New Tree Chocolate- Crave

Have people been CRAVING apricot chocolate bars?

Beyond my witty puns that is a question worth asking. It should be noted that I absolutely LOVE New Tree's Tranquility bar which is milk chocolate and lavender so I am pretty open to giving this flavor combo a shot.

I have to give New Tree props for packaging the chocolate in a sealed foil pouch. When you open the pouch not only is the chocolate fresh but it kept in the aroma. I happen to likely the subtle sweet smell of apricots.

The chocolate is portioned into squares just large enough to melt evenly on your tongue but not so small that you wonder that happened to the chocolate. New Tree makes a fantastic milk chocolate. Creamy and rich without being too sweet. As for the apricot there is no mistaking the flavor but it doesn't over power the chocolate. It actually leaves you hoping for more- in a good way. My only disappointment with the bar is that it is only apricot flavored and that there are no actual fruit pieces in the bar. It's a good bar already but the addition of bits of dried apricot would have pushed it to great.

I am making it one of my New Year's resolutions to eat a few of these in 2008!

PURCHASED FROM:
Zabars NYC

Hershey Kisses with Toffee Crunch

Toffee!
How could an idea as good as Toffee Kisses turn out so badly?!
The first hint that something is wrong is the smell. Have you ever smelt one of those butterscotch Yankee Candles? well these smell a lot like that. Since candles tend to not to be high on my list of candy flavors this was not a point in the kisses flavor.

Taste wise. We're back to candles. Since the kisses are molded they seem to be a bit waxy. The normal sweetness of the chocolate coupled with the "toffee"- which seems more like lumps of sugar then a true toffee are multiplied. I felt like calling a dentist to make a confession that I had committed a sugary sin.

The only thing about them that I really liked was the addition of the non-perils for texture. But even that was done better in the Candy Cane Kisses.
Just skip these and get a Score or a Heath bar.

PURCHASED FROM:
Target

Starbucks Drinking Chocolate- Marshmellows

This may be the most half assed review yet!

Why could this be such a lame review you ask?
Well because as the package so clearly states this was supposed to be about drinking chocolate and to be honest this didn't last long enough to get drunk.

I don;t know if I am in a test market area for this stuff but I could find very little out there about the drinking chocolate line. As you can see from the picture above the product is composed of small chunks of chocolate- and since this is the marshmellow version these chunks are studded with tiny mini 'mellows. I think you are supposed to use about 2 table spoons poured into warm milk (or possibly water)

I say "supposed" because I could not resist trying one of the chunks on their own unmelted- and once I did that so did everyone else at my Christmas party. WOW were the unmelted chips good! The chunks are made with a dark, rich chocolate that has just the slightest hint of a bitter edge. The marshmellows melt as soon as they hit then tongue. they were the perfect size for popping and the creamy melt kept people coming back for more.

One of these days I might get around to buying a box and drinking some but let me tell you this make a good snack out of the box as is!

PURCHASED FROM:
Publix Supermarket

Glico Hazelnut Pocky

Pocky!!

Yes, the nerd in me can't wait to go to all the different Asian markets in the neighborhood to rummage up new and rare pocky. I found the Hazelnut pocky at the local Duane Reade (drugstore).
I liked it but not as much as the Men's Pocky.
The chocolate was a sweet milk chocolate. It was ok but nothing special. I had been hoping for chunks of hazelnut but what the Pocky means by "hazelnut" is that the chocolate is vaguely hazelnut flavored. It's more like someone ate something that had hazelnuts in it close to where the Pocky was made. Again it's not bad but it is not a very strong flavor either.

Worth the try but I will continue on my quest to find Pocky as good as the Men's Pocky!

PURCHASED FROM:
Duane Reede NYC

Update On Updates

Greetings from the city so nice they named it twice!

As you may have guessed I am writing this from New York City! I am here visiting family and friends until the 9'th. Because my internet access at times may be limited to dial up (yes, it still exists) some of the reviews coming up may be photo free- but I thought photo free posts would be better then no posts at all.

