I would think it's gone rancid. I don't normally find tahini to have a bitter taste. Should taste like sesame seeds ground up. Sesame seeds don't usually taste bitter unless they are rancid.

I agree, the stuff I buy is not bitter. It is somewhat astringent, making my mouth feel dry and pucker if I taste it by itself, but it's not bitter.

Of course, the only use I've found for it is hummus...

Annie

I wouldn't think it's rancid -- tahini always tastes a little bitter to me! However, I just bought some that is a different brand from what I usually buy and it tastes more bitter than usual. I think it's because the sesame seeds were slightly burned in roasting. I even see little black flakes in it. I won't buy this brand again!

Annie, I was going to use it for Hummus as well.
ssommerville, it probably is cause I can't believe anyone would voluntarily eat anything that bitter. :o)
Party, this stuff looks okay, no dark specks in it. But the taste, blech.
Grainlady, thanks for the pointers on how to make it. This was an impulse buy and first time I've ever bought it. I did try to use it in a salad sauce last night, I found a blog where it says to emulsify with water and then add olive oil and lemon juice. That did remove the bitterness for the most part, but the sauce wasn't that great. So, I guess I am going to throw it out.

Thanks for the tip Grainlady. I always have a jar of tahini in the back of the fridge and can never seem to use it up fast enough. I wish they sold it in smaller jars!!

Tahini is made using ground sesame seeds. It is additionally called sesame glue or sesame spread. It is similar to nutty spread yet produced using sesame seeds. There are a few accessible choices when you buy tahini.

The principal thought in terms of picking a tahini is whether to buy an item produced using unhulled or hulled sesame seeds. Tahini produced using unhulled sesame seeds is more supplement rich than tahini produced using hulled seeds, however it is likewise bitterer; this sort of tahini is typically alluded to as sesame spread. Since both renditions would even now settle on for good sustenance decisions, you can let your taste buds choose which sort the one produced using hulled seeds or the one produced using unhulled seeds��"is all the more satisfying to you.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.metinhelva.com.tr/en/default.aspx

Just opened a brand new jar of Krinos tahini with an expiration date two years in the future. Don't know if your tahini is bad or good, but tahini has a bitter taste. I just tasted another brand in a can, Joyva, and it is darker and even more bitter tasting.

IMO, sesame seeds are naturally bitter, compared to most other seeds. I love the taste, but some folks can be more sensitive to bitterness. 'Quite bitter' is a relative term - compared to what, exactly?

Like grain lady I make my own. I use sesame seed, toasted, in so many things it is nice to have fresh...salad dressings, added to mixed grains, a nutty topping on pasta salads, tuna salads, whizzed in the blender for humus and dips, etc and in my granola...

They are seeds but very oily and do not have a long shelf life....they don't look oily.

I don't find them bitter but canned and packaged could suffer like any canned product? Or at least very different from toasting and grinding your own...

I've been buying bob's redmill and keep them in the freezer

Sesame seeds are inherently bitter, when ground up. I made my own tahini this evening, using hulled white seeds. Even though the seeds tasted okay when I tried them (before putting them in the blender), once they were ground up ------- --sure enough, they tasted bitter. I don't think rancidness or age or brand has much to do with the bitterness.

I know this is an old thread but wondering if supersensitive taste buds perceive bitterness. I bought a fresh jar at TJ and detected a slight bitterness but DD said it was almost buttery-tasting.

Yes, supertasters do seem to have a disproportionate sense of bitterness, but that's likely because bitterness is a warning against things that are bad for you, whereas sweet tasting sweeter or salt tasting saltier or sour being more puckery aren't necessarily unpleasant.

I think the big issue here is that sesame seeds are a tiny bit bitter, but sesame seeds also go rancid really easily. The seeds do. I can't tell you how many I've thrown into the compost because of that. If you're perceiving a pronounced bitterness in techinah, rather than just an undertone, it's probably rancid. Probably not enough to harm you, but rancid nevertheless. Good fresh sesame seeds, and techinah, are more sweet than anything.