Rum Coconut Patties

Did someone say rum?!

The Attraction:
I've seen these dang things around for years, mainly around the airports and souvenir shops around Florida. I've never bought any for anyone nor for myself cause although I like coconut, I've never been able to commit myself to giving someone something in which I've never tried or had a better idea of what it tastes like. Well, when a co-coworker recently returned from a trip from the Sunshine State with these and the Key Lime version in tow, this was the perfect time to sample these little buggers.

How many of these would I need
to eat to get a buzz, from rum, that is

The Review
Anastasia Confections makes these patties with assorted varieties and each of the two flavors I have on-hand, rum and key lime, come with 12 individually wrapped patties. I opt to try the rum version first. Let the party begin!

I tear open the clear cellophane wrapping and the smell of rum is quite clear. "Gee, I hope the rum flavor isn't too strong", I think to myself, and thankfully after my first bite, it's clear that the rum flavor isn't over-powering. The sweetness, on the other hand, whoa!

It's what you would imagine a rum-coconut patty might taste like. The addition of the rum does do a great job of maintaining the moisture of the patty itself. The chocolate also adds a nice contrast both textually as well as add some dimension flavor-wise.I take another bite.....sure enough....it's still dang sweet....too much so.

Looks like a slice of miniature cake with a chocolate frosting, no?

The Sweet:
The moisture is perfect in these patties. I really dislike dry coconut, but these patties hit it right on the money. The rum works! The partial chocolate coating is also a seemingly small detail, but overall nets a huge gain as it works wonders both on your taste buds and the sensation in your mouth as you chew into one of these patties.

The Bitter:
Its really sweet. Perhaps almost about 20%-40% too much so. It's the type of sweetness that makes you stop wanting to have an additional piece after you polish one patty off.  Perhaps even stop wanting sweets in general for a bit.

The room started to spin...from the sugar high!

Conclusion:
Although these rum coconut patties do a wonderful job of maintaining a nice balance of moistness and an ideal ratio of chocolate to patty, the overwhelming sweetness makes this product difficult to recommend. With that said, this probably is an ideal souvenir; most folks will just grab one, feel satisfied, and not wish to have another one again for some time.

Perhaps the key lime version will rate more favorably? Hmm....we'll have to wait and see.

Video of the Week
Something a bit different this week. I know Christmas just passed, but here's a feel-good clip about a lad named Patrick that was unable to communicate for much of his young life. He was born deaf and his village didn't have a school that taught sign-language, so he sat in silence, until recently.

Happy Patrick!

Dongguan Hsu Fu Chi Strawberry Sandwich Cookie

I, too, can only understand Strawberry Sandwich Cookie.
That and 50% of something

The Attraction:
Knowing I had an upcoming holiday week ahead of me, I searched desperately to find a snack that I would hope I would like while I was home hibernating for the next few days. Last week I found myself at the Asian grocer again when I came across this. Look how delicious those strawberries look in the lower-right-hand corner. Even at that, it didn't really jump out at me, but it's OK. Like closing time at a bar, sometimes you don't get exactly what you are looking for, but what looks good enough for that moment. Hello, Ms. Strawberry Sandwich Cookie...

I'm hoping that says "Yummy stuff inside"

The Review
The Nestle company recently bought a majority share of the Dongguan Hsu Fu Chi, which in China, is the 2nd largest snack company next to Mars. I didn't know all that before picking up a package, but it did seem to give it some "street cred" after finding that out. Nestle has got to know a good thing when they see it, right? Let's find out...

Upon opening up the package, I find that there were single individually-wrapped servings within the packaging tray. Not unusual and it usually works out pretty well if a company is trying to maintain freshness in it's product. Next, I tear open the single serving wrapper and it reveals something that looks very similar to the famed Pineapple cakes from Taiwan; a crumbly shortbread exterior. For those uninitiated, think of a shortbread outside on a Fig Newton, but encased on all sides. Hmm...I'm not crazy about those pineapple cakes, but who knows if they taste the same?

 I finally dig in; the texture of the outer layer is the same of that of a pineapple cake. It's a drier and denser shortbread that yields to the thick strawberry gel inside. My suspicions were right, this is exactly a pineapple cake, but with a strawberry filling. Yay?

"What's up, shorty?"

The Sweet:
If you are a fan of Pineapple Cakes, but want to venture into different flavors, welcome to your Nirvana! The Hsu Fu Chi Company does a great job of recreating all the signature components of a Pineapple Cake; crumbly, dry shortbread on the outside and fruit-flavored filling on the inside.

The Bitter:
You have to like pineapple cakes or at least like shortbread. Although I recognize that I'm not a good person to review a product like this since it's so similar to another product I don't like, I do see how fans of these types of snacks could enjoy this. Just not "moi", as the folks at Nestle might say.

It does look rather like a Fig Newton, doesn't it?

Conclusion:
For me, shortbread is good on it's own. When you throw in a fruit jelly of some sort, in theory, one might think that would counter the dryness of the shortbread, but for me, this item just reminds me how dry it is....and I hate really dry sweet snacks.

Somehow, this makes me appreciate Fig Newtons even more. They use a moister exterior and wisely only encase the fig filling on two sides. Dang, now I want a Fig Newton....and if you are like me, maybe you should get one too instead of this product.

Update: Maybe I like these more than I thought. I polished off half the box already!

