Brand: Oreos Style: Swedish Fish Origin: United States Type: Cookies Flavor: Imagine the worst thing ever, then multiply that times infinity. Verdict: NOT APPROVED!
Several friends of mine alerted me to the existence of my latest snack: Swedish Fish Oreos. Now I have to add a little disclaimer here that I'm actually *not* really a fan of the chocolate cookie-style Oreos to begin with, but I knew I still had to hunt a pack of these down and try them. For science. And because I kind of like this kind of pain (as you all probably have figured out by now).
Three Fred Meyer stores later, I finally had a pack of these in hand. Yay! Here's my video review:
So...as you can see here, I was not a fan of these. Hilariously enough, however, both my partner and my producer were both REALLY into them! I just can't comprehend why. To be fair, my partner said they thought the combination of the chocolate cookie with the Swedish Fish filling was pretty awful, but the filling on its own was good because it just tastes like Swedish Fish puree. I suppose I can see where they're coming from, but...just...no.
Purchased at Fred Meyer, in Portland, OR
Friday, August 19, 2016
Brand: Pique Tea Style: Earl Grey, Unsweetened Black, Green Sencha, Mint Green Sencha, and Jasmine Origin: United States Type: Tea Flavor: The black teas were great, the jasmine was great, the senchas were not so good Verdict: Approved (except for the senchas)
Thank you so much for all of your support and views of my video last week! This week, I am reviewing Pique Tea organic tea crystals. I ended up getting these because I got a really great coupon and, of course, I'm a sucker for weird yuppie snacks and treats. Put organic on the label, and I am so there!
I tried all five flavors that were in their variety pack. First off, I was surprised that these didn't really look so much like "crystals" as little flakes. I was expecting it to look more like brown sugar crystals or something, but looks aren't everything! I just thought the name was a bit misleading. Overall, they also did not dissolve completely in the water which looked slightly odd, but I didn't notice any kind of texture in my mouth while drinking it, so it didn't bother me at all.
I tried the black teas first. The unsweetened black was slightly above average and I would definitely drink it again. It had a good, strong flavor, and definitely tasted high-quality. This isn't any old gross Lipton type tea! It's the real deal, even in crystal form. The Earl Grey flavor is the other black tea, and I actually like it the best, even though I don't normally care much for EG. It just tasted really crisp and clean and the bergamot was strong, but not too astringent. It would probably be really good with some milk/cream of some kind in it as well, accompanied by cookies or cake :)
The green teas didn't fare so well with me. I found the senchas to be a very odd color (more brown than green), and the taste was not like any green tea I've had before...and not in a good way, unfortunately. :( It was very astringent, bitter, and just all around not good. The mint flavor I was hoping would hide the bad green tea flavor, but it just tasted like someone dumped some spearmint mouthwash in my drink :( Sad times!
The jasmine green tea, however, was my second favorite flavor. I LOVE jasmine tea in general, so I was really overjoyed that this one was good! The jasmine was light, floral, and sweet, just like it should be :)
So overall, I would approve these, I would just avoid the sencha flavors. But the rest are good, and I would definitely order from them again. Also, the customer service was excellent! They made a mistake on my order and sent me a whole new order, plus a sample pack, which I will be including as the second surprise prize in my giveaway! Please enter below!!! :)
If you would like to see the video version of this review, here it is!
Please enter my giveaway below to win a full set of Lay's Passport to Flavor chips and a sample pack of Pique Tea! All the prizes are being provided by me, this isn't sponsored or anything, it's all out of the goodness of my snacky little heart! Here it is:
Brand: Lay's Style: Passport to Flavor Origin: United States Type: Potato Chips Flavor: Indian Tikka Masala tastes amazing, the rest are good to not very good Verdict: Approved (except for the Chinese Szechuan Chicken)
OH EM GEE SNACKIES!!! I am officially launching my video taste tests!!! This project has been in the works in my snacktastic little brain for literally years, and in reality for several months, so I cannot even express how freaking excited I am right now to be sharing this with you all! I LOVE snacks so much and all I have ever wanted to do is share my love with the world...so hello world, here I am! Love me! Eat snacks with me! <3
To celebrate the launch of my new show and of the new channel I will be featured on, Querd Collective, I'm having a giveaway! Enter below to win not only a full set of the Lay's Passport to Flavor chips, but another special snackie prize that will be announced in next week's video! What will it be?! Who knows?!?! I do! But I'm not telling :D
First off, though, the moment you have really been waiting for...my Lay's Passport to Flavor review! Every summer I get really stoked because Lay's always has some kind of weird flavor promotion going on. The past few years, it's been the Do Us A Flavor contest where you get to vote on a new flavor, but this year, they are featuring four globally-inspired flavors. I'm really excited because these were actually better than a lot of the Do Us A Flavor entries. The flavors were stronger and felt much more inspired.
