Category: Reviews

REVIEW: Ruffles Ridge Twists

Erin 8 Comments

Ruffles Ridge Twists Bags

Everyone’s favorite ridged chip, Ruffles, is going out on a ridge – er – limb and bringing us a new take on the ribbed potato snack. Debuting in Double Cheddar and Smoky BBQ flavors, Ruffles Ridge Twists attempt to put a spin on the corrugated classic.

From their appearance on the package, these looked to me like braided pretzels, but in reality, they’re more like fusilli pasta or Fritos Twists. This seems like a silly point to make because the shapes are very similar, and I don’t think Frito-Lay was out to trick me. I just didn’t anticipate that these were going to be more of an extruded puff than a potato chip. Please don’t ask me how I expected them to braid potatoes.

Double Cheddar

Ruffles Ridge Twists Double Cheddar

Opening the bag of Double Cheddar Twists sends up a powerful aroma of cheddar popcorn which is very enticing even if it does look like someone has poured a batch of Cheetos Mac ‘N Cheese into my chip bag. The spirals are generously coated in bright orange powder that really delivers a buttery, cheesy taste.

What doesn’t deliver is the twist itself. It’s crunchy, but not in the same satisfying way that a chip is, and it doesn’t have the right potato flavor. Something is off, and a glance at the ingredients shows the first one to be dried potatoes. This makes sense when you consider the product is more of a puff, but because they’re advertised as “featuring the same iconic Ruffles ridges that fans know and love,” I was hoping for the base to be closer to what I know and love. I wouldn’t be mad if I went to some gathering and grabbed a handful of these to put on my plate next to a sandwich, but they aren’t a snack I would buy for myself and eat straight out of the bag. The cheddar part is on point, but after only a couple of them, I find myself not wanting to eat any more, and this very rarely happens to me with salty snacks.

Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (29 pieces) 140 calories, 8 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 1 gram of total sugars, and 1 gram of protein.

Smoky BBQ

Ruffles Ridge Twists Smoky BBQ

The scent from the Smoky BBQ bag doesn’t draw me in quite as much. I found it slightly off-putting at first, but after tasting, it’s a pretty solid barbecue chip flavor. As advertised, it’s smoky and a little sweet with some tomato and vinegar notes. Some of the twists have a lot of seasoning, but others have only a dusting which leaves too much room for the dried potato taste and texture to take center stage. These remind me of the bags of TGI Fridays snacks with flavors and shapes that mimic items on an appetizer menu. They’re novel, and it’s my duty to try every form of processed potato available, but at the end of the day, I wish I’d also bought a bag of actual chips.

Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (28 pieces) 140 calories, 8 grams of total fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 2 grams of total sugar including 1 gram of added sugars, and less than 1 gram of protein.

Ruffles Ridge Twists Both

Even though these have grooves good for collecting flavor powder, they lack the same ridges that really define Ruffles and might’ve fared better with me if I never associated them with Ruffles to begin with. I can see where some people might enjoy them more than I did, but if you have four dollars and want to take a chance on something new in the chip aisle, I’d go with Lay’s Kettle Cooked Fritos Chili Cheese Chips.

Purchased Price: $3.99 each
Size: 5.5 oz bags
Purchased at: Mariano’s

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Snickers Brownie Blizzard

Karen 2 Comments

Dairy Queen Snickers Brownie Blizzard Top

Dairy Queen’s website says that the Snickers Brownie Blizzard will “transform your taste buds forever.” Maybe it means you’ll be working so hard to determine the flavor that your taste buds will level up from sheer exertion? Maybe I can now be one of those people who can taste “notes of honeysuckle” in a glass of wine because I’ve become a flavor detective? It would be nice to think I got something out of this experience.

I had this twice and had a different reaction the second time. The first time, the brownie bits were missing chocolate flavor, and I was complaining that it was too bland. The second time, the brownie bits seemed much more flavorful. Was my palette fatigued the first time, or maybe I just got a few bigger brownie chunks in my mix the second time? The second event sounds more likely. When I properly tasted them, the brownie bits had a satisfying unctuousness and chocolatey bitterness.

Moving on to the Snickers, I think this would have worked if the candy bar pieces were a little bigger, but as it stands, it’s hard to discern much flavor. I didn’t taste major Snickers components like nougat and peanuts; there was caramel flavor, but it was kind of muted. The caramel did stick to my teeth though, so at least it was definitely present.

