Mendocino Jams & Preserves

I originally tried Mendocino Jams and Preserves while staying at The Andiron Inn in Little River. They use their jams for their breakfast. I immediately fell in love with their sweet lemon butter and blueberry jam. When my husband and I passed their storefront, we had to stop in. I had heard that their prices were REALLY expensive like $ 26 a jar but we got the bigger lemon butter jar and raspberry jam for $ 11 each and a smaller lemon butter as a gift for $ 6. The ladies in there are really nice and they have samples of everything out on this round table in the middle.

I cannot say enough about this tiny little shop of wonders. When in Mendocino, this is a MUST on anyone’s list. Samples are plentiful, and choices are myriad. Since my visit this summer, I have reordered by telephone twice, and not only is everyone unfailingly nice, but also the products arrive in just a few days in perfect condition. My favorite is the sour cherry jam, and my friend is hooked on the orange marmalade. Chocolate products are yummy, too. These jams and sauces may seem pricy, but really, the quality is so outstanding that they are worth every cent. Treat yourself — life is short.

Best Jams & preserves anywhere, We go to Mendocino 4 times a year and its a must stop and buy always, we get at least 8 jars between our house and my sons house, Lisa is always so friendly, cant go wrong stopping and buying here.

This is the best store in Mendocino to buy a gift that will please everyone, even people who don’t like to put jam and jelly on things. I always buy the lemon butter and ollalaberry jam for people but they’re lucky if they ever get any, because it is so good I often just eat it myself. Straight out of the jar without toast or anything. It is a joy to enter this charming shop at the far end of Main Street. There are free samples with little spoons, and once you taste it is impossible not to buy.

Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Hell yeah! Been coming here since I was 15 and this place is one of our favorite shops to visit. I always get the sour cherry preserves, though they’re anything but sour. If you see something you’d like to taste first but its not out, ask! Makes for great holiday gifts and she ships.
In talking to the owner, she did say the building is up for sale, and depending on what the owners want to do, she may not stay there but that won’t happen until the spring of 2016, so call first! Here’s hoping she does stay!

Adorable shop with the BEST jam I have ever had. It has become a vacation tradition for us.

Super adorable store that sells a wide variety of jams, preserves, and other snacks. Would make a great souvenir to take home for family and friends. I didn’t end up sampling anything or buying anything, but my friends did. The guy working there was really friendly and also knowledgeable.

Yum! While not inexpensive, there is a great selection and fun items to bring home as gifts.

I’ve been looking for good lemon curd and not the kind the supermarkets carry.
This is a small shop with a fair selection of jams, jellies and even expensive ketchup at $ 12/​bottle. They have a table with selections of jams and jellies for you to try. Their most popular is the C. Hall sweet lemon butter which resembles curd but is slightly sweeter and made with butter, as I was told, $ 9.50. Little did I know that I could’ve bought a jar of the same thing for less at the Ft. Bragg Safeway store. We also purchased a jar of olalieberry jam.

My girlfriend and I have been ordering their olallieberry jam online for quite some time. We finally had the chance to visit Mendocino so we had to stop in! I looked up Unilocal reviews and was a little shocked to see a lot of negative reviews and almost didn’t even go. We finally decided to go anyway and make our own decision. We are so happy we did because we had such a great experience! The man working in there at the time was so helpful and polite. They have a tasting area where you can taste all the jams, mustard, dessert sauces, etc. and he insisted that we try anything we wanted. We were in there for about an hour and ended up buying some more olallieberry jam (of course), and some mustard. We had such a fun time in there. We will be back and we will continue ordering online. The products are a little pricey but you get what you pay for. Their products are AMAZING! Thank you Mendocino Jams & Preserves!

Way Overpriced! We were there March 1, 2015 and I thought I’d take a bit of local flavor back to the Midwest with me. Swallowing hard at the $ 20+ per jar, I bought the apricot preserves and the specialty ollalieberry preserves. They are just okay. The apricot had full halves of apricots in it making it almost impossible to spread and was much too sweet. The ollalieberry was like soup — no body to it at all. I won’t buy again not because they’re not good — just not good enough to pay $ 20 per jar.

I stopped in here with a friend on a recent girls weekend, and at first glance, it’s a charming little shop. Jams galore! Jam TASTINGS, even! How quaint. Very cute at first.
The jam is okay. Not bad, but not great. But I’m a jam fan, as is my friend, so of course we’re thinking «we should get some! we’re on vacation!» We can’t find prices anywhere, but my friend figures, how much could some jam be? The cashier is cold and unhelpful, so it doesn’t really occur to her to ask. Plus, we’re on vacation! What’s the harm in a little jam purchase on vacation? A souvenir that you’ll actually use!
So my friend picks a large jar of apricot jam and strolls to the register, and cha-​CHING! It comes out to over $ 20 for the jar of jam. $ 20?! She is a little shocked, does a double take, but decides to buy it anyhow midst an awkward encounter with the cashier, perhaps a little weary from the pre-​lunch case of the hungries.
So we walk out of the store and laugh about the most expensive jar of jam my friend has ever purchased. It became quite the joke for the rest of the afternoon. We considered submitting this fine purchase to an art gallery, perhaps. Or maybe we should just have a teaspoon of it with each meal all year to make it last as long as possible.
Besides this humorous encounter, my real tip for you if you’re thinking of going here is to stop in for some free samples and tasting… and then leave. Not a bad pit stop. But just plan to not buy anything. It’s expensive — which might make sense if it were really good jam. But, there is no reason to spend so much money on decidedly mediocre jam.