So I hope to bring you lots of interesting reviews and if anyone has any tips or suggestions for NYC eats please pass them along!

Jones Soda- Christmas Cocoa

A new flavor for 2007!
I really wanted to get both of the Jones holiday packs this year but sadly my local Target's sold out of the Christmas and Hanukkah packs pretty much as soon as they came out.

4 Targets later I finally found the smaller Christmas 4 pack which focuses on sweet things.

I started off with the Christmas Cocoa.
The first thing that hits you when you open the bottle is the sweet Tootsie Roll aroma- it actually smelled pretty good!

Taste wise, the carbonation is nice and light and can tell the difference that using pure cane sugar makes in soda. It's sweet but not overwhelmingly so. Once again I am going to use Tootsie Roll as an example to explain to you the flavor. It was a lot like drinking a liquid version.

I liked it. I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it again but it was easy to finish the bottle. I could also see that it would be great to use as a mixer for drinks.

PURCHASED FROM:
Target

Starbuck's Holiday Milk Chocolate Bar

Ho, Ho, No!


The holiday bar from Starbucks is a hefty 3 .oz's of chocolate. The bar has cute impressions of holiday words and shape and the bar has a nice crisp snap to it. Unfortunately, it is a pretty crappy chocolate. Honestly I am surprised and disappointed by how bad it is.

The chocolate is overly sweet and oily tasting. The texture is gritty and slow to melt. It reminded me of the nightmare bastard love child of Hershey's and Palmer's "chocolate".
I couldn't even bring myself to give this to someone I didn't like... Ok that's a lie- I could do that. But I would like to think that I am nice enough not to.
Save your calories and get a pastry instead.

PURCHASED FROM:
Starbucks

Haagen-Dazs Rum Raisin Ice Cream

Rum Raisin is one of those staple flavors that have been around forever and I had always overlooked it in favor of some of the more modern or exotic options
My best friend however (insert Edwin shout out here) has been fiercly loyal to both Cherry Vanilla and Rum Raisin for years. Since my local Mega Marts still aren't stocking the POM offerings Haagen Dazs has I decided to give one of my friends favorites a try (I already love cherry vanilla)

First I was pleasently to peruse the ingredient list and find that Rum Raisin actually contains rum! I had always assumed (and you know what happens when you assume) that the rum flavor came from artifical means. The ice cream is a base of creamy rum flavor. There is definatly some vanilla in the back ground but there is no mistaking the rum.

The raisins were the best part to me. They were large and hands down the softest, plumpest raisin I have ever had. I had no idea that raisins could be that soft!
I may not have gotten the allure of Rum Raisin before but I am a full on covert now!

PURCHASED FROM:
Publix Supermarket

Pomegranate 7UP

I have to give a shout out to Marvo at The Impulse Buy because it was his great REVIEW that tipped me off to this in the first place

I have loved pomegranate since I was a kid. Growing up on the properties of some of my childhood homes had Pom tree's and many a white shirt was stained by the tart fruit. Many years later I have learned that my all black wardrobe is much more Pom friendly and I will still try anything Pom that comes my way.

So.... Pom 7UP... It would have been better had it contained some actual pomegranate. It does have a good taste. It is very mild in terms of tartness. The Pommyness (Well it sounds like an almost real word to me) is on the weaker side, if you are a fan of POM brand juices you are probably going to be dissapointed because the robust flavor that you get there is no where to be found in the 7UP, but to 7UP's credit they also managed to keep it from being liquid diabetes.

All in all it's not bad. I think it's a better holiday soda then say Sierra Cranberry Mist. But I have a sneaking suspesion it won't be replacing Egg Nog as my holiday drink of choice.

PURCHASED FROM:
Kroger (Ralph's depending on your location)

KFC Little Bucket Parfait- Lemon Creme

Ah KFC parfaits... When I was but a young whipper snapper they were the highlight of any KFC dinner.


And as an adult who doesn't like chicken (yes, I am well aware that I am a freak) they are pretty much the only reason I go there now for myself.

