Ocean Bomb: Buu, Nami & Chun Li

I'm a sucker for cute packaging, sparkling drinks, and nostalgia. So these were a triple threat. Let's see if these are 100% novelty, or if they actually make for decent sipping! 

This is What Dreams are Made of? - Coke Dreamworld

Coca-Cola's Creation line are sodas that are flavored using abstract concepts and unique labels. So far we've had Starlight, Byte, a collaboration with Marshmello (which was actually strawberry-watermelon flavored), and now we have Dreamworld. 

 

Normally I hate marketing that take a normal product and hypes it up to go viral, but I have actually been having a lot of fun with this! While I have found most of it's flavors to be rather conventional, with Starlight tasting like cotton candy, and Byte having a raspberry-fruity flavor, the elaborate labels and just barely unpretentious product descriptions keep me coming back for more every time. Is this the new limited edition Oreo for food bloggers? 

Triple Sweat, I Mean Threat - 3 Lay's Summer Flavors

Lay's Summer Potato Chips (3-Flavors) 

If any of you have been walking down the junk food aisle lately, you'll know Lay's has been quite busy. It released these three flavors for summer, and it just released three more wacky junk food mash-up flavors, Cheetos, Funyuns, and Cool Ranch Doritos, but in potato-chip form. I've been on the lookout for the latter three, but haven't had any luck yet, so I settled for the original summer release trio. We have Summer BLT, Wavy Jerk Chicken, and Chile Mango.  

I figured I better hurry up and review these, since it's August and all. But it's still summer so I'm not too late! 

Sweet, Spicy, & Sticky - A Good Combo?

Sweet & Fiery Fruit Gushers - Walmart

After falling in love with the recent influx of spicy sweet snacks, like the Sweet Heat Skittles and Starbursts I reviewed last year, I couldn't resist trying the trend in Gusher form. 

Design-wise, this product is sticking to the same guidelines as the "Sweet Heat" treats. We have a basic, black, backdrop with some hot rod style flames. It's simple, bold, and to the point. The black box definitely stands out among the cartoon-covered fruit snack boxes on the shelves, so even though I feel like it's a little "Blah" looking as far as packaging is concerned, it more than serves it purpose.    

Apparently Gushers, as a brand, do not vary their individual packet designs? If you look at the back panel there is some black stamped text claiming these are "Sweet Heat," but it's very easily ignored. (Interesting that the text says "Sweet Heat" and not Sweet & Fiery" like the box.) Keeping the pouches the same is a cost effective choice, for sure, but it also lends itself well to pranks. Think you're getting sweet, normal, Gushers? Think again! 

Inside the pouch are three different flavors:  

Fancy Fruity Friends Drinking Beverages? - My New Tumblr Aesthetic?

Friends Drinking Beverage Clear Fruity Sodas - H-Mart 

These bottles are really freaking cute. I'm not sure if the size translates well in these photos, but each one is about half the height of a 16 oz. soda bottle and they're made of heavy glass. For their size, their price tag was a little on the steep-side (since they're imported and all) so it came down to aesthetics or frugality...

We all know which option won out. Let's pop these bottles!

Sweet Heat Round 2: Skittles Edition

Sweet Heat Skittles - Wawa

I really enjoyed the Sweet Heat Starbursts, so when my friend Melissa mentioned that she saw the Skittles version at Wawa, I drove over there (got some gas) and grabbed a bag. Now we shall see is these items are unique enough to stand on their own, or if one should reign supreme.

Tempted By The Fruit of a Pocky! (Grape & Mango Pocky?)

Pocky Squeeze (Grape & Mango) - Asian Food Market

(Made it in! Just before Midnight EST!) I am 100% sure I've used this song lyric as a title before, but this was too perfect to pass up. I mean, this is "Squeeze" Pocky, and it's fruit flavored! It's a match made in pop-culture-foodie heaven. (Or Dad-joke level hell, depending on your sense of humor.) 

When did I buy these? I have no idea. My foodie backlog is way out of control. I've joked about it in the past but due to my failure as a blogger in 2017, it overflowed big time. I'm just going to write this off as a foodie gift from my past self and leave it at that. (Yay!)  

It might be hard to tell in photos, but these are half sized boxes that contain mini Pocky sticks. For something so small, the packaging sure is stylish! The cardboard boxes have a high gloss finish, beautiful food imagery, and a fairly luxe feel. They even photographed beautifully! So far, this packaging as me falling in love with Pocky all over again, but what about the flavors? 

Thanks to the context clues on the packaging, I'm guessing these chocolate coated bread sticks are flavored with 70% real fruit, which wounds great...if these were gummies, but they're chocolate coated bread sticks. That being the case, mango was more of a safe bet for me, since I've had a decent amount of mango flavored chocolates from Japan, but grape flavored chocolate? I sense a red flag...

Come On Baby, Light my Fire - Sweet Heat Starbursts

Sweet Heat Starburst - Target

Sometimes gimmicky things are done for gimmicky reasons, like when companies release obviously bad flavors in order to generate hype and publicity. After all, we all know there's some sadistic joy in sharing knowingly bad food with friends, otherwise those Beanboozled and Bertie Botts beans wouldn't be as popular as they are. The real question is, are these Starbursts one of those items? I'm not sure. Sweet and spicy is one of my favorite combinations, like honey-hot-wings. (Oh man, I really want some wings right now...) These could either be great, and fill an area that's lacky on USA's candy shelves, or they could be disgusting flops. We won't know until we try!

Candyology101 Episode 41: Mango Madness!

