What's cooler than being cool? - m&m's Caramel Cold Brew

Caramel Cold Brew m&m's - Walmart

What makes a non-coffee product "cold brew,"-flavored vs. normal "coffee"-flavored?  

Is it a more concentrated coffee flavor? Was actual cold brew involved at all? I doubt it.

Ben & Jerry's vs. The Girl Scouts - Chewy Gooey Cookie

Chewy Gooey Cookie Ben & Jerry's - Target

Samoa ice cream? 

This has milk chocolate and coconut ice creams, shortbread pieces, fudge flakes, and a caramel swirl. All the ingredients of top-tier Girl Scout cookie, Samoa (aka Caramel deLites.) Since this is as subtle as a baseball bat to the face, I'm far from the first person to make the connection. Which makes me wonder, why isn't this a collaboration? 

Ben & Jerry's previously released, "Thick Mint," a clear parody of Girl Scout's, "Thin Mint," so maybe there's some bad blood between the two junkfood giants? Someone more versed in brand politics can fill me in down in the comments. I'm sure I'm missing something. 

Whatever the reason, I love Samoas, and I love ice cream, so I have high hopes for this pint! 

Ultimate Mystery - Coke Creations: Ultimate

"Ultimate," the newest flavor in Coke's Creations line, has been released, and the novelty of these whimsical concept-based soda flavors still draws me in like a moth to the flame. 

This flavor is branded with a video game theme, more specifically, League of Legends (abbreviated as, "LoL." No joke.) 

Arcane, the Netflix series, is loosely based on the characters from LoL, and I really liked it, but from what I understand, the plot of the show has nothing at all to do with the gameplay, and from the looks of it, neither does this soda. 

The "New Coke" of Reese's

Creamy & Crunchy Reese's Cups - Walmart

I want to share one of my favorite College Humor/DropOut videos of all time, Oreo CEO.

Please binge the rest of the CEO videos, Brennan Lee Mulligan is an absolute gift. 

Painfully accurate, right? Especially for junkfood people like me who remember the limited-edition-Oreo-hunting-days, but you know who else might be equally guilty? Reese's. 

They, "done did the good peanut butter cup," and instead of "resting on their laurels," they are back at it again with a smooth and a crunchy version of their classic peanut butter cup. Are these improvements? Or completely unnecessary? 

Condiment Chip Consumption Craze

Hot Mustard & Tangy Ketchup Doritos

What is up with condiment themed chips? 

Herr's was the first brand I noticed, they announced a line of boldly flavored chips meant to be added to sandwiches, "Sandwichips." They are currently available and come in four flavors: mustard, ketchup, spicy pickle, and sweet onion. As someone who likes adding chips to their sandwiches, I like the idea, but I am skeptical about their flavor pay off. If you have the mustard chips, do you still add actual mustard? Normally I find adding chips to my sandwiches is more-so a texture thing than a flavor one. And what about ketchup? Is that meant to go on Burgers? What other "sandwich" do you eat with ketchup? Hot dogs? Are hot dogs a sandwich? (I say no. Also, ketchup on hot dogs after the age of 12 is a crime.)

Then Doritos got in on the action with a ketchup and mustard duo of their own. No application gimmick, just condiment flavors for chippy consumption. Mustard, I get. Especially with a name like "hot mustard." It makes me think the the spicy mustard packets that came with our Chinese take-out. Which could be great in tortilla-chip-form. But...ketchup? 

Too Much of a Good Thing?

A quickie, since I've been burnt out at work but I wanted to keep my posting streak up. 

Pink is the best Starburst flavor. I thought this was universally agreed upon, so I was shocked when several friends, and even my own mother, confessed that they didn't like pink at all! (Blasphemy! They don't like red Skittles either!) Since there are no all-lemon or orange packs hitting the shelves, I am pretty sure they're on the wrong side of the flavor-wars. 

My Starburst ranking (of just the original line-up) would be 

1. Pink
2. Yellow
3. Red
4. Orange

And I think that's a fairly common take. (Let me know your order in the comments) 

So, given that pink is my favorite, I thought this, "Oops, All Pink,"-version would be the best pack of Starburst ever, sadly, it wasn't.

Spicy Toddler Food

Frank's RedHot Goldfish

Nostalgia plays a pretty big part in my adult snacking. I'll go out of my way to buy things like Pizza Lunchables, Yoo-Hoo, and Totino's Party Pizzas. All objectively bad products, (Gordon Ramsey would never!), but to me, they were my childhood staples and therefore, perfect. I just happened to miss the Goldfish-boat. 

As a childless, 35-year-old lady, with no fuzzy memories tied to the tiny orange fish, I tend to look at them as toddler food. Until Old Bay entered the chat. The Old Bay seasoned Goldfish were the best version I'd ever had, but this gives them a run for their money. 

Sprite Lymonade Legacy

Sprite Lymonade Legacy - Walgreens

Sprite has released a new limited edition soda celebrating 50 years of Hip-Hop. It's Lemon-Lime, Strawberry, and Lemonade flavored, which is a little tricky to say, and awkward to type, but it sounds great for summer. I'm excited to get sippin'!

Another Mexican Street Corn Product!

There was a huge bag of this stuff at Costco and since I love Elotes, it was really tempting. But they weren't sampling it in-store, and I had never tried this brand before, so I didn't want to overcommit. I've been burned by jumping into wholesale-club sizes of new products in the past, so walking away was the right move at the time. Thankfully, Dollar Tree had this mini bag! 

Let's check it out and see if I should take the plunge. 

One from the Vaults

Do the photos look weird? Because they're from 2018, when Caramel m&m's were first released. In typical me-fashion, I took the photos and never finished writing up the accompanying post. Rather than scrap it, I figure I'd make a new mini-post, because in spite of the "share-sized" labeling, I have polished off countless bags completely solo.

Caramel Corn Curls - 2 Flavors! : Peach Nectar & Honey Lemon

Tohato Caramel Corn, 2 Flavors - Hung Vuong Food Market

Tohato Caramel Corn is not at all like American Caramel corn.

In America, "caramel corn" refers to popped popcorn kernels covered in a thin shell of caramel. They retain their popped-corn shape, and typically only come in one flavor, caramel. 

Tohato Caramel Corn is more like a corn-based snack with a sweet flavored coating. Think dessert-Cheetos, or like, giant curl-shaped breakfast cereal. It's corn-based, and sweet, but just because it says "caramel" doesn't necessarily mean that the overall flavor has anything to do with caramel. 

I've had a few flavors, but only one one has ever made it to the blog. Why not check out some more? 

Today I have Honey Lemon, and Peach Nectar. 

Let's jump right into it. Nose, first!

Oh. Oh, no. Why do they smell like this? 

Seriously, I'm pretty forgiving in terms or aroma, but had I not -just- bought these, and checked that best by date is May 2024, I'd think they'd gone rancid. 

Perhaps they were going for a sharp, provolone cheese, kind of thing here, but it smells like feet and rancid fryer oil. I hate it. And as a New Jersian, who has been adjacent to Philadelphia, the home of the cheesesteak, for 30+years...it's whiz-wit or bust, baby. 

The aroma is actually putting me off, so I am going to try a chip and hope for the best.