My local KFC has started carrying the Lemon Creme version and since I am obsessed with lemon I opted to pass on my regular chocolate one.


So what does it taste like?.
Well the top layer is of course the Cool Whip-type topping that all of the other parfaits are topped with.
The next layer is the lemon. Flavor wise it's pretty good. Tart and it could almost pass for natural lemon! what's weird is the texture. Rather then being creamy and smooth like a lemon curd it's gritty and dry. I don't know how they managed to make a pudding that is dry but they did it.
The bottom layer is an I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Graham-Crackers" again they are dry and this batch was borderline stale.

I am glad I tried it but I should have stuck with the chocolate.

PURCHASED FROM:
KFC

Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes

Larry The Cable Guys dream girl strikes again!

As much as I tend to not like Little Debbie snacks I have to admit to liking these.

Really they are so horrible they have gone past bad and come back to good.

The cakes are a white cake that is best described as grocery store birthday sheet cake... that sat out for a couple days. Sandwiched in between two thin layers of cake is a layer of frosting-type cream. It reminds me of an evil hybrid of cheap tub frosting and Cool Whip. The whole thing is enrobed in a thin wanna be fondant and if that wasn't enough sugar for you it is also liberally dotted with crystal sprinkles!

The whole thing is waaay to sweet- and I can't get enough of the damn things! honestly these are empty calories in they're purist form and I love them.

Ice Breakers Pacs- Mint

Dude I was still just holding it!

Ok so I was able to find the Mint version of the Pacs.

Once the Listerine-type strip breaks down you get the same cold rush on your tongue that the orange ones gave. It still feels just as neat.

The flavor however is best described as telling you to go and get a bottle of Scope- go ahead, I'll wait............................

Ok assuming you now have your bottle of Scope firmly in hand- now chug it. That is what the Pacs taste like. It's just too much. The mint almost burns it is so strong. I will give it credit for the fact that once the flavor dies down the after taste is quite pleasant. If these were not so medicinal they would be fantastic. As is... well at least I will have the box to do something with.

Men's Pocky

If Mountain Dew is the drink of geeks and nerds worldwide then Pocky is the candy

I know that I have had it before but I just don't remember it one way or the other. I was at Cost Plus World Market today and they had the Men's Pocky which features bittersweet chocolate. I thought why not and bought them.

Oh, now having eaten more of the package then I care to admit I am both chocked and saddened by the fact that I made it through 30 years of life Pocky free. The damn things are addicting!

It's so simple. Pocky is an almost flavorless wheat cracker rod (I say almost because it actually reminds me of the cookie in a Twix bar) that is dipped in a thin coating of chocolate. To be honest the chocolate on the Men's Pocky reminds me exactly of a Toll House morsel. It's a little sweet, vaguely salty, crunchy. If that doesn't sound like a perfect food then you are just weird. Now I want to try some of the roughly million other flavors they make!

Ice Breakers Pacs- Orange

No, really officer really I was holding them for a friend!

I came across these at Target tonight. Actually to tell the truth I wasn't sure what they were when I bought them but the package was cool so I figured I could use it for something if the innards weren't good.

As it turns out whats inside is a sort of breath mint. Pacs are little tabs made of two Listerine style strips that have a filling of flavored powder that dissolves on contact with your tongue.
Hershey's (Ice Breakers parent company) is under some heat at the moment because law officials, parents groups, etc have said that the mints (referred to as pouches on the packaging) bares a close resembles to street drug packaging. I have to admit that even nerdy little me thought the same thing when I opened the package. See for yourself with a picture of the mint flavor:

Not sure how Marketing got that past Legal but we'll put that aside for a second.

So what is having a Pac actually like?
When you put the pouch on your tongue the Xylitol outer package starts to melt away and the Tang like powder melts into an orangy river on your tongue that actually feels cold for a couple of seconds!. In terms of flavor Tang again is the first thing that comes to mind.

I liked these enough to add them to my work breath freshener stash!

And here is the rest of it.