Jacob's Bites Crackers - Red Leicester Flavour, 125g
Put this one in a lunchbox and keep the chilli bag for the evening. There is no heat here, no vinegar edge and none of the lactic sharpness a strong cheddar seasoning brings, which makes it the version that suits a child, a shared desk and anyone who finds the rest of this shelf too busy. Mildness is a genuine choice rather than a watering down, and it is why a mug of strong tea with milk sits beside it perfectly happily where a spicy snack would fight the cup. It holds one note from the first piece to the last, which is precisely what some buyers want from a bag and not enough for others. Wheat and dairy, both set out on the pack.
Jacob's Bites Crackers - Red Leicester Flavour, in brief.
Jacob's Bites Red Leicester Flavour is a bite-size savoury cracker seasoned on both faces with a mellow cheese note, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the calm one: a single-direction snacking pack that takes a hot mug of tea happily.
Named after a mellow, faintly nutty English cheese rather than a sharp one, which is the brand signalling that the savoury note is rounded rather than sharp, and the reason these are so easy to eat by the handful.
Jacob's Bites Red Leicester Flavour is the single-direction pack in this range: small bite-size crackers seasoned on both faces with a cheese note, and nothing else going on. Where the sweet chilli version pulls two ways at once, this one says one thing clearly and keeps saying it.
The name matters more than people assume. Red Leicester is a mellow, faintly nutty English cheese rather than a sharp one, and a seasoning named after it points at a rounder, softer savoury note than a mature cheddar seasoning would. That is why these are so easy to eat by the handful: there is no sharp edge to tire the palate, and the salt is restrained by the standards of a seasoned snack.
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, the tea pairing and why pickles beat a dip are also published in the detailed Q and A tab below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The Story Behind Jacob's
Jacob's is the name most British households associate with the cream cracker, and the Bites range is that baking pointed at a completely different occasion. A cream cracker is a plate for cheese; a Bite has the cheese note already on it and is sized for a bowl. Naming a seasoning after a specific British cheese rather than a generic cheese flavour is a deliberate signal about which direction the savoury note takes, and it is the most useful thing on the front of the pack.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
What You Are Actually Buying
- Weight: 125g.
- Seasoned on both faces: there is no plain side, so this is not a cracker you build on. Everything it is going to say, it says on its own.
- A mellow cheese direction: named after Red Leicester rather than a mature cheddar, which is the brand telling you the savoury note is rounded and nutty rather than sharp. That is the single most useful piece of information on the pack.
- What it is not: not a baked cheese snack with cheese through the dough, not a cheeseboard cracker and not a crisp. It is a dry baked bite-size cracker with a savoury seasoning on it.
Ideal Serving Conditions
What it needs is something with enough grip to cut a salty, savoury coating and clear the palate, which means tannin or acid rather than sweetness, and it happily takes a hot drink where the chilli pack does not.
The Standard Tea Break
- A strong breakfast blend: the natural partner. Tannin cuts a savoury coating cleanly and comes back ready for the next handful.
- Milk, no sugar: milk softens the tannin to a comfortable level. Sugar against a cheese seasoning is the one combination to avoid here.
- Black filter coffee: works well and keeps the savoury note in the foreground, which a milky coffee blurs.
- Skip the delicate ones: green, white and first-flush teas are simply buried. Keep those for a plain sweet biscuit.
In a Bowl With Other Things
- Pickles and cornichons: acid is the thing that resets the palate against a savoury coating, and a small bowl of pickles beside the crackers does more than any dip.
- Cherry tomatoes: fresh, wet and slightly sweet, which is the easiest contrast to a dry savoury cracker and the one children reach for.
- Cold cuts: work, but keep the portions small, because ham and a cheese seasoning together tip the plate into one long salty note.
- No cheese on top: a cheese-seasoned cracker with cheese on it is one layer too many. If you want to build, use a plain cracker.
Getting It Right
- Reseal properly: small, thin and dry means they take on moisture quickly. Clip the pack or decant into a tub, and the seasoning aroma lasts longer too.
- Room temperature: cold flattens a dairy-style seasoning noticeably, and this pack has nothing else to fall back on.
- Something acidic alongside: pickles, cornichons or tomatoes between handfuls reset the palate far better than another savoury item does.
- Best with: a strong mug of tea in the afternoon, or a bowl on a table with a film on.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Jacob's Bites Crackers - Red Leicester Flavour, 125g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Jacob'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
Five ideas cover the tea break this pack suits better than its sweet chilli sibling, a soup lunch, a pickle plate, a lunchbox and a savoury crumb.
Made with this tea
The Afternoon Tea Break
How to make The Afternoon Tea Break with Jacob's Bites Red Leicester.
- A bowl of Jacob's Bites Red Leicester
- 1 bag strong breakfast tea
- 250ml water at a full boil
- A splash of milk
- Brew a strong breakfast blend for four minutes. Tannin is what cuts a savoury coating, and a delicate tea gets buried.
- Add milk and no sugar. Sugar against a cheese seasoning is the one combination worth ruling out entirely.
- Tip the crackers into a bowl rather than eating from the pack, and let them come to room temperature first.
