Snyder's of Hanover Pretzel Dips Peanut Butter Pretzel Sandwich

How could I NOT resist?

The Attraction:

I saw these at a Target a few weeks back, but was too much of a slacker to wait in line for 15 minutes to pay for a bag of these, so recently on my way home from work when I stopped at the drug store and saw these on the shelf again, I knew it was snack kismet. (That and I was hungry)

The Review:
In case you missed a few of my reviews, I have a thing going with peanut butter and chocolate snacks. (please see here, here and here). Its pretty hard to mess it up, in my opinion, so with this combination, it's a bit more like, how great can they make this snack?

I get home, peel open the bag and peer inside. For what I paid, it's not too bad, but I wouldn't have complained from the bag being "too heavy".

I pick up a sandwich and although it's not as pretty as the picture on the outside of the bag, the coverage and layer of chocolate on the sandwich is more than I expected. I was expecting a light coating, but from the appearance, you wouldn't necessarily have been able to tell what was under the chocolate.

Finally, it's time to dig in. I take a bite and the smooth chocolate texture gives way to a firm pretzel hidden under the coating of chocolate. The flavor waves follow the same sequence; the sweetness of the chocolate followed by the saltiness of the pretzel. Hmm..I know the bag said "peanut butter" on the outside...oh, there it is. As you can imagine, when you are dealing with these kind of strong flavors, something has to play the third fiddle and in this case it's the peanut butter. It's in there, but it gets lost in the shuffle with the shot of saltiness from the pretzel masking the salty nutty flavor of the peanut butter. It's not a salty and crunchy Reese's Peanut Butter cup, like I wished it would be like, but how many things in the world can be?

I could of used a couple of more of these

The Sweet:

Chocolate and pretzel is a great classic combo. Throw in some peanut butter for good measure.

The Bitter:
A little pricey at $3.50 a bag. The peanut butter flavor gets lost in the mix somewhere

In case you were wondering where the pretzel was

Conclusion:
These are a delicious snack. I would have liked the pb to come across a bit stronger, but I think the original configuration without the chocolate allowed the peanut butter flavor to be more pronounced. With the chocolate bath, the subtleties of the nut flavor get lost, but even at that, I cleared out the bag without much help. The next time I can scrape together a few bucks, I'll be fine with letting this little keeper join the snack party in my pantry.

Video of the Week
If you are a geek like me, then you actually watched the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer a few times. If you were a uber geek (possibly like me), then you stepped it up a notch and watched the Japanese version of the trailer to get a peek at some additional scenes.

I don't know, I might see this. (haha!)

Yotchan Amazu Soft Ashi (Seasoned Squid)

Boy, this is about to get "real"

The Attraction:

I've been a fan of squid for a while. Not so much as a pet, but more on a consumption level. So much so that I even tried some dried snack variations like this. As unmistakable as the squid was in that experience, I was ready to step it up a notch, so when I saw this little prize hanging on the rack, I knew what I had to do.

The Review:
I've been eating dried squid snacks like these since I was a kid. They are really popular in Asian cultures, so they were always accessible. One of the things I never really loved about them was how dry they were, so it seemed like a natural progression to gravitate towards squid snacks that weren't as dry. I just never thought it was possible. Well, leave it to the Japanese to make my wishes come true, but you know what they say; careful what you wish for.

I waste no time. I tear open the bag and peer in to see all the squid parts on a clear plastic tray. Oh, and there's a decent sour smell coming out of the bag as well. I don't think it went bad, I think it's part of the seasoning. We've gone this far, we can't stop now...

I take a nice squid tentacle out and take a healthy size bite out of it. It's chewy, in a good way. Very shortly after that bite, I quickly discovered that the source of the sour smell was a result of the vinegar based flavoring that the squid was seasoned with. "Hmm, do these come in another flavor?", I ponder.

Tasty bits of squid await inside.

The Sweet:

Nice chewy squid texture. As close to eating a fresh squid from a bag without getting physically ill.

The Bitter:
I didn't love the sour taste that accompanied it, though.

Oh, you know it's squid alright!

Conclusion:
Everything was great about this snack, except the flavor. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't particularly inviting either. Unfortunately for the snack makers at Yotchan, flavor is a big part of the snacking experience. I enjoyed the texture so much that as I write this, I can visualize myself chewing on a piece right now in spite of the sour flavor vibe.

