Lotte Toppo Coffee and Vanilla Ice Cream Flavor

OK, I may have eaten some before I took the photo

The Attraction:
Admittedly, I didn't pick this item up. The little lady grabbed a box of these out of curiosity. I didn't think much about them, but then I thought, why not put them to the SneakASnack test!

The Review
I had no expectations when I tried these. OK, I had low expectations when I tried these. We've all had Pocky up to this point, so I thought this wouldn't be much different from any other knockoff that I've had up to this point. How different could it be? As much as I enjoy an occasional Pocky myself, what else needed to be said?

Lotte has always been one of my trusted brands for snacks. Though I may not love every single offering they have, their products are always made with high quality and care. Even with that, I casually grabbed a stick of Toppo thinking it would just be a throw away snack for the moment. When I picked it up, I did notice that it was thicker and denser than a Pocky. About twice the weight. I thought that was odd. There was a smell of coffee, which I'm not even a fan of, but I how bad can one stick taste? Here goes nothing...

I bite in and as advertised, there is a coffee and vanilla flavor, but it's well balanced. The coffee flavor is present, but not overwhelmingly so. There's enough to know it's there and the vanilla flavor helps mellow it out. Also surprisingly, the stick itself is not like a cracker; it's not dry on the inside. It's moister, more like the outside of a Fig Newton in the middle, but with a crisper shell. Other than being in stick form, these are not like Pocky at all!

I'm like a reverse Pocky!

The Sweet:

Great coffee flavor, without the bitterness, balanced out nicely with the vanilla ice cream component. Moist may not be quite the right word for it, but it is not dry, which gives you a nice texture when you bite into it.

Doesn't look like much, but don't let that fool you

The Bitter:
Coffee lovers may want a stronger "hit" of coffee flavor.

Conclusion:
I'm not a fan of coffee flavored anything, so you can imagine my own surprise how much I enjoyed this product. Sometimes letting go of expectations is the best thing you can do. In the case of Lotte's Coffee and Vanilla Ice Cream Toppo, it was just what I needed to let go of what I thought I knew and be pleasantly rewarded with this new snack discovery.

Video of the Week
I've been to several massage spas in my day, but never have I gotten the full array of spa treatments like Conan O'Brien... and after seeing this, I may never want to.

This was my favorite part!

Lotte Toppoki Snack

That's one big mouth dog

The Attraction

Maybe it was the red shiny dog on the outside of the packaging or it was the unusual amount of hits I got from people checking these dukbokki snacks I previously reviewed. Anyway, I thought it was fine time to try see what a spicy version of what that snack might taste like. 

The Review:
I must apologize; I know I've been doing a lot of Asian snacks lately, but it's been awhile since I found a snack that caught my interest at the local supermarket. (I can see my friend Gabby's eyes roll as she sees this product. I'll work harder to throw some more diversity to my snack reviews, OK, damnit?!

I open this bag and immediately there is a sweet / fried smell creeping out of the bag. It's almost as subtle as that shiny red dog on the outside. I take a peek inside and I see these "chips' that look like mini-churros or penne. Interesting. hopefully they taste like dry, uncooked pasta.

I pick a lucky toppoki from the bag and give it a bite. There is a nice crunch and as expected, there is a sweet flavor that comes through first and at the very end...a slight spiciness.

Pasta time

"What!? That's it?! That's the 'Crazy' heat indicated on the outside of the bag?!"

I must have become the Superman of spicy snacks if that was considered spicy. I plop down in front of my computer and start to form my review while continuing to munch on these snacks.....next thing I notice is about 7-10 pieces later the heat has built to the point where I'm starting to salivate a good amount. That is what is tricky about the spicy-sweet combo....sometimes it just sneaks up on.

The heat seems to build steadily at about 10% increments until it gets to the point where your brain finally tells you, "Hey, this is sorta spicy, homey"

I'm a hottie (when I'm with my friends)

The Sweet:
Great snack if you like a sweet / spicy mix

The Bitter:
Need to string a bunch of these together to start feeling the Bern, burn.