The worst flavor, by far, was the Chinese Szechuan Chicken. It smelled like the bathroom after you've eaten too much Chinese food, if you catch my drift, and the taste wasn't much better. It was minimally spicy, and just had a very heavy, meaty, soy sauce type flavor. Somehow, it was complex yet boring all at the same time...really difficult to manage that, but they did it, and it was not a good. Womp-womp.
The best flavor was the Indian Tikka Masala. It was SO GOOD! It smelled like the inside of an Indian restaurant in the best way. The taste is divine. They are in the running for my favorite chip flavor ever, and if you know me at all, you should know that is a big freaking deal! There is a dish called Aloo Gobi that I get fairly often at my favorite Indian restaurant that's made of potatoes and cauliflower and these chips taste just like that. I've never actually eaten tikka masala, so I can't speak for whether it tastes just like that, but it doesn't matter, because these are so, so, so good!
The Brazilian Picanha chips were also pretty tasty, although not quite as much as the masala. These are supposed to taste like steak and chimichurri, and they didn't quite nail it, but they got pretty darn close. The steak flavor is pretty incredible - you can definitely taste the smoky meat flavor throughout the whole bite, but the chimichurri is a little less potent. I would have loved for these to have more of the herbal, sour, and spicy flavors of chimichurri to come through more.
Finally, the Greek Tzatziki chips - these were also pretty good. Tzatziki is a Greek dip made of yogurt, cucumbers, dill, and garlic, and for these chips, the strongest flavor was by far cucumber. They tasted like Bath and Body Works cucumber melon spray, but not really in a bad way. There's a slightly sour undercurrent representing the yogurt, and at the end of the bite, you can taste the spices a little bit.
So basically, if you can get a hold of these before they all fly off the shelves, grab for the Indian ones first!! And whatever you do, don't get the Chinese ones unless you're just looking to taste all of them. Or do, if you like soy sauce? *shrug*
If you would like to see the video version of this review, here it is!
Anyway, on to other important things, like my giveaway!! All the prizes are being provided by me, this isn't sponsored or anything, it's all out of the goodness of my snacky little heart! Here it is:
Brand: Funyuns Style: Steakhouse Onion Origin: United States Type: Onion Rings Flavor: Like onion rings dipped in ranch Verdict: Approved!
Although I began apprenticing to become a Snack Master from a very, very young age, there was one type of salty snack that I actually never tried until this past year, believe it or not! That elusive snack was Funyuns. I don't really understand exactly *how* that happened, given that onion rings are one of my favorite foods. I think my mom thought they were gross and wouldn't let me have them, or something like that. Anyway, that's neither here nor there.
What is here, in my hands, right now, is Funyuns Steakhouse Onion flavor. I grabbed these as a quick snack from Plaid Pantry the other day, having literally no idea what to expect. I actually don't really care for plain Funyuns for some reason; I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about them just doesn't jive with me. These ones, however, are awesome! They're basically like Cool Ranch Funyuns, if that was a thing. They are super salty and savory, and basically taste like plain Funyuns dipped in ranch sauce. Given that ranch is one of my favorite flavors, I am sooooo into these! Approved!!
Brand: Halfpops Style: Butter & Pure Ocean Sea Salt Origin: United States Type: Popcorn Flavor: Boring, salty, and teeth-breakingly crunchy Verdict: Not approved
Have y'all heard about 365 yet? It's the new "budget" grocery chain by Whole Foods. Basically, they stock the shelves with their 365 brand products to provide less-expensive gourmet foods to people. Supposedly. I took a trip to the newest one in Lake Oswego, OR (because the rich people that live there, like, *really* need low-price gourmet foods) to see what all the hubbub was about and, of course, to check out the snacks. I was super underwhelmed! I got a couple of deals on produce, kind of, but the snack selection was sad as all getout and the prices were comparable to a regular Whole Foods. Not worth making a special trip, that's for sure! However, we all know I can't leave a grocery store without purchasing at least one new snack, so I grabbed a bag of Halfpops. I'd been eyeing these for awhile - they're half-popped popcorn kernels with flavors like butter and sea salt, truffle oil, cheddar, and according to the Halfpops website, some more exciting flavors like dill and BBQ. The selection was slim at 365, so I just grabbed the butter and sea salt flavor. Had they had the white cheddar though, I definitely would have gone for that one instead. These were so-so. I've had similar half-popped popcorn to this that was, honestly, a little better. The butter flavor was more oily tasting than buttery, and there was too much sea salt to butter. They are also incredibly crunchy so if you have sensitive or delicate teeth, definitely pass on these ones! The other issue I had with these is that they had not just one, but several giant blobs of powder flavoring. I accidentally ate one (cough, cough, ewwww), then checked the bag and found two more immediately. Quality control, where you at?! These are NASTY! Nobody wants a nickel-sized blob of squishy salt when they are trying to eat a crunchy snack. Blerrghhh.
EW! Flavor powder chunk o' grossness
Basically, stay away from 365 and from Halfpops, unless maybe you're bored or something? I don't know. Not approved :p