The packaging seems to indicate that this snack should be consumed with beer, which I whole heartily agree with as it would probably help wash some of that flavor away, but for me, that's not what I'm looking for in a snack. The beer should be optional, not mandatory and after a few of these, it sure does feel mandatory.

Video of the Week
The only thing I enjoy more than people freaking out during a hot pepper challenge is watching the same hot pepper challenge video with music put to it. Oh, I don't think it's possible to not laugh during this poor woman's challenge.

"This probably was a pepper"

Doritos Dinamita Chile Limon

If only I knew what Dinamita meant...

The Attraction:

While roaming the aisles of a Asian grocer that stocks their shelves with some snacks that I haven't seen at some other places, I came across this oddity that I didn't even know Doritos released. Odd shape, new flavor and it says Doritos on it....was there ever a chance I wasn't going to try it?

Edit: I forgot to mention that the folks at Doritos probably noticed the popularity of a snack called Takis in Latin American countries and decided to jump into that market with a remarkably similar product. Coincidence? I think not.

The Review:
I was so excited to find out what this new line within Doritos was that I took this bag home and immediately cracked it open. I take a deep inhale and the only this I could detect was that slightly fried smell that you get with chips sometimes. No heat, no lemon or lime smell. That's OK.

I then take a good peek inside and see this color that I've never seen in nature before. It's like a radioactive red. "How hot are these suckers?", I think to myself. I pick one up and inspect it. It looks as though they took a regular Dorito chip and rolled it after they fried it. Interesting approach, but how does it taste?

I finally take a bite and the crunch is not unlike what you would imagine a rolled up Dorito would be like...and that's a good thing. Oddly enough, despite the intense red color, the first flavor that seeps into your taste buds is the slightly salty flavor of lime. It reminded me of these Tostitos, but milder. It's not quite tart enough to be lemon. Then towards the middle to end of the bite, the heat starts to kick in and it's a nice burn. It's not a meek, "Umm, hi. Is Bobby home? May I speak to him?". It's more of a, "Yeah, Bobby live here? Tell him to get his ass outside!" kind of a heat. You know it means business. Even with that, something doesn't quite seem right.

Can this color be real?

The Sweet:

Extra crispy crunch with some serious heat.

The Bitter:
Somehow the "limon" and "chile" flavor doesn't quite totally hit the snack taste bud spot

Yes, this is the color!

Conclusion:
Although the folks over at Doritos did an interesting thing by rolling their nachos up to create a new and crispier crunch, this specific flavor misses the target. I enjoy the spice and the "limon" flavor, but it came across flat. It's missing a stronger flavor element. The heat itself is a great peripheral flavor, but the flavor of lime isn't strong enough to hold a snack lover's attention. Perhaps their other flavors like Nacho Picoso or Mojo Criollo might do a better job of it or maybe I'm not their primary market, but for me this first sampling of the Doritos Dinamita series left me feeling like this was more of a bust than a boom.

Video of the Week
This really isn't a video, rather more of a website. In my never ending quest to match-make people, here's a website devoted to matching up zombies and or zombie lovers. Yes, this is a real site and no, I received no compensation for showing this to you. Besides, isn't knowing that such a thing like this actually exists payment enough?

Zombies need love too

Marie Ange Di Costa Morbidi Torroncini Al Pistacchio

Ahh, just like being in Italy again

The Attraction:

Pistachios seem to be one of several popular nuts in Italy (hazelnut, almond and cashews are a few others), so it was only natural when I saw this bag of pistachio nougats begging me to take it home in the airport in Rome, that I take the bait. Well, I think we know how that turned out, don't we?

The Review:
While I was in Italy, I found a few gelato stands that served some amazing pistachio gelato. I'm going to go off on a bit of a tangent here, but the last time I had pistachio ice cream, it was in a form of a milk shake probably back in 1996 up around Oyster Bay, Long Island New York. I remember well because it was so tasty and bright green when I was drinking it....and not so tasty and bright green when it left me. I won't go into all the gory details, but that was a big part as to why I shied away from the pistachio flavored anything for awhile. This was as good as an excuse as any other to try pistachio flavored anything again.

I take a nougat out and tear open the wrapper it was sealed in. As I open it, there is a very subtle hint of pistachio flavor. I take a bite into the piece and I am pleasantly surprised how easily the nougat yielded to my bite. The texture of the nougat itself is more of a dense paste than a nougat I've been used to. The pistachio flavor greets me at the door, then shortly after the sugar wave starts to hit, except it keeps rising and rising, and rising...when will this sugar wave crest and finally crash?! Damn this thing is sweet!