Conclusion:
If the heat you were getting from the other Korean style snacks like this wasn't doing it for you, start munching on a few of these and it's only a matter of time before your mouth starts sweating. It's actually remarkably similiar tasting to other dukbokki / toppoki snacks, but this item punches up the heat about twice that of other similiar products I have tried.....all doing it while it's slightly sweet flavor gives you a false sense of security. This is like that date you meet on Craigslist that joins you for dinner, have great conversation with, only to have them ruffie you and take your watch later; it's stealthy, but good.

Video of the Week 

How quickly can we get to Shanghai?

Now, I don't know the movie Tron terribly well, however, the visuals are quite memorable. That's why without even seeing the movie or it's sequel, I would consider flying to Shanghai to check out this ride in the Disneyland over there. That and check out it's skyline and eat like a beast. Did I mention the food?

Doritos Hot Honey

 Yellow Doritos bag?
Could it be cheddar flavor?

The Attraction

As part of my plunder on my last trip to H-Mart, I scored these "exotic" flavored Doritos. I wasn't quite sure what flavor they were when I bought them, but I just knew it said Doritos on it and it was different....that was good enough for me.

The Review:
After doing some digging on the interwebs, I discovered that this yellow bag of Doritos is actually "Hot Honey" flavored. I can't be certain, but I'm willing to bet this may have something to do with the recent influx of honey-flavored snack items into the market following the honey-butter craze in Korea. (See here and here). I'm just thankful these chips aren't honey-butter flavored as well.

I also do observe that in the upper-left hand corner, it's noted that Lotte, the fine makers of classic Asian snacks like Choco-Pie and Toppo Coffee and Vanilla Ice Cream Flavor produced this Doritos product. This will be interesting.

I tear open the bag of chips and take a deep inhale. There isn't an obvious scent, maybe one of fried corn chips, if you inhaled deep enough. That could be a good sign as it wasn't too sweet or too spicy to the point where it was obvious even without taking a bite.

I pickup a well formed chip and take a bite. It's every bit what you would expect from a Doritos-branded chip; nicely formed corn chip with a great crunch, but in terms of taste, it reminded me of something that I haven't had in awhile. Something that wasn't even a snack, per se. More on that in a minute.

Looks like a pale Dorito

The initial flavor of the sweetness strikes first and as slowly as that flavor begins to fade, there is a slow burn towards the back of my throat. I'm beginning to like this type of spicy. It's a much more laid back spicy. I've been so accustomed to the forward-vinegary heat of things like buffalo wings and certain kinds of beef jerky that when you have something that attacks your spicy zones in a different way, it's really interesting. Most of the spicy items I've had seems to impact the front-to-center part of your tongue. This sweeter heat seems to hit from the back and then the sides of your tongue. Don't get me wrong, you have enough of these and your mouth won't care where the heat is coming from, it just knows it's on fire..but in the most pleasant kind of way.

In terms of the sweetness, I was surprised to discover that the initial sweet hit reminds me of McDonald's Sweet and Sour sauce. Yes, that's right. The very sauce you use to dip your McNuggets into. Shocking, but true! There's even a slight hint of smokiness in there which gives it almost gives it a bbq twist. Turn up the dial a few more notches and you could possible mistake this for a sweet bbq-flavored product.

Pale does not mean no flavor

The Sweet:
Great Doritos crunch with a tasty sweet and spicy flavor dusting.

The Bitter:
If you aren't used to sweet-flavored chips, this may take some time to adjust to.

Conclusion:
I was never totally won over with the honey-butter craze from a little while back. All those products were fine, but it never got me to the point of going from store to store trying to locate my next "hit". These Doritos Hot Honey chips won't quite get me to that point either, but if anything, it made me wonder why this product couldn't be as big.

I prefer the thicker corn chip with the associated crunch that this snack offers. The heat also provides a "cleansing" affect from the first sweet flavor wave and clears the deck for another chip to follow...and believe me...another chip will follow.

Video of the Week

What could possibly go wrong? (hehe)

Ah...what can be more beautiful than a couple's wedding day? A day to celebrate all the love and joy that will culminate out of the union of two people. Sometimes when you see two people, you aren't totally sure if they belong together. In this case, I'm sure they do because the only thing better than her reaction is his equally intellectual reaction. Blessings to you both...you will need it.