Review: Macadamia Australia - Happy Nut Vanilla Macadamias

Macadamia Australia's Happy Nut Vanilla Macadamias are unshelled macadamia nuts with a slit cut into them so that you can pop them open fairly easily with an included metal "key."

You can find these online for $4 to $7 per 225g bag but I got this as a gift from relatives in Australia. (Apparently, Australia is the second largest producer of macadamias after South Africa. Hawaii used to be number one but is now the third largest producer. Macadamias are native to Australia.)

These were really interesting as macadamia nuts are generally sold already shelled here in the US, so I had never seen how they look covered in a shell. Additionally, they somehow doused the nuts with vanilla flavor through that little slit in the shell.

The shell cracks open pretty easily and neatly once you insert the key and give it a twist. While the nut inside is fairly flush with the shell, it also comes out easily. The shells are really hard but also very light. Once shelled, they make a clackity-clack sound when you shake them together that's pretty satisfying.

If you've never had a macadamia nut before, they're fairly soft (but still crunchy) as nuts go with a rich, almost buttery flavor to them. Here, they have a light sweetness and hint of vanilla that provide a nice accent to the fatty nut.

Overall, Macadamias Australia Happy Nut Vanilla Macadamias made for a particularly nice, subtle flavor of the rather expensive nut as well as an interesting novelty from the presentation (although it seemed rather inefficient to cut a slit in the shell rather than cracking them outright but did give a greater appreciation for the whole fruit).