Royce Baton Cookies Coconut

What is a "baton cookie" exactly?

The Attraction

This week I was invited to the opening of the new Toto showroom in NYC. In case you aren't familiar with Toto, they are the Japanese manufacturers of cool toilets, washlets, sinks and faucets. In addition to having a showroom full of cool bathroom stuff, they also had some Japanese treats for visitors to enjoy...one being these Royce Baton Cookies. 

The Review:
I didn't really think anything was special about these cookies when I first saw them laid out on a plate inside a mock bathroom in the Toto showroom, but then two of my colleagues ran over and said,  "Royce!? These must be good!" Apparently after some research, it turned out that Royce is a pretty well known and respected confectionery originally from Hokkaido, Japan.

OK, so now I really have to try one.

I open an individually sealed cookie and immediately catch a whiff of the coconut portion of the baton cookie. It's pretty coconut smelling. Personally, I have a very complicated relationship with coconuts; I enjoy the flavor and bits of  coconut here and there, but I've never been a fan of any cake or pastry that highlights a lot of coconut shavings. It was just too coconut-ty for me...so when I smelled the coconut from the cookie...I was a bit apprehensive.

My under carriage hides a chocolate delight 

As I slide the cookie out of it's plastic wrapper, I notice the chocolate coating on the bottom of the cookie. That is a good sign as I previously had some Royce chocolate and it was very smooth. I had no doubt that the chocolate on these cookies would be equally as good.

I take a bite and as I go several chews into the snack, I realize how clever Royce was to dip the underside in it's delicious chocolate. It serves as the gateway flavor to the cookie itself, but more importantly it helps the snacker gently ease into the coconut flavor within the cookie itself. The Baton Cookie strikes a nice balance between the chocolate side and the coconut essence throughout the rest of the snack, but even with that....it redlines my coconut meter.

"Oh, don't forget my coconut flavor, baby!"

The Sweet:
Royce chocolate is tasty!

The Bitter:
...but you still got to like coconut

Conclusion:
There's no doubt that Royce put some care and thought into these cookies. They are well made and the chocolate that is partnered with the coconut is very smooth and delicious, but for me, it's still more coconut than I care for.

If you are a fan of Almond Joy or Mounds (both contain shredded coconut), this might be right up your alley, but as the guy that avoids those mini bars in a mixed Halloween bag like the plague, my love for Royce Baton Cookies Coconut was never meant to be.

Video of the Week

Can you transform the poop that just

formed in my pants into something cool?

In the future when these things try take over the world and wipe us off the face of the earth, we now have another kind of robot that we can use to protect us and save human kind....but it would help tremendously if they could transform a little faster and actually do something useful other than change from one thing to another.

Chuang Jia Square Cookies

I must be very Americanized cause
this packaging doesn't excite me at all

The Attraction

I had a friend recently return from Taiwan where he was kind enough to share one of his favorite cookies from that country...Chuang Jia Square Cookies. Apparently there are pretty famous over there. Will my taste buds understand why?

The Review:
Although I am appreciative that my friend Eugene shared this snack with me, I can't say upon seeing this product that I was anxious to tear open the package and review it. To me, the branding seemed very ordinary. I never would have picked it up if I saw it at the grocery store, yet when I showed the little lady these cookies, she immediately recognized it and said how very famous they were in Taiwan. OK, now I am intrigued.

I open one of the sealed packages and was not quite able to decipher any smell from the biscuits, which made me even more curious. Would it be sweet? Savory? Why do these cookies have those brown spots on it?

...getting a little more excited

I pick up a cookie and it feels very light. Almost like a Saltine cracker. I go ahead and take a bite. Just as it felt in my hand, the cookie cracked and crumbled just like a thicker Saltine cracker, except it was sweet, not savory. Flavor-wise, it reminded me of something I've had in the past. It took me a few more cookies to put my finger on it. It tastes like a mix of a graham cracker and a coconut cracker like these Khong Guan Butter Coconut Cookies.

Most of the Western hemisphere knows what a graham cracker tastes like, but if you've never had a butter coconut cookies before, they are a light, crispy, slightly sweet cookie that is very tasty. I like graham crackers and I like butter coconut cookie, so does that mean therefore, I like these cookies? Well, yes, but it's not quite that simple.

What on earth will these taste like?

The Sweet:
Not too sweet tasty, crispy treat.

The Bitter:
Seems very familiar.

Conclusion:
These Chuang Jia square cookies are good, but they are also very similar to the other two types of cookies I mentioned earlier, so what does that mean exactly? If' you've never had a butter coconut cookie, then yes, it's worth you tasting these cookies. If you've had previously, like I have, it may just result in you thinking that these cookies taste like butter coconut cookies and how you wish you had those in your hand. How much you enjoy these cookies will probably be dictated by which camp you are in. Either way, you won't be disappointed.

Video of the Week

"Next week on Today, Molly Ringwald will be here

discussing her new career in the UFC" 

There are many great movies I remember from my childhood. Movies like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Three Amigos and The Goonies. Although after watching this performance from Corey Feldman last week, suddenly I think if One-Eyed Willy were here, he would poke out his other eye.....maybe even his ears too.

Sun Chips Garden Salsa

Sun Chips, they are like the
healthier evil twin of Doritos

The Attraction

I'm a big fan of Sun Chips Harvest Cheddar. I almost exclusively only eat that flavor of Sun Chips. Recently my office bought a variety pack which contained....Garden Salsa! I've been eyeing that flavor for awhile. No time like the present to try a new flavor!