Video of the Week
In case you were wondering what to get me this year. I won't hold it against you if it's a little late.

Someone pinch me

Holiday Snack-Fest

I know I'm late in posting a review this week, but don't fret. There will be several updates this week due to all this free time at home for the holidays! Gosh forbid if I did something other than snack a lot.

Wheat Thins Zesty Salsa

Just how "zesty" is zesty? 

The Attraction:
I love Wheat Thins! My pal Phil introduced it to me over 15 years ago. I never thought to try it as it struck me as some sort of health food "thing" way back when.(that should give you an idea of how things have changed over the years). I've been keeping it pretty simple and avoiding many of the new flavors that Wheat Thins have been offering, but when I saw a "two for" deal at the supermarket, I thought it was a fine time to live a little, take a walk on the wild side, fly without a net....OK, you get the idea.

The Review
I take a deep whiff as I tear open the bag within the Wheat Thins box and sure enough, there is a smell of salsa in there. I'm amazed at how Nabisco was able to capture the smell of salsa on a cracker. I take a bite and I wasn't sure what to expect; does "zesty" imply hot? A strong flavor of some sort? As I work my way through my first chip, it reminds me of a Taco Bell hard shell taco, but not just the shell, the whole taco, with sauce! I take a few more chips and an air of familiarity strikes me. It takes a few more pieces after that before I can place it; it also taste like a mild Cool Ranch Dorito!

Looks the same, but do I taste good?

The Sweet:
The flavor is great! Think a Taco Bell hard shell taco crossed with a Cool Ranch Dorito (minus some salt) and that's what this Wheat Thin tastes like. Incidentally, I like Cool Ranch Doritos and Taco Bell, in case you couldn't tell. I think I just showed my hand...

The Bitter:
Nothing that jumps out at me. Perhaps a clearer idea of what the "zesty" part is in "Zesty Salsa". I get the salsa part clearly, the zesty part, not so much. It's not spicy (which I actually would have liked, but I understand why they didn't tack that on), and the flavor doesn't particularly have a strong "kick" to it. Salsa: check. Zesty: MIA. To add to the confusion, there is also a Ranch flavored Wheat Thin. If this taste like Cool Ranch to me, what the heck will that taste like?

"Guess where you are going"

Conclusion:
Nabisco does a fine job on this flavor variation of one of their snack standards, Wheat Thins. In a crowded snack aisle, it manages to carve out a specific flavor without going way outside of the "flavor" box. In fact, I enjoyed this Zesty Salsa flavor so much, it has opened my mind up to try their other Wheat Thins flavor variations. Perhaps Ranch so I can distinguish the two or Spicy Buffalo so I can get that spicy kick I was wanting with this product. I feel like that's exactly what Nabisco wants! Well played, Wheat Thins people, well played.

Video of the Week
Working on finding a good one...

Khong Guan Custard Cream Biscuits

The Attraction:
Almost anything sandwiched with a cream filling at the minimum gets a moment of consideration. I remember eating these awhile back. They have since changed the packaging. I wonder if anything else has changed...

The Review
Khong Guan, much like the Singapore version of Nabisco here in the US, makes a many assorted varieties of snacks and cookies. One of them, the Custard Cream Biscuit, was my first introduction to the Khong Guan brand several years ago. I was a fan because the cookie wasn't overly sweet, complicated or gimmicky. It was just a simply tasty cookie. When I noticed the recent repackaging of their product lines, I wanted to revisit the cookie that I once loved. Did the new packaging come with a change to the recipe I had grown to love in my youth? "Hope they don't mess this up", I thought.

Upon first inspection of the cookies, everything looks identical. I take my first bite; hmm...the outer shell still has the simple sweet that I can recall, but as I keep chewing, something seems different. The cream finally interacts with my first bite. This cookie seems drier than I remember. Could I have grown out of liking this cookie? Has my taste buds become less acute.....no! After I take a second bite, it dawns on me......they put in less custard cream! Are they mad!?

The "old school package"
Who knew that wouldn't be the only thing that would change

The Sweet:
Still a very simple sandwich cream cookie that has a outer shell cookie that are slightly reminiscent of shortbread that is still tasty in itself. You could probably enjoy it on it's own. The custard cream (I'm not sure why they call it custard) is a perfect pairing with the outer cookie, except...

The Bitter:
... not enough cream! By lessening the amount of cream they place into each cookie, it has dramatically changed the product, and not in a good way. The biscuits now seem drier and well.....rather ordinary.

Conclusion:
The reduction of cream in each cookie has thrown the balance off on this once delightful product. The dance in your mouth between the cream and cookie shell was perfect. Now, it seems that the cookie exterior is doing more of a solo with a cream cameo.

Imagine if you will, an Oreo. Now take said Oreo and remove about 33% to 50% of the cream middle out. See how the cookie just seems drier and well....just not seem like an Oreo? That's what happened here. Hopefully someone at Khong Guan notices how popular the cream part is in the biscuit and right this epic wrong. Besides, how well would you think a "half-stuffed" Oreo cookie would be? Probably about as popular as this cookie is with me. Unless the cream comes back, I won't.

Video of the Week
You know, this time of year, it's important to remember all your friends, love ones and most of all, family. No other group of people in your life will be sure to send you immediately into years of therapy.

Meanwhile, joy is being spread to a family in Asia