Let me out!

The Sweet:

These nougats have a nice texture that isn't overly chewy 

The Bitter:
The sweetness doesn't stop...it's really sweet, no seriously...really sweet

Umm..pistachio..yay?

Conclusion:
Marie Ange Di Costa seems to make some pretty fancy treats in Italy. These nougats are no exception. Although they are seemingly well made, they are just too sweet for my taste. I was so distracted by the sugar level that I barely noticed the pistachio part of the description. I don't even know if I can even finish the rest of the bag. Which reminds me, the next time I'm in Italy and I got a hankering for pistachios, I'll just stick to the ice cream variety.

Video of the Week
The good people over at Motherboard have released an interesting video of one of their correspondents staying at a hotel exclusively staffed by robots. I don't know about you, but have you seen some of the people that work at the front desk of a hotel? We might not be able to tell the difference.

This is ridiculous, I demand a real dinosaur as my concierge!

Pringles Xtra Tangy Buffalo Wing

I've been fooled by "hot" claims before!

The Attraction:

I've been on the hunt for a good spicy, savory snack lately. I've tried a few like Cheez-Its Hot and Spicy, Wheat Thins Spicy Buffalo, and Pop Chips Crazy Hot. Though some were better than others, none really brought the heat the way the scary artwork on the packaging would suggest. Let's see if these Pringles can actually deliver the goods....( I don't feel too optimistic about this)

The Review:
I dig Pringles and even though I don't love all their products, (see here and here), I enjoy their products enough to give them a chance when I see a new flavor that might work. Let's "pop the top" and find out where this flavor stands.

I break the seal on the can and I catch a hint of tabasco. Yes, that tabasco. OK, the product doesn't claim to actually use the brand Tabasco sauce, but it sure smells like it. I take chip out of the narrow canister and toss it in my mouth. "Oh yeah, vinegary like Tabasco too.", I think to myself. If it ain't Tabasco, it sure taste a whole lot like it and that is a good thing. Once the initial vinegar hit subsides, you can feel some of the advertised heat start to rise in your mouth all while tasting the familiar Pringles flavor.

The spiciness works really great in this instance. It adds another dimension to the flavor of the chips. If you love Asian noodles in soup like I do, a good analogy might be that Pringles by itself is like a noodle soup and Xtra Tangy Buffalo Wing flavor is what happens to your noodle soup when you add sriracha or hot chili oil to your noodle soup.

Looks innocent enough...

The Sweet:

Classic Pringles taste with a enough heat to make you stand up and notice.

The Bitter:
Not for the faint of heart "mild spicy"eaters.

Whoa...did you feel that too?

Conclusion:
Pringles didn't mess around when they said Xtra Tangy Buffalo Wing. Surprisingly, they brought the heat and didn't water down this snack. It's a bit more of a cumulative affect, but you'll get there. I'm not sure why it took so long to find something that hit the spicy spot just right. Perhaps the other snack makers wanted their product to appeal to more of the masses, so they tone down the heat index on their items. A part of me understands the business decision behind that, but the spicy snack lover in me can't help but feel alienated and bamboozled when I buy into the claims of "hot" snacks. I know the term "spicy" is very subjective from person to person, but surely, I can't be alone in saying that some of these claims of "spicy" or "hot" just fall completely by the waist-side when I eat them.

Well, search no more.

Video of the Week
Who said eating at fast food joints aren't good for you? Take this guy for example. In addition to be "bennurished", he has developed a skill that will pay dividends for at least a few minutes.

Move over Calvin Harris, there's something meatier...

Ferrero Tronky Latte e Cereali

 

Ferrero? Let me guess...hazelnut again?

The Attraction:

As I begin to polish off the remaining snacks on my recent trip to Italy, I pulled out this box that I've been waiting to review. What caught my eye about this snack is this description of milk and cereal flavor. I had no idea what that means exactly or what flavor that would taste like. Let's find out, shall we?

The Review:
I've been staring at this box for awhile. I've been wanting to try this, but I purposely have been holding this out to the end to so I had a snack to really look forward to. I must say though that my previous reviews of some of the other snacks I got from Italy like Loacker's Tortini Mini and another Ferrero product called Nutella B-Ready had gotten me used to a certain formula that these Italian snacks seem to follow; crunchy shell, hazelnut cream, perhaps some chocolate thrown in there somewhere. This product should be different, I hoped, as the flavor I choose seemed to not indicate any sign of hazelnut anywhere. Don't get me wrong, I got nothing against hazelnut, but even man cannot live on hazelnut alone.

