It sure is nice when companies send samples of new food and drink products to review! Here are a few more we tried recently:

Unwind (TM) Low Calorie Relaxation Beverage–This is the opposite of Red Bull. In fact, it’s the polar opposite of those high caffeine drinks. Unwind contains a natural blend of melatonin, valerian root, rose hips and passion flower, and comes in Goji Grape, Pom Berry and Citrus Orange flavors. I tried them all, but not all at the same time. Let me tell you, this stuff works. I would advise that you drink it in the evening or before bed, because it relaxed me to the point of making me extremely sleepy. Not only that, this stuff, despite being low in calories, is delicious. The citrus is a tad bitter but the grape and berry flavors are awesome. Now I need to find more of it. If you’d like to, check out the Unwind website. Happy relaxing!

Black Star Double Hopped Golden Lager–Yes, I was sent beer to sample. How cool is that? I moved to Wisconsin recently, and the beers here are among some of the best I’ve ever had. So I’ve become somewhat of a beer snob. But this Black Star Double Hopped Golden Lager passed my discerning palate test with flying colors. It’s a European style Pilsner and the double hops give it a rich, deep flavor without being too dark or hearty. It’s smooth and is the type of beer you could just keep drinking on a hot summer day (so long as you are at home or can hand your keys to someone else).
Check out Black Star’s website for more info.

Utz La Primera Tortilla Chips--The fine folks at Utz don’t just make pretzels and chips and snack mixes. Their new La Primera Tortilla chips are really awesome–the extra thin Taqueria style chips in Regular, Limon and Southwest flavors are authentic Mexican restaurant type chips, mainly because they are so thin. The Regular style are a good complement with salsa, and the Limon stand up on their own with a nice lime and salt kick. The Southwest style is like Doritos Taco flavor, but not as processed tasting, and with some nice heat. There is also the Original Stone Ground Tortilla Chips, which are thicker and therefore better for cheese dips and guacamole..and these are also delicious and authentic tasting.

We recently reviewed Utz Pretzels and talked about how generally awesome they are.

But Utz, like most snack companies, is constantly trying to improve their brand and to compete with other snack makers. So for this summer, Utz introduced, among other new snacks, these pretzel pieces in three flavors–Cheddar, Buttermilk Ranch, and Honey Mustard and Onion.

Now, these aren’t like regular pretzels that are crispy and malty and salty and awesome. The flavored pieces are more like a different kind of snack altogether, with the pretzel being a vehicle for the flavor of choice. And Utz brings the flavor in a big way, in some cases a bit too much. Here is how we sum up these pretzel pieces:

Cheddar–Okay, scratch what I just said about not being like regular pretzels. Because one thing you notice here is that these are Utz Pretzels, which are in a different class than most pretzel brands. Then you get the big cheddar flavor, which is sharp and bold and holds up to the palate of this Wisconsin based cheese snob.

Buttermilk Ranch–Well, this one wasn’t as pleasant. The ranch flavor is quite processed, like they took the pretzels and shook them in a bag of Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix. It also had an unpleasant onion-y aftertaste.

Honey Mustard & Onion–Unlike the ranch and cheddar, this flavor wasn’t as potent, but subtle enough to where you keep tasting the different flavors coming together as one. And with that, you want to keep eating them. Or at least I did. These are actually NOT too onion-y, and the sweet mustard flavor is awesome.

We received samples of all of the new Utz Snacks, so we’ll be reviewing more in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, if you try these pretzel pieces, feel free to leave your own comment in the space below. Thanks for reading and munching with me!