I would have to agree with some of the negative reviews below. Although I don’t want to take credits away from this lovely place offering one of the best Jams and Preserves I’ve had, I do agree they need a service make over.
I’ve been in this store many times, I enjoy buying the Raspberry Jam to bring home among other Jams as well as spicy mustard for my Dad who loves mustard. I’ve tested most of their Jams and they are all very good. Absolutely better than the grocery store Jams for sure.
I’ve only met the owner once, and as the Unilocalers below mentioned, she is not the most friendly person ever… she truly does not have any sense of customer service. I think it’s quite sad that this charming Jam place with such an amazing location can hold such a negative experience for the many visitors that comes here.
Another time when I received bad service was when a younger teenager was behind the register… I seriously thought he was high (I was probably right) he did not once look at us, did not say a word and was on his cell phone the whole time. I am starting to believe they seriously don’t give give a rat’s a$$ about customer service. This place could be SO much better if only the owner cares or at least try.
Reason why I gave a 3 stars is because the Jams here are really good, I would hate to take that away. However, for service (or lack of) would be a 1 star.
I would hope the owner of Mendo Jams & Preserves recognize she is doing something wrong and make some changes to this place.

Diana’s review is spot on! The owner at this shop is unfriendly and completely not engaging.
We stopped by to try out and intended to buy their supposedly famous mustard. From the moment we walked in to the moment we left, there were absolutely ZERO eye contact or any greetings!
We tried out their mustard sample and every time we touched the sample spoons or the mustard sticks, the lady came over to «straighten» out the spoons. We left after 2 samplings… buh bye!
One additional star as their mustard is pretty good indeed.

Wow, I just read the review from the woman from Berkeley and I’m writing this review for just the opposite reason.
My daughter bought me one of their chutneys for my birthday, I opened it and did not like it very much neither the consistency nor taste suited me. It was not much like the traditional chutneys I prefer. I called the shop, told them my problem and it was explained to me that it was fresh and their chutneys are not like other chutneys (duh); but if I did not like it they would send me something else.
She offered a Cranberry «Conserve» (whatever that is) and I accepted. Second day later it arrived at my home nearly 400 road miles away in Nevada. The «Conserve» is very good and is only exceeded by the fantastic customer service of this company.
Next time I’m on the north coast I will look this shop up and stock up.

OVERPRICED.
I’m sorry to have to open the review with that, but I do (or, to put an exclamation point on it, perhaps I should have written «HOLE IN WALLET»)
Which is not to say the stuff is bad. It isn’t. Most of it is good — in particular: all of the mustards (very spicy — not from chili peppers or anything, just pure, intense mustard flavor!), rhubarb preserves, mint jelly, pecan dessert butter stuff (don’t know what it it was called, but it was basically like spreadable pecan fudge), and Robert’s Ketchup (very good, a hearty and interesting twist)
However, the prices are a bit insane. I know artisan jams, preserves, and mustards aren’t cheap, but we’re talking $ 13 for a 9 ounce bottle. (I was thinking they might be like $ 8 which, while still expensive, would not have been so jaw-​dropping.)
Yes, this is a resort town and yes, I’m sure they have to make a bulk of their money from tourists (which is seasonal), so maybe that accounts for the markup. But I’m not sure it really justifies it – here in Napa Valley, the same conditions apply, and the stuff still isn’t that pricey.
Also, you can get many similarly good jams, jellies, mustards, and dessert sauces about 10 minutes up the street in Fort Bragg at Carol Hall’s Hot Pepper Jelly Co. (for about $ 8.50 /​10 oz jar … not $ 13 for a 9 oz jar — Mendocino Jams charges 65% more for the same thing!)

Cute little shop, run by a horrible, rude woman. We tasted all the samples on the table and loved everything, but when we went to the counter to buy something, the proprietress was cold and insulting. Rather than help us find things, she found fault with questions we asked, as if the shelf-​location of her products were self-​evident and we were impertinent for getting it wrong.
She could so easily have gotten more of our business. A smile, a helpful demeanor – such things cost nothing and make shopping a pleasure.
Unfortunately, the charm of this shop is limited to the building and the jams. The owner doesn’t really belong in retail.

They stock Carol Hall’s line of jams and jellies. The lemon buttery jam is one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. They also have a nice selction of mustards and fruit butters.

M.U.S.T.A.R.D
Delivered in error. Will not go to waste.

This is the kind of shop you would expect in Petticoat Junction where Kate Bradley would have her shapely virginal daughters — Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo and Betty Jo — making the preserves by hand in the back of the Shady Rest Hotel… and Uncle Joe… well, Uncle Joe, he’s-a movin’ kinda slow… www​.youtube​.com/​w​a​t​c​h​?​v​=​m​-​0​Y​B​r​-6IxE
After a brisk walk through the Mendocino Headlands, this little shop is the first place you walk by on Main Street. Normally I’m not drawn to stores that sell jars of sweetness covered with floral print wrapping paper. But I have a feminine side. I call her Shirley. And I cannot be controlled when there are little spoons waiting to dig into jars of jellies and peanut butter. Lots of flavors here. Every berry in the book. Apricot and orange marmalade, too. Fudge sauces and chutneys.
Fresh-​tasting and flavorful. The crunchy peanut butter is pretty amazing. I bought a 16-​oz jar for $ 6.75 (see my photo). I found out it was just made a couple of day ago, so I don’t even have to refrigerate it until 45 days after I open it. Of course, what would a peanut butter sandwich be without some ollalieberry jam, 9 oz for $ 11.95. Pricey? I suppose, but I think Shirley deserves it, don’t you?