The box houses five individually wrapped Tronky "sticks". I unwrap one and quickly see the familiar shell similar to the one on the outside of a Nutella B-Ready stick, albeit a lighter shade. "Please! Have mercy....no hazelnuts, sir!" I beg to the Tronky Gods.

I take a dive in fully expecting a hint of hazelnut to greet me at some point, but there was none to be found or was there? What I did get was a smooth sweet cream, with the texture reminiscent of the cream in the middle of an Oreo, except in this case, sandwiched between two light crispy wafers. The filling, isn't as sweet as the cream in an Oreo, but it does have a slight taste of hazelnut (curses!), but not overwhelmingly so. It's more of a passing flavor versus a full on assault.

It actually reminded me of this Choco Roll, I had way back when. Is that a good or bad thing?

This shell looks familiar

The Sweet:

Nice familiar crunchy wafer wrapped around a sweet cream core.

The Bitter:
Maybe not the ideal start to the morning, if you take the flavor suggestion literally.

Is that what semi-solid milk and cereal taste like? 

Conclusion:
Yes, Ferrero reuses the shell...again, but the differentiator for me this time is the cream filling. Perhaps wisely I stayed clear of the Tronky Original that has hazelnuts in it. I have a feeling this review would have been very different otherwise. Be it as it may, these are fine snacks and aren't overly sweet and deliver a nice sugar pick-me-up when needed. Would I hop on the next plane back to Italy to get another pack? Nah, but if I have a layover there, I might drop a Euro on this little treat while I continue to comb the candy rack for other treasures.

Video of the Week
I don't think I need to say much, if you haven't seen it already.

December can't come soon enough

Kettle Brand Maple Bacon Potato Chips

Here we go again

The Attraction:

When I stepped out of the office the other day to pickup lunch, I was fully expecting to pickup the old standby, a bag of nacho-flavored Doritos, when I spotted this curiosity on the potato chip rack. I've had a few variations of this theme lately, so I was a little reluctant at first, but then I thought, "OK, I guess I can try one more...."

The Review:
I've started to rack up my fair share of snacks that have tried to incorporate "meat" flavor into their products like here, here and here. Although the results have been mixed, I was feeling hopeful when I saw that the Kettle Brand company took Lay's lead with trying some new and interesting flavors. Maple and bacon?! I can see by their illustration on the front of their bag that they are trying to capture that unique flavor combination when your pancake syrup drips off your short stack and onto your strips of crispy bacon. Ahh....I can taste that already....but can a bag of chips possibly capture that magic?

Tear the bag open and the maple syrup smell is first to greet me. I pickup a chip and indulge. There's the maple flavor I smelled....and as the tail end of the bite concludes, the cured taste of bacon comes around to close out the show. It's not bad, and they certainly have captured that maple flavor, but something seems missing.....it doesn't seem to deliver the knockout blow.

When I have potato chips, part of my preset expectation is there will be a savory (salty) component to it....and there is in this product, but it doesn't quite deliver it as strongly as I had hoped. It's like ordering a side of french fries...but they aren't quite salted enough. Yes, they are crispy, yes, they are hot, yes, they smell amazing...but when you pop that fry in your mouth, if it doesn't deliver a hit of savory flavor, either via salt or ketchup, it seems to miss the target. That's how these chips came across to me.

Would it kill them to put more in there?

The Sweet:

Kettle chips crispy crunch with a sweet maple start gets you excited.

The Bitter:
It doesn't quite scratch that savory flavor itch.

Is there bacon in there?

Conclusion:
In theory, this sounded like a plausible flavor combination, but the reality didn't quite live up to the expectation. I've come to give up that any chip will ever be able to come very close to simulating "meat" flavor, but where this snack falters is that unlike having that piece of bacon with pancakes in the morning where the saltiness of the bacon helps neutralize the sweetness of the maple syrup, the savory aspects of the these chips doesn't come through quite strong enough to satisfy that savory craving.

Video of the Week
As we enter post-season play in baseball here in the States, (Go Mets!), here's a clip of a Samurai showing you how to really show a baseball who's the boss.

First try? I can't even hit a ball with a bat going that fast!