The Review:
I wasn't too sure what to expect when I opened the bag of Garden Salsa. Yes, I know what Garden Salsa means, but what does that specifically mean in chip form? Will they somehow try to capture the onion, pepper, tomato essence in a prepackaged process product? If so, how effectively will they be able to do it? Based on the packaging, they were not shying away from the tomato and pepper aspects of a garden salsa.

I carefully open the bag of chips and dip my face into the bag. There is a scent there, but I can't quite put my finger on it. It smells vaguely familiar. Perhaps it's an oniony / slightly peppery smell.

If I were to make a dollhouse out of chips,
I would use these for the shingles

I go ahead a pick up a wavy-square Sun Chip from the bag and take a bite. The crunch is familiar and the taste, surprisingly was as well. It starts off very much like a mild version of a Doritos Cool Ranch chip at first. As the bite progresses, it lightens up even more from there and dissipates. That seems very much like a "Sun Chip" signature; a light flavor in comparison to most other chips.

After a few more chips, I begin to feel the pepper or jalapeno aspect of the "Garden Salsa". It's a slow mild burn that happens at the back of your throat. It's not a "the house is on fire" burn, it's more of a "hmm...did you feel something?", kind of a subtle burn. That's not very "Sun Chips" ish...and I like it.

You can see all the salsa goodness fried in there

The Sweet:
A healthier, yet tasty version of a corn chip. It's a win-win!

The Bitter:
It doesn't feel as guilty as most snacks do.

Conclusion:
Sun Chips aren't the brand of snacks that are looking to overpower your taste buds with it's flavor. They don't try to wine and dine you and shower you with lavish gifts so you can fall in love with it. They are more like that person you meet and becomes friends with at first and as you spend more time with them, you begin to realize how great they are. I'm still at the early phase with my "relationship" with Sun Chips Garden Salsa, but if history is any indication of what's to come, there could be a long term commitment ahead of me.

Video of the Week

Save the world, discover a cure for a disease;
why would I want to do that when I can mess with this all day?

Do you feel restless? Like you can't sit still? Peer at your mobile phone endlessly just to find something to do on it just for the sake of it? Well put down your cell phone, there's a new distraction in town! I introduce to you....the Fidget Cube! This is ridiculous....and I can't wait to get my hands on one. (Did you see that switch thingy? Man, I'll be flipping that thing all day)

Chips Ahoy Thins

 
Something old, something new,
something borrowed, something blue...3 out of 4 ain't bad

The Attraction

Since I was so infatuated with the Oreo's version of these "Thins", I wanted to see if all "Thin" versions make everything better

The Review:
Yes, I've reviewed a few Chips Ahoy products in my day, such as this and this and I have also reviewed a "Thin" product like this before, but will the "Thin" theory still ring true on a non-Oreo branded product, like a Chips Ahoy Thins? Lets find out

As I peel back the package of cookies, I can immediately see the "thin" version of these treats sitting in the familiar cookie tray. It must be said, that I prefer, by a substantial amount, the chewy version of these snacks. Well, actually, I prefer a chewy version of almost any snack vs. a drier, crispier version. That's just my preference, but I will suspend this preference, for you, my snacking public.

It's pretty obvious when I take a cookie out, that these thinner cookies are about half that of the original variety. In my mind, I can see the machine in the factory that squirts the dough onto the pan do so at half the time they would with the original version. I don't know why exactly that would come to mind. Maybe too many episodes of Unwrapped.

Maybe if I stare at this long enough,
I can convince myself these are good for me

Anyway, I bring a cookie up to my mouth and take a bite. As expected, there is a crispy crunch and the familiar Chips Ahoy flavor comes marching through my mouth like parade down Main Street. The "Thins" version of these cookies certainly didn't impact the flavor, but much like the affect it had on the Oreos, the thinning of these cookies somehow makes them better.

It streamlines the flavor profile and makes the bulkier original seem cumbersome and excessive. These thins are able to deliver the flavor you want in a far more efficient and laser-like focus to your taste-buds. It's amazing what halving a cookie can do to a snacking experience.

Half the size, half the calories, twice the consumption!

The Sweet:
Crisp, familiar flavor, but in a new, sleek cookie model

The Bitter:
They aren't chewy (OK, I still have a bias towards chewy cookies)

Conclusion:
As I write this, I can't help but think that perhaps the folks at Nabisco are marketing geniuses; perhaps a few years back, they were trying to make a "lite" version of these cookies for the more health conscious crowd, but being that much of the public doesn't care for "lite" versions of snacks, they decided to do a paradigm shift and calls these "Thins" not as in you "Thins", but as in the cookies are "Thins". Along the way they found out that you can still have the same great flavor you crave in an Oreo or in this case a chocolate chip cookie, but do so with half the size (and half the calories) and half the ingredients, but charge the same amount. It's brilliant!

Now, that's just a conspiracy theory, but I think a plausible one at that. Even with that said, whatever the origins or original intent was for these products, it is undeniable that they somehow improved upon a classic.

Video of the Week

One day...one day...

After taking some time off from working out, I started up again a few weeks ago. Now, granted I feel and look better, but I can't help but wonder after watching this video, how much more working out I would need to do to do the things this guy, Simon Ata, does in his video. It's a mix of strength body-weight moves, gymnastics and break dancing. Maybe, just maybe, eventually I will be able to do the body-weight and gymnastics stuff....and that's just a firm maybe...the break dancing part however requires rhythm and that's just something all the time in the world wouldn't help, just like this guy.