New food/drink product roundup
Posted by Mike Farley (09/22/2010 @ 5:20 pm)
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!
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Posted in: Beer, Food & Drink, Grub for Guys
Tags: Beer, beverages, Black Star Double Hopped Golden Lager, cheese dip, Doritos, drink reviews, European Pilsner, food reviews, guacamole, Guilty Pleasures, La Primera Tortilla Chips, Limon, midnight snacks, Red Bull, salsa, snacks, Southwest, Stone Ground chips, taco, Taqueria, Unwind, Unwind relaxation beverage, Utz snacks, Wisconsin
More tasty (and some spicy) snacks from Frito-Lay
Posted by Mike Farley (06/07/2010 @ 5:17 pm)
It was a beautiful day at my house recently back when I received a package from Frito-Lay of snacks to try and review right here. I had already found their Doritos Burn Flavor chips locally and I’m craving them again as we speak. Anyway, I offered to review some other Frito-Lay snacks that I hadn’t tried. And here they are, in no particular order:
Funyun’s Flamin’ Hot Onion Flavored Rings–Another extension of the Frito-Lay “Flamin’ Hot” franchise, complete with the red glow that works its way onto your fingers as you eat them. I love Funyun’s, and I love spicy food, so this was a slam dunk for me. I could probably eat 10 bags of these right now.
Chee-tos Giant cheese puffs–If Eric Cartman were a real person, he would eat these. We’re talking balls that measure one inch (some more) around, that for some folks would require two bites. The novelty alone was worth trying them for, but it’s not like you’ll want to sit around and munch on these. They taste fine, but when you eat the smaller variety, you get more cheese flavor all around.
Chee-tos Mighty Zingers Sharp Cheddar & Salsa Picante–Unlike the Giant puffs, these are the “fried” variety of Chee-tos. The “sharp cheddar” flavor are indeed nicely cheesy with just a bit more sharp bite than regular Chee-tos. And the salsa picante ones, which are the same color as the Flamin’ Hot snacks, have a hint of cheese but a more prominent salsa flavor–and an authentic one at that, in which you can taste both tomato and a hint of onion and hot peppers. Together these two flavors in one bag go together like peanut butter and jelly. No joke!
Lay’s brand Kettle Cooked Jalapeno Flavor Chips–Well, I’ll admit I’m not a huge fan of kettle cooked (i.e. extra crispy) potato chips. But hey, if I had a choice, I’d still rather eat a chip than a stalk of broccoli. So I dug in to these, and while they have a super crunch and a nice jalapeno spice, there is too much onion powder in these chips that overpowers them. Not only that, after eating a nice handful, I had onion breath and dry mouth for the rest of the day.
Doritos Late Night Tacos at Midnight Tortilla Chips–If you, like me, are old enough to remember when Doritos first came out, this one will take you back. Back then (I think maybe in the ’70’s?), they had plain corn, taco flavor and nacho cheese. And my favorite by far was the taco flavor, which they stopped making after a while, brought back and then stopped making again. Now it’s back disguised as this “Late Night” version, which is every bit as good as the original Taco flavor and then some. In fact, you can almost close your eyes here and feel like you’re eating a fast food taco. And we all know how great those taste after a few beers, so the “Late Night” tag on these is an arrow through the hearts and taste buds of those who troll the convenience store aisles late at night. Seriously though, these chips are just awesome, even in the middle of the day.
I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did eating and writing. But I don’t know how that’s possible, so go try some!
Posted in: Food & Drink, Grub for Guys
Tags: Chee-tos, Doritos, Doritos taco flavor, Eric Cartman, fast food, fast food reviews, Flamin' Hot, Frito Lay, Funyun's, Giant Chee-tos, Guilty Pleasures, Kettle Cooked Potato chips, late night snacks, Lay's, Might Zingers, onion rings, Potato chips, Salsa Picante, Sharp Cheddar, snacks, spicy food, Tacos at Midnight
Doritos’ new flavors bold, spicy and awesome
Posted by Mike Farley (05/12/2010 @ 1:25 pm)
When I first heard about Doritos’ Burn flavor chips, I thought it was a promotional stunt or something to sell more Pepsi, which was the focus of the radio commercial I heard. But being a snack food junkie and a lover of all things spicy, I kept looking for this stuff in stores. Finally, I found it, at a Walgreens here in Madison, Wisconsin no less. And let me tell you, the First and Second Degree Burn flavors are positively awesome, and spicier than any snack food I’ve ever tasted. Frito-Lay tells me Third Degree Burn was only available for a short time, and sadly I didn’t get to try it. But here are the ones I did try….
First Degree Burn (Blazing Jalapeno)–These chips are hot and also have a strong jalapeno flavor. And the heat, which I’d rate as an 8 out of 10, is subtle and somewhat pleasant, like a spicy food drug.
Second Degree Burn (Flaming Buffalo)--This chip has a tangier flavor, just like, well, Buffalo wing sauce. And like first degree, the heat sneaks up on you, but this one is more like an unexpected kick to the groin, a 9 out of 10 on the heat index. What’s more, they get hotter and hotter the more you eat. But if you like spicy food, that’s one of the best parts.
Late Night Cheeseburger–Not spicy at all, but part of the new Late Night lines from Doritos. These taste like a McDonald’s cheeseburger, but you taste onions first and foremost, and, like with all Doritos, the ones coated in cheese powder are the best tasting ones. That’s especially true here, because otherwise the onion overwhelms the cheese.
Posted in: Food & Drink
Tags: Blazing Jalapeno, Doritos, Doritos All night cheeseburger, Doritos burn flavor chips, Doritos first degree burn, Doritos second degree burn, fast food, Flaming Buffalo, food, Frito Lay, Guilty Pleasures, late night snacks, McDonalds, new Doritos flavors, snack food reviews, snacks, spicy food, spicy snack food