Mounds, so good, slightly exotic and one of the few “Peter Paul” (now owned by Hersheymonster) candy bars. It’s such a great combination of ingredients I’m surprised it hasn’t been copied more. I like Almond Joy but I’m a dark chocolate girl and Mounds has always been one of my favorites. Bounty is a Mars (not yet bought by Hershey) product and like Mounds, also comes as a two-piece candy bar. I’ve seen Bounty before but Ethan wasn’t familiar with it. I’ll say it’s because he grew up in New Hampshire and the Bounty truck didn’t bother delivering to the woods.
Mounds:
These have a nice soft bite to them. The chocolate provides a firm shell around a soft, moist coconut mixture that is just sweet enough without going overboard. The chocolate flavor is smooth and rich which is the right amount to not overpower the taste of the coconut.
Bounty:
Biting into these, it was clear that the coconut was drier. The flavor of the coconut was okay but the dry texture didn’t seem to smush with the chocolate so well. The chocolate looked better than Mounds but did not have as much flavor. To be fair, I will say after it was in my mouth for a bit some flavor came through but it wasn’t as pronounced as Mounds.
Wrap up:
Mounds takes this match. Ethan and I liked the moist texture of the inside and I really thought the quality of chocolate was better. Bounty wasn’t terrible but the coconut was dry enough to cost it some points (if I used a point system) and for the fact that the chocolate only surrendered it flavor if you kept it in your mouth for a bit and worked it. Not a bad substitute for Mounds but I can see why they’re not as common.
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Oh Tab, I love you so much! Will you marry me? Wait, are you a guy or or a girl? Oh I don’t care, all I know is that I want you in my life forever! As much as I love Tab, I always felt Diet Pepsi may be a good runner up and thought I should do an evaluation sometime with DP and that sometime was tonight.
I decided to conduct this taste test with my eyes closed to see if my devotion to Tab was just habit and all in my head or the real deal.
Diet Pepsi:
With my eyes closed and turned away from the drinks, I asked Ethan to hand me one of the glasses and pick up the other one so I wouldn’t know which one he gave me. I had to get the stupid grin from anticipation off my face and finally took a sip. As soon as I did I said ”Oh my God this is Pepsi” and grinned again. I didn’t look, but I’m guessing Ethan rolled his eyes in enthusiasm for my passing the Tab loyalty test.
There is something slightly soapy to me about most diet drinks, I’m guessing it’s the aspartame and this came though in Diet Pepsi, although I do like it for what it is, it’s no Tab. Ethan thought it was tasteless and the bubbles were too small.
Tab:
All I could say was that it’s just so very, VERY good and ditto everything from my last Tab post. Even Ethan who says he doesn’t like Tab, agrees it has more flavor. The bubbles are like applause in my mouth with a sweet, yet full bodied flavor that is uniquely Tab. Somehow it masks the aspartame better than other diet drinks.
Wrap up:
Tab does it again, and I know it will always have a place in my heart, and my fridge, forever. Ethan is not a Diet Cola person so he won’t be drinking either of these again, until Tab has a new competitor to beat into the ground :) Although if I ever find myself in the south or wherever they sell Diet Rite that isn’t 2 years old, I’d be interested in trying that again since people really seem to like that.
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Finding a Thanksgiving related snack wasn’t easy. I saw Jack Links Turkey Jerky at Target but had trouble finding a competitor. Ethan was such a good sport and drove us around to 4 mini-marts, a gas station and a drug store before finding some at Trader Joe’s. I did find some other interesting brands of beef jerky but that will be for a beef jerky re-match.
Jack Links:
I liked the light color of this and we both thought it smelled good; smokey and meaty. Chewing it was another thing. There were a few pieces that were softer but most were hard and plasticy. Ethan didn’t mind as much and liked it’s “zesty” taste. Like with Jack’s Beef Jerky, the texture was enough to make me not like this.
