Carr's Table Water Crackers, 125g
Table water has nothing to do with water. What that bake buys is speed. It breaks down almost at once, so the cheese arrives on its own and a mild brie tastes the same on the fourth cracker as it did on the first. It is also the quickest thing on the shelf to go soft once the seal is broken, so put these out last of everything on the table and close the pack between rounds.
Carr's Table Water Crackers, in brief.
Carr's Table Water Crackers are a 125g pack of thin, plain crackers, made to carry a cheese course without competing with it.
Table water is a style name for a thin, lean biscuit rather than a claim about the contents. Everything good about this cracker is a subtraction: it carries a delicate cheese without contributing anything of its own.
It does one thing completely: it carries a cheese without contributing anything of its own. Everything good about it is a subtraction.
Table water is a style name for a thin, lean, plain biscuit. On a cheese course that is the entire point.
Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Storage, cheese and tea pairings are also published in the detailed Q and A tab below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The Story Behind Carr's
Carr's is a Carlisle name in British cracker baking, and the table water cracker is the product the reputation was built on rather than a range extension. That is company heritage and not a statement about where this particular pack was made. It is worth knowing which end of the brand you are buying: the Melts range is the lighter, louder, more eatable tier, and this is the traditional one, which is plainer and far more disciplined about staying out of the way.
The flour used, the fat content, the allergen advice, any certification marks and the country of origin must all be read off the current UK pack. This is a new brand for our shelves, and crackers are a new category for us entirely.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
What You Are Actually Buying
- A small pack that goes quickly: 125g of a very thin cracker does not go far on a board with four people at it. Buying two is more realistic than most people expect.
- The larger size is better value: If the smaller cracker size is not the point for you, that one is the better buy.
- Where it sits: the cheese-course end of our cracker range rather than the everyday end. This is a pack you put out for people, not one you eat standing at the counter.
Getting It Right in the Cup
- Room temperature: there is almost no aroma to lose, but a cold cracker eats dully and toppings sit badly on one.
- Storage: sealed, cool and dry. A cracker stales by taking on moisture from the air rather than by drying out, and a very thin one does it faster than anything else in this range.
- Reviving a soft pack: two or three minutes in a hot oven, and watch it, because a thin lean cracker colours quickly. Cool fully before judging.
- Best with: a soft cheese spread thin, a glass of something cold or a delicate tea, and a second pack in the cupboard.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Carr's Table Water Crackers, 125g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Carr's
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our commitment to the planet
Sourcing and packaging details are printed on the current UK pack; the brand page carries the fuller story.
The taste profile
How does it compare
A green tea, a white tea or a first-flush Darjeeling will all be overrun by a seasoned cracker and flattened by an oatcake. Here there is nothing to overrun them with.
The Cheeseboard Serve
The Tea Break
Made with this tea
The Cheese Course It Exists For
How to make The Cheese Course It Exists For with Carr's Table Water Crackers.
- The pack, put out late
- A young goat's cheese, a mild brie, a fresh soft white
- Grapes
- Unsalted butter, optional
- Choose the delicate cheeses first, because those are the ones a flavoured cracker ruins and this is the pack that protects them.
- Spread thinly rather than loading, since a thin brittle cracker snaps under a thick wedge.
- Put the crackers out last of everything, because a very thin square softens quickly once it leaves the pack.
- Open a second pack if there are four of you, since 125g goes faster than the number suggests.
What you'll end up with: A cheese course where the cheese is the only thing anyone tastes. That is the whole job and this pack does it completely.
Delicate Tea, the Pairing Nothing Else Manages
How to make Delicate Tea, the Pairing Nothing Else Manages with Carr's Table Water Crackers.
- 4 or 5 table water crackers
- 1 cup green tea, white tea or first-flush Darjeeling
- A little fresh soft cheese, optional
- Brew the delicate tea as you normally would, and leave the milk and sugar out.
- Eat the crackers plain or with the thinnest possible layer of a fresh cheese.
- Notice that nothing is being overrun, which is not true of any other cracker on our shelf.
- Keep the rest of the pack sealed while you do it.
What you'll end up with: The one cracker that can sit next to a good green tea without spoiling it. Worth keeping a pack for this alone.
