Cashew Jumbo 250gm

W160 is a sieve size, not a marketing tier

The W means White Whole. The number is cashews per pound — so lower means larger, and W160 sits at the top of the commercial ladder at 140–160 nuts to the pound.

Very little of any harvest passes that sieve. A cashew tree produces a spread of sizes, and the fraction landing at W160 is small enough in a normal year that you cannot build a year-round supermarket line on it. That scarcity is the whole reason for the price, and the reason most brands never stock the grade at all.

Almost every cashew sold in an Indian supermarket is W320.

Count them yourself

This is the part the category would rather you skipped. Weigh out 100g and count.

If a pack claims a grade and the count disagrees, you have your answer, and you did not need anyone's permission to find it.

Why the bite is different

A W160 is roughly twice the weight of a W320, and the difference you notice is texture rather than size. A large kernel holds more of its own oil internally instead of losing it at the cut faces during drying and roasting. Small grades dry out and crumble chalky. This one gives before it breaks.

It is sweeter, too. Cashew sugars concentrate as the kernel matures on the tree, and the biggest kernels come from the most developed nuts. "Starchy" is what an under-developed cashew tastes like.

Mangalore

Coastal laterite soil, a smaller harvest, more hand-handling. Indian coastal cashews run sweeter and less starchy than the high-volume lots.

Keeping them

Around 46% fat and almost no tannin to protect it. Airtight and dark: four months at room temperature, eight refrigerated. If they lose their snap, five minutes in a dry pan brings it back.