'Mite as Well

Vegemite is great. But it's not the only product of its kind - far from it. English people will often argue the superiority of Marmite, but they're not talking about the same product Australians know as Marmite, and there's even more than those three. I've heard of the various other versions, even eaten a couple of them before, but I've never done a proper comparison. So I went down to my local shop and grabbed one of each.

AussieMite, (Sanitarium) Marmite, MightyMite, Our Mate (UK Marmite), OzEmite, Promite & Vegemite.

First I buttered a couple of slices of bread. If I'm going to give these products a fair try then I have to do it right. Could have gone with toast, but it was nice, fresh bread so I didn't feel like toasting it. A quarter of a slice for each one left me one spare, which I put Vegemite on so I could go back to it between each other one to compare them.

Buttered bread.

Up first was the Vegemite. I just took a small bite to make sure the memory was fresh in my mind, because it's the one I'm used to. For those who haven't tried it, it's very thick - almost solid - a very dark brown - almost black - and tastes very salty, a bit sour and quite savoury. I didn't buy this jar today because I always have some in my cupboard.

Vegemite on bread.

Then I moved on to the Our Mate. I actually bought this one a while back out of curiosity, because I saw it in a shop that sells products from the UK, so I have tried it before. The biggest surprise to me back then was the consistency; it's almost like honey, a thick sticky liquid rather than a more solid paste. Turns out this is not unusual and Vegemite is actually the outlier, but when all you eat is Vegemite it's quite a difference.

Our Mate (UK Marmite) on bread.

The flavour is quite similar to Vegemite, but sourer. Directly comparing the two, Our Mate is startlingly sour but it turns out to not be as sour as some of the others. You get used to it pretty quickly though. I think if you're an Australian used to Vegemite or a British person used to Our Mate (Marmite) you could easily switch and not be too bothered. If you're wondering why it's called Our Mate here, well, the answer is that the name "Marmite" got taken by another company in Australia before the UK company ever thought to send their product over.

The UK jars look exactly the same except for the name.

Australian Marmite is another one I'd tried before, but not for many years. My grandmother used to have it and I certainly tried it, though I always preferred Vegemite and Promite. And I can see why. Like Promite (which I'll get to in a minute) Marmite is much sweeter than Vegemite or Our Mate (over 4.5 times as much sugar as Vegemite - and Our Mate has even less than Vegemite) but it also has other flavours in there. I don't know what they are as the ingredients just list "herbs and spices" rather than naming them, but the flavour is surprisingly complex. There's also an aftertaste that I found very unpleasant.

Australian Marmite on bread.

In terms of consistency it's about half way between Vegemite and Our Mate. Not a paste, but not as liquid/syrupy as Our Mate. Like honey that's been kept too cold, I guess. Of all of them, this is the only one that I will not eat again. It's not inedible or anything, but it's not what I'd call pleasant.

It's also the only one that came in a plastic jar.

Next up is Promite. My grandmother also used to keep this on hand, and I did eat it sometimes despite preferring Vegemite generally. It's good for a change, sometimes. There are really two things that stand out about Promite: the first is the consistency, which reminded me of a melted marshmallow - gooey and sticky. The second is the sweetness. Even more so than the Marmite. At 18% sugar by weight it's way above everything else and you can certainly taste it.

Promite on bread.

Eating it alongside any of the others (even Marmite or OzEmite) it's far sweeter, and if you eat it straight after one of the low-sugar options then it tastes almost sickly. Without that direct comparison though it's fine. Not my favourite, but I'd eat it. I also though it might be good as the basis for some kind of sauce or marinade. I've heard of people using Vegemite or Our Mate as a sort of Vegetarian substitute for fish sauce, but I think Promite could actually be used as a more substantial ingredient.

I like the label.

I'd heard of Dick Smith's OzEmite but never tried it. Dick Smith was originally trying to push it as an Australian-owned alternative to Vegemite, and the label clearly reflects that. You may have noticed though that it doesn't actually mention Dick Smith anywhere; apparently his company was not doing well, but they didn't make any of their products anyway so the company that did make it just quietly dropped the Dick Smith brand and carried on.

That label sort of reminds me of something...

Weirdly, for a product designed to directly replace Vegemite, it's actually much closer to Our Mate. Or rather, a nice half-way point between Our Mate and Marmite. It doesn't have Marmite's weird herbs and spices, but it does have the sugar, which cuts the sour flavour a bit and makes it much milder. It's a pretty good compromise between the various other options, really.

Vegemite jam?

MightyMite is the weirdest one. The jar says to keep it in the fridge, and it's got the consistency of jam. Like, a soft jelly. Based on the ads I expected it to be essentially the same as Vegemite as it was another case of "Vegemite, but Australian owned" and, flavour-wise, it pretty much is, but the jelly-like consistency is just bizarre. It also seems to make you taste it a bit differently, like the savoury flavour dissipates more quickly leaving a sour aftertaste. It's not bad, but not one I'd buy again.

Feed this to Americans for a good laugh.

I've never actually seen any advertising for AussieMite before, just saw it on the shelf. Judging by the packaging it's supposed to be the up-market, fancy and healthy option. In consistency it's pretty similar to Our Mate, and it's the strongest-flavoured one. It's got more sugar and salt than Vegemite (but not as much sugar as Marmite, OzEmite or Promite) and it's sourer than Our Mate or OzEmite. I'd probably take this over OzEmite or even Our Mate, but Vegemite still wins.

No surprise that the one I'm used to is the one I prefer, really.