Smoked Salmon on a Blank Page
How to make Smoked Salmon on a Blank Page with Carr's Table Water Crackers.
- 10 crackers
- Smoked salmon
- Lemon
- Black pepper
- Dill
- Lay the salmon on loosely rather than pressing it down, which would break the cracker.
- Grind the pepper yourself at the table, since the cracker brings none.
- Squeeze the lemon at the last moment.
- Assemble as you eat rather than in advance, because moisture from the fish softens a thin cracker within minutes.
What you'll end up with: Smoke, salt, lemon and nothing underneath getting in the way. A seasoned cracker cannot do this.
Pate and a Glass of Something Cold
How to make Pate and a Glass of Something Cold with Carr's Table Water Crackers.
- 10 to 12 crackers
- A good pate
- Cornichons or a sharp pickle
- Something cold to drink
- Spread the pate in a thin layer rather than a mound, for the sake of the cracker rather than the pate.
- Put the pickles on the side so the vinegar does not soften the crackers.
- Serve at room temperature, which suits the pate as much as the cracker.
- Reseal the pack between rounds.
What you'll end up with: The classic use for a neutral cracker, and the reason a pack of these belongs in a cupboard rather than only on a board.
A Fine Pale Crumb
How to make A Fine Pale Crumb with Carr's Table Water Crackers.
- 6 to 8 crackers
- 20g butter, melted
- Herbs, finely chopped
- A delicate fish or vegetable dish
- Crush the crackers to a fine crumb, which comes out paler and lighter than any other pack in our range.
- Stir through a small amount of melted butter, much less than an oat crumb would take.
- Scatter over a delicate dish where an oat or cream cracker crumb would be too heavy.
- Bake briefly and watch it, because a lean crumb colours quickly.
What you'll end up with: The right crumb for something fine. Light enough that the dish underneath is still the point.
Bringing a Softened Pack Back
How to make Bringing a Softened Pack Back with Carr's Table Water Crackers.
- The softened crackers
- 1 baking tray
- 2 to 3 minutes in a hot oven
- Spread the crackers in a single layer on a dry tray. No oil and no butter.
- Heat for two or three minutes only, and stay in the room, because a lean cracker goes from pale to brown quickly.
- Cool them completely on the tray, since the snap returns as they cool rather than while they are hot.
- Reseal properly afterwards, since this is the pack in our range that softens fastest.
What you'll end up with: Quick to recover and quick to burn. Two or three minutes and no wandering off.
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Typical values per 100g, as published | Per 100g |
|---|---|
| Energy | 417 kcal |
| Fat | 7.7g |
| of which saturates | 3.3g |
| Carbohydrate | 74.7g |
| of which sugars | 1.5g |
| Fibre | 4.2g |
| Protein | 10.1g |
| Salt | 1.5g |
Ingredients and allergens. Per the published ingredient list for this barcode it contains wheat (gluten), and it may contain milk, mustard, sesame and soya. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.
Ingredients, as published for this barcode: Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Vegetable Oil (Palm), Salt. May also contain Sesame Seeds.
Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The pack in your hands is the final word.
| Ingredient | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| The lean, thin bake | the product | That is what produces a pale, brittle square that snaps cleanly and has almost nothing to say for itself. |
| Neutrality | the purpose | The whole reason to buy the pack. |
| Flour and fat used in the base | on the pack | Which flour is used and how much fat the bake carries is printed on the current UK pack. We describe how the cracker behaves and leave the recipe to the label. |
Pack: Best before the date printed on the pack, and best resealed once opened.
Characterising components shown. Table water is a style name for a thin, lean biscuit rather than a description of the contents.
Sourcing & blend. Carr's Table Water Crackers, 125g is the product the brand's reputation was built on rather than a range extension, and it sits at the opposite end of the same shelf from the lighter, louder Melts range. It is the cheese-course pack in our selection rather than the everyday one. The pack you receive is the current UK retail pack rather than an import made to a different recipe.
What is in Carr's Table Water Crackers, 125g:
- In: thin, plain, lean-baked crackers, 125g to the sealed pack.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Carr's Table Water Crackers, 125g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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