.

Immediately upon opening the jar, MailOnline’s Femail team in the US was ‘taken aback by its texture,’ and found the spread to be ‘very liquid and quite thin’

‘It was difficult to eat the spread with the toast, as it was so thin that it dribbled everywhere and made a mess,’ they added. ‘Our once nicely toasted piece of bread became a sopping wet disaster after just a few minutes.’

The team felt that, perhaps, ‘drizzled over vanilla ice cream, a piece of pie, or a big stack of pancakes, the spread may work, and may even shine’.

‘But on its own, or eaten as one would expect to be able to enjoy jam, the product crumbled, or rather dripped, under the pressure,’ they wrote.

‘The jam performed even worse when we compared it to a store brand raspberry jelly, and a jar of Bonne Maman, which both had a completely different texture and taste than Meghan’s spread.

‘Both of the jams were much thicker – so thick, in fact, that you could stick a spoon in both of them and it would stay upright. They were also a tad less sweet than As Ever’s raspberry spread, and didn’t leave our toast soggy.’

‘If Meghan really wants to continue down the jam route, it appears the Duchess may need to come up with a different recipe,’ they concluded.