- Clip the pack shut afterwards. The aroma fades a day or two before the crispness does.
What you'll end up with: The pairing this pack takes more happily than its sweet chilli sibling does, because there is no chilli here for a hot drink to make worse.
The Pickle Plate
How to make The Pickle Plate with Jacob's Bites Red Leicester.
- A bowl of Jacob's Bites Red Leicester
- Cornichons and pickled onions
- Cherry tomatoes
- Celery batons
- Cracked black pepper
- Put the crackers in their own bowl so they stay dry and do not season the rest of the plate.
- Set something acidic beside them. Pickles reset the palate against a savoury coating far better than a creamy dip does.
- Add cherry tomatoes for something fresh and slightly sweet, which is the contrast children reach for first.
- Skip the cheese entirely: it is already on the cracker.
What you'll end up with: A plate built on contrast rather than on more of the same, which is what a single-direction savoury pack actually needs.
Soup and a Bowl of Bites
How to make Soup and a Bowl of Bites with Jacob's Bites Red Leicester.
- 500ml vegetable or tomato soup
- A generous handful of crackers per bowl
- Black pepper and parsley
- A spoonful of cream, optional
- Season the soup lighter than you normally would, because the crackers are bringing salt and a savoury seasoning of their own.
- Serve them alongside rather than crumbled in, so they stay crisp for the whole bowl.
- Finish the soup with pepper and parsley, or a spoonful of cream if it needs rounding.
- Alternate spoonfuls and handfuls rather than eating the crackers first.
What you'll end up with: A ten-minute lunch where the cracker does the seasoning. Better than bread beside a thin soup, and it keeps in the cupboard.
The Lunchbox Bowl
How to make The Lunchbox Bowl with Jacob's Bites Red Leicester.
- A small handful of crackers
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cucumber batons
- Apple slices
- Celery, optional
- Keep the crackers in a separate compartment from anything wet or they will be soft by mid-morning.
- Pack something fresh alongside rather than a second savoury item; that is what actually resets the palate.
- Clip the main pack shut before it goes back in the cupboard.
What you'll end up with: A savoury lunchbox that needs no sandwich and no cheese, because the cheese note is already on the cracker.
Savoury Crumb for a Traybake
How to make Savoury Crumb for a Traybake with Jacob's Bites Red Leicester.
- 60g Jacob's Bites Red Leicester, crushed
- 40g melted butter
- Thyme leaves
- Black pepper
- Crush the crackers coarsely in a bag with a rolling pin. The soft last handful is ideal for this.
- Mix with melted butter, thyme and pepper, and add no salt of your own.
- Scatter over a chicken traybake, a gratin or a baked pasta for the last fifteen minutes.
- Bake at 200°C until the top is browned and crisp.
What you'll end up with: A crumb that brings its own savoury seasoning, so the dish underneath needs less. Nothing goes in the bin.
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Typical values per 100g, as published | Per 100g |
|---|---|
| Energy | 476 kcal |
| Fat | 20.8g |
| of which saturates | 2g |
| Carbohydrate | 63.6g |
| of which sugars | 9.2g |
| Fibre | 2.8g |
| Protein | 7.6g |
| Salt | 1.6g |
Ingredients and allergens. Per the published ingredient list for this barcode it contains wheat and barley (gluten), milk and sulphites. 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), Dried Potato (contains Sulphites), Sunflower Oil, Starch, Natural Flavourings (contains Milk, Wheat), Maltodextrin, Wheat Gluten, Barley and Barley Malt Extract, Raising Agents (Sodium Bicarbonate, Disodium Diphosphate), Glucose Syrup, Salt, Flour Treatment Agent (Sodium Metabisulphite), Wheat Starch.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Red Leicester cheese seasoning | the lead note | The whole character of the pack, and named after a mellow, faintly nutty English cheese rather than a sharp one. That naming is the brand signalling a rounded savoury direction instead of a sharp cheddar edge. |
| Salt | restrained | Present but held back by the standards of a seasoned snack, which is why a handful of these does not tire the palate the way a saltier seasoning would. |
| A thin, dry bite-size bake | the structure | Small, thin and dry so it snaps cleanly rather than melting, seasoned on both faces so every piece eats the same as the last. A bowl format rather than a board format. |
Pack: Best before the date printed on the pack, and best clipped shut or decanted into a tub once opened.
Characterising components shown; the full ingredient declaration, the nutrition panel including the salt and fat figures, whether any cheese is present, the piece count and any certification marks are printed on the current UK pack. Red Leicester flavour is the brand's own naming on the front of the pack and not a statement from us about what is inside it.
Sourcing & blend. Jacob's Bites Crackers - Red Leicester Flavour, 125g comes from the brand most British households associate with the cream cracker, pointed at a different occasion. A cream cracker is a plate for cheese; a Bite already has the cheese note on it and is sized for a bowl. The pack you receive is the current UK retail pack rather than an import made to a different recipe.
What is in Jacob's Bites Crackers - Red Leicester Flavour, 125g:
- In: small savoury crackers seasoned on both faces with a cheese note, 125g net to the pack.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Jacob's Bites Crackers - Red Leicester Flavour, 125g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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