 

There's no denying Mango's popularity, especially in the summer. As a former mango hater I still don't get the hype, but I've learned to enjoy and accept it as a part of the usual summer/tropical flavor mix.

On Candyology 101 the three of us....wait, three? YUP! Lauren, aka CandyHunting, is back recording with Cybele and I again!

Tune in as the three of us talk about mango flavored sweets of all kinds. We've got candy bars, gummies, lollipops, taffy and more! Then, as always, stay tuned as Lauren and I dish about some new candies headed to grocery store shelves in out Treat or Trick segment.

Here are a few links to mango goodies I mentioned on the show:

Trader Joe's Mango Mango Gummies

Hot Tamales Tropical Heat

Chili Mango Fruit Slices 

Darrell Lea's Mango Licorice

Subscribe to the show via iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS.

Plus, we're now available in the Google Play Music Store! Or you can download today's MP3 file HERE. 

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

Like Sometimes Foodie's Facebook page to keep up with all my foodie adventures!

Hot Tamales Tropical Heat - Dollar Tree

Hot Tamales Tropical Heat - Dollar Tree

Sorry I missed a few review days this week. Last night I gave a presentation to the Gloucester County Art League about all the stuff I create and do. On top of running this food blog I also run an art blog, a few online shops, I freelance from home (mostly graphic design), I sew, sculpt polymer clay charms and trinkets, and I sell all my work at conventions. All of that, plus 9-5 graphic design and printing job. Sometimes I get stretched pretty thin with all that I do, but even when I'm sleep deprived and running on sugar, I wouldn't change it for the world. 

For today's review I have something that has been sitting in my stash since last December, these Tropical Heat Hot Tamales! Let's see if these candies live up ti their name, or if their spiciness is just a marketing gimmick.

Starburst Halloween Mix - Target

Starburst Halloween Mix - Target

Nearly all of the fun sized Trick-or-Treat candy on shelves this year are repeats from previous years. A few brands came out with some new shapes, or switched up their colors, but overall the actual candies stayed the same. How boring! Come on companies, give me something new!

Thankfully Starburst released this Halloween mix that has some previously retired flavors returning from the candy graveyard, and they have some adorably spooky wrappers to boot!

Mango Mango Gummies - Trader Joe's

Mango Mango Gummies - Trader Joe's

We're right in the middle of pumpkin season, so reviewing this right now makes absolutely no seasonal sense, but I'm going to do it anyway!

I bought a bunch of Trader Joe's candies for our most recent Candyology 101 podcast, so there are going to be some random Trader Joe's reviews sprinkled in among all the pumpkin posts. I figured this would be a nice break for those of you tired of all the pumpkin spice hype, and it'll help me clear out more room in my food stash, so here we go! (Or should I say man-go? ThatwasbadandIshouldfeelbad.) 

Chili Mango and Pineapple Jelly Fruit Slices - The Fudge Factory: Wildwood, NJ (Part 1)

Jelly Fruit Slices - The Fudge Factory: Wildwood, NJ

Two weeks ago I finally went to the shore for the first, and most likely last, time this year. Since I knew I'd only get one day in Wildwood this summer, I made sure to hit up all of my favorite shops and buy tons of boardwalk treats. My first stop, The Fudge Factory.

Some of you might remember that I reviewed some fudge from this shop last year, because it's the best place to get fudge on the Wildwood Boardwalk, and I got a few new flavors to review this year, but I also spotted these little jelly fruit slices. Normally I would pass these by, but there were a bunch of interesting flavors I had never seen before (at least not in jellied fruit slice form) so I had to grab a few to photograph and review.

First up, Chili Mango and Pineapple.

Wavy Mango Salsa Chips (Lay's Do Us A Flavor) - Wawa

Wavy Mango Salsa Chips (Lay's Do Us A Flavor) - Wawa

I think most of you have already seen my first impressions video, but if not, I'll be dissecting each of the four Lay's Do Us a Flavor finalists in blog-post-form.

I know that this news is a little bit old, and that most of the flavors have been discussed on other food blogs, but I'd still like to share my personal opinion on these new flavors. To kick things off, the chips I was least excited for, Manga Salsa.

Lay's Do Us a Flavor Finalists: First Impressions

I'll be posting a detailed written review later this weekend, but for now, you can see my initial reactions to these new flavors. (And watch me make faces and feed chips to my dog.)  

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Darrell Lea’s Mango Soft Eating Licorice - HomeGoods : Moorestown, NJ

Darrell Lea’s Mango Soft Eating Licorice - HomeGoods : Moorestown, NJ

This is the last flavor of soft eating licorice I have in my stash. While all of them have been good, I did like some flavors more than others. Let’s see how mango ranks.

So far I have tried: (Starting with my favorite)

• Strawberry 
• Green Apple
• Blueberry Pomegranate

I’ve already talked about the packaging, so I’ll skip over that.

The mango licorice has an appealing color. (Unlike the green apple, which had the color of canned green beans.)

The licorice pieces don’t really smell like mango, the first thing this scent brings to mind is fruit punch.

When I popped one into my mouth the mango flavor is there, but it isn’t very strong. There is a tangy sweetness that reminds me of pineapple, or nectarines. The taste is a lot like the nectar drinks made by Goya. If you’ve never had one of those, they are really syrupy and sweet.

While the flavor wasn’t bad, I think that this was actually my least favorite of the Darrell Lea flavors I have tried. I’d much rather buy more strawberry or green apple. Even though I didn’t LOVE the flavor, this brand is still better than most of the flavored licorices I have had in the past.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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