Do you know your ketchup as well as this 8th-grader?

Ketchup is a big deal — especially to Nicholas. So he challenged himself to a blind taste test

Nicholas is an 8th grader at ‘Iolani School with lots of passion for art, music and video games. He likes to eat what his dad calls “intricate foods” and has a massive sweet tooth. This is his first published article and he couldn’t be prouder.

Ketchup is a wonderful thing. It can be a condiment you put on hot dogs, or inside burgers. But ketchups are all different, so the most important thing is knowing which one to choose.

This whole idea started when my family and I went to Target and bought store-brand ketchup. I asked why we were buying that and not my favorite brand, Heinz? My dad said it was cheaper to buy the Target brand.

Then I started thinking. All ketchups taste different, but how well would I be able to tell the difference? I decided to do a blind taste test of five brands to see which one was my favorite. Or to put it another way, would I know which one was Heinz? And would it still be my favorite?

The first thing I did was purchase five ketchups: Heinz, Hunts, Target Brand, Safeway Brand and Del Monte. My dad set the experiment up by putting all the ketchups in different dishes with only the letters A, B, C, D and E to identify them.

I tried each ketchup with french fries in one sitting. As I tasted, I made notes. Then I tried them again. From least to most favorite, this is how they ranked.

No. 5: Hunts

Liked: It looked very smooth in the dish. Beyond that,I saw nothing else appealing with this ketchup.
Disliked: It was very sour and not that juicy so it had a thick texture.

No. 4: Safeway Signature

Liked: There was a little sweetness in the ketchup, which made it tasty.
Disliked: It was a bit sour and not as sweet as I would have preferred.

No. 3: Target

Liked: It was a little bit salty and sweet to balance out the sourness.
Disliked: It had a thick texture, and it was a little too sour for my liking.

No. 2: Del Monte

Liked: I thought that it was sweet with a smooth texture.
Disliked: On the other hand, the ketchup still tasted a bit too sour.

No. 1: Heinz

Liked: It was a little sweet, a little sour, and it had a smooth texture. It was a combination of all of those things that made it my favorite.
Disliked: There was nothing that I disliked about this ketchup.

As I tasted all the brands, I didn’t know which ketchup was which, so I was pretty nervous. But my favorite in the blind taste test was Heinz! I was right all along and was so relieved that I chose the right one.

I hope now you know ketchup from a kid’s perspective. Some ketchups are different than others, and not all the same. Since this is my first article, I’m not as experienced as the other people on Frolic. Please let me know what you would like to hear next from my perspective.