Trader Joe’s:
This was darker and didn’t have as strong of a smell as Jack’s but the texture was much better. We both felt the chew on this was way more enjoyable. I liked the subtle flavor and the simple ingredients list and that the turkey has no added hormones, nitrates or preservatives. I felt that the simplicity of the product and ingredients really came though as a more pure tasting product. That being said, Ethan said they tasted “old”.
Wrap up:
I guess Trader Joe’s wins because I would choose it over Jack Links any time. The tough plasticy texture of Jack’s is just to much and the flavor was too peppery for me. Ethan said it would depend on his mood if he had to choose between these two. He liked the flavor of Jack’s better but preferred the softness of Joe’s.
I would have been interested in trying a third party to see if Trader Joe’s is unique with their texture. If I find another Turkey I’ll post an update.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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There are few things that are so awesomely paired as chocolate and peanut butter. I sometimes wonder how it became a match made in heaven. If you go on youtube and search Reese’s PB cups, you will find a variety of commercials depicting a couple scenarios. I can’t decide which is my favorite, the guy on the spaceship eating a chocolate bar and bumping into the robot eating a can of peanut butter or the night at the opera where the male singer holding a tub of peanut butter falls onto the female singer with a chocolate bar.
However it happened, the candy world is a better place because of it.
The only other version of Reese’s I could find was in the miniature version and made by palmer. I think Russell Stover makes them too but only as sugar-free.
Reese’s:
These had a very smooth texture and familiar chocolate taste. I know everyone has their own recipe but for what it is (mass produced product) there is something about Hershey chocolate that is usually pretty good- although I have had the occasional below-par Hershey’s item The peanut butter is the star of the show. Ethan described the chocolate as just being a vehicle for the peanut butter. This PB is sweet, but not too sweet and just the right amount of salt. That, with just the right amount of chocolate makes these a perfect two-bite treat.
Palmer:
These were okay. The chocolate was better than I expected, although a little harder. It wasn’t exact but I thought similar enough to Reese’s to give Palmer some props. I thought the peanut butter was pretty decent, it did seem a little drier than Reese’s though. Ethan felt it had a bit of a burnt taste that was similar to the terrible Mrs. Freshly’s Nutty Buddy bars. I agreed it did have a hint of burnt but I really didn’t mind these.
Wrap up:
I have to say Reese’s knows what they’re doing. These have a perfect ratio of chocolate to peanut butter and more times than not, the peanut butter is deliciously moist and the chocolate has just enough softness to compliment the PB texture. Ethan would definitely go with Reese’s and probably given a choice, I would too. I feel it’s worth pointing out that Palmer does satisfy the chocolate and peanut butter craving pretty well. It’s like Joan to John Cusack, maybe, I don’t know. Plus Palmer’s were only $1 at Dollar Tree so sometimes knowing you got a bargain makes things taste better too.
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Ah, French Bread Pizza! Also known in some school cafeterias as “Pizza Boat”. There’s something about French Bread Pizza that seems to be liked by most people (except my mom) and I think Stouffer’s is more popular but I’m not sure. I did notice that in my area (lesser Boston) Stouffer’s FB Pizza was in all stores and even in mini-marts. Although most stores carried Red Baron products, only one store (Shaw’s) carried the French Bread option. The tasters for this were Ethan, myself and our friends Marc and Sarah. I am going by my notes from a couple of weeks ago and didn’t quote who said what but I remember we basically agreed on these. Let’s see what we thought!
Stouffer’s:
We found the sauce to be disappointing and bland. The bread had a bit of gumminess even though it was cooked enough on the outside. Because of that, we did find the outer edges to be somewhat enjoyable because of the crunch. The cheese lacked flavor and the pepperoni was the most flavorful ingredient because of the spices. Other than that, we found this to be pretty bland.
