If you like salty stuff (and I do), these are for you. Quite expensive though. I have been cutting them up to use in salads and during the process gleaning the leftovers from the pit by popping it in my mouth. Not sure I'll buy these often, due to the cost, but they are rather unique. If you don't like salty things, I would not consider these a good investment though. I might rate this four stars if it weren't quite so expensive.

I like sprinkling this on a salad before I add the other dressings, usually fresh lemon juice, sweetened rice vinegar, sesame seed oil mixed with rice bran oil (to cut cholesterol), and olive oil (also mixed with rice bran oil). Ume plum vinegar is very salty stuff, so a little goes a long way.

I was surprised by these. They are very sweet and have none of the tartness I have associated with dried apricots in the past. I found them to be very moist and fairly soft, with no need to soak them before eating. The fact that they have no preservative sulphur or sulphites is a huge plus for me as I have a serious sulphite allergy.