MASH: Grapefruit Citrus Zing

Yes, I love New York. I think everyone who reads this blog knows that very well. But one of the few things that I hate about New York is that sooner or later, small neighborhood stores that I have loved going to, visit after visit, almost always end up changing from cute little independent local spots to just another national chain outlet that I can easily go to at home.

That's sort of what happened to my favorite little bodega (mini-mart to the rest of us). Honestly, the service had been bad, the prices were kind of high, and the food tended to be out of code...but what they did have going for them had been the Universe's biggest selection of Snapple (as well as many other soft drinks, both popular and obscure). I could always find something interesting there. Well, times have changed since my last visit, and the location is now a rather generic cafe/sandwich place. The sandwiches aren't bad and the staff is a heck of a lot nicer, so it's not a complete loss. But sadly gone is the amazing drink selection.

They did, however, have the MASH line, which I have never seen before.

MASH, according to the bottle blurb, is meant for everyone. It's not a soda nor is it 100% juice. And it also boasts of being a low calorie option. Yeah, we are going to get to all of that in a second...

Anyway, I happen to like grapefruit juice -- or even grapefruit soda -- so I thought I would start there.



The drink is only very lightly carbonated, which I really liked. It's pretty much a known fact to long time readers, but I will repeat myself: I am one of those people who like my carbonated beverages on the slightly flat side, so whenever something is already going easy on the bubbles that works for me.

The grapefruit flavor comes across as very natural. It's got just a slight bitter edge with no aftertaste. If you've ever eaten a really ripe, fresh pink grapefruit and sprinkled it with sugar, and then drank the juice that stays in the rind...well it tasted pretty close to that. It is a sweetened drink ,but it uses sucralose (AKA Splenda) as the sweetener rather than HFSC or even regular sugar. Personally, I can live with that, as I am one of those people that don't mind or notice the taste of Splenda/sucralose (it's my sweetener of choice for coffee, actually).

I liked the body of it. It wasn't as thick and filling as a juice, and yet it was as sweet and as bubbly as a (somewhat flat) soda. I actually went through several of these over the course of my stay. New favorite grapefruit beverage, hands down!



Remember I said we could get back to a couple things that bothered me? Well, here goes: The first thing being that the label says it's not soda, but it's not 100% juice either. Actually, the label calls it a "water drink." Well, a water drink that uses sparkling water (AKA carbonated water...gee, kinda like SODA!). Interesting choice of words there. While I certainly wouldn't exactly call it a soda, considering that it contains only one per cent actual juice, I think they were creatively dressing the proportions. After all, soda as a soft drink choice is starting to go down the same dark, scary back alley that trans-fats and other delicious but questionably beneficial items go to flash their wares while hiding from the fuzz.

This also extends to the calorie count. I understand that at the moment there is a lot of pressure on manufacturers to make everything as low-cal as possible (because we certainly can't expect people to just, ya know, be responsible for their own portion control) and the bottle boasts that the drink is a mere 40 calories a serving! Problem is, the bottle is 20 ounces, and the serving is considered to be 8 oounes...so there are 2.5 servings per bottle. Now, really -- how many people are going to actually pour out the precise 8 ounce serving? Yes, I realize a small percentage will. But let's be honest; most people are just downing the entire bottle. Would it really be that horrible a sin to list the true calorie count of 100 calories for the entire bottle? 100 calories as to compared to your average soft drink is still pretty damn good!

I'm not basing the rating on anything other than the flavor -- but clearly I am annoyed by the trend of creatively wording the blurb and manipulating the serving size to keep the food police happy. A pox upon both or however many houses they have!



PURCHASED FROM:
94 Corner Cafe (94th & Broadway, New York City)

PRICE:
$1.99

CALORIES:
40 Calories per 8 oz. (or 100 for the entire bottle)

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Kosher, sweetened with sucralose

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
drinkmash.com

Peanut Butter & Co: The Heat Is On Peanut Butter

One of the upsides of having a food review blog is that friends will often come up with items that they want to see me review. And one of the downsides of having a food review blog is that friends will often come up with items that they want to see me review. No, that's not a typo: that is the double-edged sword that is my life.