Red Baron:
Someone said this was “visually fresher”. We found the sauce to be more flavorful and was described as “zesty”. It was also noted that the bread was thicker than Stouffer’s and seemed to be a little off on the bread-to-topping ratio. I think it was Ethan who said it ”Keeps it character and integrity” which I’m not exactly sure what he meant but he can comment and explain if need be : )
Wrap up:
We went with the Baron on this one. Stouffer’s had a better bread-to-topping ratio but it wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of flavor. Maybe Red Baron wasn’t all that great either but compared to Stouffer’s it delivered more flavor and didn’t have a gummy-like dough texture, so that was enough to make it the winner.
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I almost don’t know where to start. I guess I’ll start with saying there are some flavors of Combos that are good, like Nacho Cheese and Cheeseburger, but when I saw these I thought “Sick, I have to try though!” So knowing that Ethan hates egg, I skipped him and brought these to work. Only two people, Becca and Brendan, were even brave enough to consider when I emailed them to come over to my desk to try these. I think I lost Becca immediately when she looked at the package and said “Ew…New?“ Then I opened it and they would only smell the Combos. Brendan said they smelled like dog treats, Becca agreed and then they walked away, sans Combos.
So I conducted this evaluation solo.
Okay, so they didn’t smell great. I wasn’t expecting them to smell good either, but for all the horror they induced with Becca and Brendan, these were pretty uneventful.
After the plain crunchy cracker, the center tasted mildly like egg and a little bit of cheese. I was surprised that they really lacked bacon flavor considering how easy it would be to add smoke (or at least imitation smoke) flavor to jazz it up. They weren’t the worst thing in the world, but I definitely would not buy these again. Some flavors, like egg, should not be artificially replicated.
I don’t see these featured on the Combos website, so I guess they’re discontinued already - probably a good thing.
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I know, it’s a little over 2 weeks past Halloween but I was at a dollar store today and saw some pumpkin Peeps, I was going to pass on them but then saw a second rate version in the same discount basket. They had me at “Hallo”, but what really sealed the deal was their name, “Shmellows”. Both had freshness dates that were good into 2009 so I felt it was a still a fair evaluation- plus at 25¢ a pop, how could I pass on them?
Peeps:
Ethan has not been a fan of Peeps in the past but he thought these were better than what he remembered them tasting like. He liked how they dissolved and thought they didn’t taste too sugary. I liked the light texture and bounciness of the marshmallow but always find chewing right into sugar crystals a bit too intense. They seemed to lack any real flavor but Ethan said he liked the subtle marshmallow taste.
Shmallows:
These were more dense with an orange color marshmallow. I felt that these had a taste that was so familiar but could not put my finger on it. Ethan thought they had an orangey flavor and that they were like a giant cereal marshmallow, but soft. I didn’t mind these in general but it did bother me that I could not say what they tasted like.
Wrap up:
Ethan preferred the Peeps due to their light texture, mild flavor and said they were “smooth”. I am torn between these two because I wasn’t crazy about either but like Ethan, found the texture of the Peeps better but was intrigued by the puzzling flavor (that Ethan says was orange but I think it was something else) of Shmallows. Plus they were shaped more like pumpkins which I think should count for something.
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I wasn’t able to find any information on this, but I believe Ruffles was the first chip with ridges. I always have a soft spot in my heart for Ruffles, not because they taste better than other chips but I will never forget Halloween of 1985 when one house was giving out full-size bags of Ruffles AND they let us pick the flavor we wanted(I chose Sour Cream and Onion). I still get a little shiver of excitement just thinking about what a treat that was.
Wise has a version of ridged chips called Ridgies which I’ve never had but felt they just scream “second rate”.
Ruffles:
Ruffles have a nice, light texture and a good amount of salt. These were strong enough to confidently scoop up dip. They were kind of greasy but then again it IS a potato chip. One thing we noticed was they kind of didn’t taste like anything. If someone told me these were made of paper, I might believe it.
Ethan detected some mystery flavor that he could not put his finger on but he liked it. I tried to figure it out but just didn’t taste anything unusual so I’m not sure what it was.
Ridgies:
Ridgies were more browned and had a good solid crunch. They were a little thicker in texture, Ethan felt they were a little too hard. These were less salty than Ruffles but had much more potato flavor, which to me made a huge difference. I found myself enjoying these more because of that but Ethan wasn’t too impressed.