Seriously! Sometimes my friends come up with stuff that makes me wonder if they are trying to turn me into their own personal Andrew Zimmern (even the ones who have no idea who Andrew Zimmern is). I believe they see some outrageous items and think to themselves, "Oho, there is just no way Gigi would ever turn down the chance to review a choice delicacy like dill pickle flavored, chocolate covered, durian stuffed Madagascar hissing cockroaches!" (OK, to be fair, I made that up...and if such a product exists, I am happy in my ignorance of it and ask only that it A: Not be brought to my attention, and B: That I not be offered samples.) My whole point is that sometimes I feel like people give me things based on an elementary school gross-out dare.

My sister-from-another-mother, however, is an exception to that rule. Net and I are so physically similar that you could in fact mistake us for sisters -- well, first cousins at the very least -- and she always finds the greatest snack stuff for me to try. (She is completely to blame for my obsession with Herr's Puff'n Corn.) So when she said she had something new for me I was very excited.

And she did not disappoint!

I have been wanting to go to the Peanut Butter & Co shop since I saw them on the Food Network at least ten years ago. Really, how could a peanut butter lover not want to go to a shop that completely revolves around peanut butter? Well, despite many visits to my beloved New York City I have not made it to the shop once. Then, like magic, the company's peanut butter started turning up in stores...and I still somehow never got my hands on any. Net, however, did -- and when she saw a jar of The Heat Is On flavor she picked it up for me. (For the record, she swears by their Dark Chocolate Dream.)

The Heat Is On, as you may have guessed, is a spicy peanut butter -- and lest you doubt that it's spicy, the monkey on the label is holding a little pitchfork. Monkeys would not lie to us.

Even before opening the jar, you can tell that there is going to be a lot going on flavorwise, just by looking at the peanut butter. It's darker than your normal peanut butter; the color being more of a burnt orange than a tan. The butter is also studded with various dots and flecks of spices.

When you open the jar the scent is that of strongly roasted peanuts. You can tell there's an extra something going on, but it's hard to pin down exactly what else it is that you're smelling besides the nuts.



According to the label you don't have to stir the peanut butter, but I did notice some oily buildup on the top -- and I thought that the texture was a bit better for giving it a swirl. The texture is smooth but very thick, though not thick in the sticky manner of any of the mass market brands of choice. There is a slight graininess (though it is not chunky) that I think comes from a combination of the spices and the actual peanuts themselves. I really liked the texture.

The taste -- forgetting the spices for just a second and concentrating on the base -- reminded me of super fresh, just-roasted peanuts. Slightly salty and completely missing the sweetness that my favorite mass market brand has.

Now for the spices! It's going to be hard to go back to plain peanut butter after having spicy (and I may not, actually). The heat is just enough to give you a kick and warm your mouth up, but not enough to have people who aren't as big a fan of heat as I am searching for something to cool off with. On a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of heat for people who are not chiliheads, I would put it at about a 5 or 6 if you are really sensitive.

The spicing is a mix of chili powder, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper and paprika. (And while it's not listed on the label, I have to wonder if there's not a pinch of garlic in there as well.) To be really lazy, the easiest way I can describe the flavor is to tell you to imagine a peanut butter made with a bag of those "hot" flavored peanuts found at gas stations and mini marts. As someone who has been known to snarf those bags down embarrassingly fast, it stands to reason that I'd love a peanut butter version.

What can I say? I just loved this peanut butter. I have been eating it straight from the jar, but I know it would make great sandwiches or sauces/dressings. Heck, I want to try to make cookies with it! No, I'm not kidding. It's really that damned good.

Thank you, Netters!



PURCHASED FROM:
Gift from my friend

PRICE:
$6.00 on the company website

CALORIES:
190 calories per 2 tbsp

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Gluten free, certified vegan, HFCS free. Contains peanuts (duh)

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
ilovepeanutbutter.com