Wrap up:
Split decision. Ethan preferred the texture, saltiness and “mystery flavor” of Ruffles but I was a fan of the strong potato flavor of Ridgies and liked their hearty texture. I will agree with Jon that the evil eye logo is a little unsettling because it looks angry, although it does fit with the challenge ”Dare to dip”.
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From looking at these boxes, I imagine the package designer for Stauffer’s is a disgruntled former Nabisco worker who vowed his revenge by fooling pre-occupied shoppers into grabbing Vanilla instead of Nilla wafers. “Not creative enough, huh? I’ll show them!” Just a thought : )
It’s been at least 20 years since I’ve had a Nilla wafer and never had a knock off, but when I saw the Vanilla wafers at Job Lot, I couldn’t resist leaving them on the shelf. This evaluation involved myself and Ethan and then I brought them into work where people wrote thier feedback on a piece of paper.
Nilla Wafer:
We noted the pleasant vanilla aroma right from opening the bag. These have a soft crunch and a couple of co-workers noted that these ”melt in the mouth”. These were a little too delicate for dunking but I liked to take a bite and drink some milk and let it dissolve that way. One co-worker described these as “too soft”. It seemed everyone agreed that these had very good vanilla flavor which Ethan said was “very inoffensive” (?) Another comment from work was “You think of Nilla when you think of wafers!”
Vanilla Wafer:
These had a much rougher texture. They felt dryer just by touching them and had a very loud crunch when bitten into and it crumbled into hard pieces. This cookie did not absorb milk well at all. The vanilla flavor was too strong and artificial. Ethan described these wafers as the bottom of a soft serve cone with vanilla ice cream in the grid at the bottom, which is good but does not work as a cookie.
Some comments from co-workers were that these were stale tasting (although the date on the box said it was good for another 6 months) too hard, too crunchy, too rough. The same person who wrote the Nilla Wafers were “too soft” wrote that these were “crunchy and good”.
Wrap up:
Nilla Wafers were the clear winner. It won people over with it’s subtle texture and mild flavor. The Stauffer’s version was too rough and dry with a poor quality vanilla flavor so it just didn’t have a lot going for it. Although they did have one fan at work.
I’ve scanned the feedback sheet because I know I left some comments out, but if interested you can read for yourself by clicking here.
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One of our favorite dips is Kraft French Onion. I would like to say that the best non-pre-made, packaged dip is Knorr Vegetable, but we’re doing pre-made tonight.
I picked Heluva Good to compare against Kraft because that was the only other French Onion dip I found on the same trip to the store. I haven’t had Heluva in a long time and remembered not liking it. I’m also not crazy about the name either. I guess it wouldn’t be allowed on the shelves if it said “Hell of a Good” but either way it sounds kind of “classless”. Not that Kraft is classy and we all know I’m not (see drinking Mt. Dew in wine glass post), but maybe I was just remembering their old package design with the “rural old timer” (who I get the feeling may not have any teeth) feeding his beard a chip w/ dip. Maybe the folks at Heluva felt the same because they’ve redesigned their packaging to look a little more modern.
Kraft:
This dip is very creamy, the onion flavor has a slight toastiness to it. It even had a bit of a toasty beige color. There is a nice subtle tang and Ethan says it has just enough sweetness. He also said the mild taste and creaminess are really the features that make this “just good”.
Heluva Good:
I don’t know if they’ve changed their recipe or something but I found myself liking this a lot. It definitely had much more of a sour cream taste and found it to be “fresh” tasting. The texture seemed lighter and still maintained a creamy quality. Ethan didn’t like the sourness and refused to say anything nice about it.
Wrap up:
We went separate ways on this one. I strayed from “old reliable” Kraft and continued eating the Heluva. It really impressed me with the fresh taste and more simple ingredient list. Ethan continued to be loyal to Kraft and stood by all the qualities he liked about it that made it “the best”.
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