Dairy Queen Snickers Brownie Blizzard Spoon

The DQ description states that the Blizzard has “caramel topping,” which in this case means that the topping was mixed into the vanilla soft serve ice cream. This manages to make the soft serve even sweeter than normal, but it doesn’t really register as caramel flavor; it just amps up the vanilla.

Because of the brownie bits’ chewiness and the caramel’s sticky nature, there was textural variation, so the treat has that going for it. It’s just a little underpowered in the flavor department. This is the first Blizzard I can remember having where I felt the vanilla soft serve, bolstered by the caramel bits in the mix, completely overpowered any other flavors.

Look, Dairy Queen has a lot of Blizzards on its menu, and most of them are pretty darn good. Everyone has an off day once in a while, and I have compassion for that. I allow Dairy Queen a swing-and-a-miss, and that’s what we have here. If you want a Blizzard and are tempted to get this, unless you’ve got a real yen for brownie bits, you may want to get an Oreo Blizzard instead. In that treat, the bitterness of the chocolate contrasts with the vanilla soft serve in a truly delightful way, consistently. I’m actually sitting here feeling kind of cheated because I could have got an Oreo Blizzard (twice!) but got this instead. Blizzard Remorse is a sad, sad thing.

Purchased Price: $5.19
Size: Small
Purchased at: Dairy Queen
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 410 calories, 15 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 200 milligrams of sodium, 60 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 48 grams of sugar, and 9 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Ghost Energy Strawbango Margarita Energy Drink

Sean 4 Comments

Ghost Energy Strawbango Margarita Energy Drink Can

What is it?

Ghost Energy’s Strawbango Margarita Energy Drink is the second limited edition can and first athlete collaboration from the supplement company known for making calorie-free drinkable Sour Patch Kids. The collab is with Maxx Chewning, a fitness YouTuber and owner of the Sour Strips candy line, known for his love of deadlifting and, unsurprisingly, sour candy. Strawbango Margarita was released on Friday, September 9, as a Vitamin Shoppe and Ghost App exclusive.

How is it?

Ghost Energy Strawbango Margarita Energy Drink Pour

Spoiler alert: it’s freakin’ awesome. After my first sip, I exclaimed out loud, “oh man, this is good.” After my second sip, I started bobbing up and down around the room, repeating myself even louder, emphasizing the “GOOD” with even more juice. The can is beautiful, the taste is beautiful, and suddenly the day is beautiful… it is just caffeine, some vitamins, and nootropic focus ingredients in this thing, right?

Ghost Energy Strawbango Margarita Energy Drink Clear

If we dissect its name, the drink should have three things — strawberry, mango, and margarita — and it decisively has them all. Coincidentally that’s also the order in which I taste them. When it hits my tongue, I get a delightful sweet candy strawberry taste, followed by juicy mango, and rounded out with a bright, citrusy lime. When I think margarita, I think salt, and somehow I even get a hit of saltiness in the finish despite there only being 35 milligrams of sodium in the can. It may sound weird, but there’s also a touch of citrus candy, like lemon Pez, in the finish and on the nose, and it really makes the flavor addictive. The aftertaste left in my mouth when I (very temporarily) put the can down is 100% strawberry lime margarita, and it’s wonderful.

I was worried that this limited edition flavor would be too similar to the Ghost Energy Tropical Mango, but it’s very different. I just revisited that one two days ago in anticipation of this release, and this is much less mango-forward than the launch flavor from 2020. As a result, it’s much more complex and, for me, better.

Anything else you need to know?

I’m unsure if this was intentional or just my can, but the carbonation feels lighter than other Ghost Energy releases. The pop from the top sounded a bit underwhelming, and I’m not getting hit by the usual cascade of bubbles, but it works really well. Having less effervescence lets the sweetness really come through, and it feels even more like the adult beverage it’s paying homage to.

Conclusion:

Ghost Energy Strawbango Margarita Energy Drink Glass

This drink may not get you drunk, but it tastes so delicious it might just leave ya flyin’ high. The 200 milligrams of caffeine won’t hurt either, but this limited release is already soaring off of shelves (my store sold out of cases on the first day), so if it sounds good, run, don’t walk, to your nearest Vitamin Shoppe before it’s gone for good.

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 16 ounces
Purchased at: Vitamin Shoppe
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 5 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 35 milligrams of sodium, 1 gram of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 0 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Lay’s Kettle Cooked Fritos Chili Cheese Potato Chips

Ann 9 Comments

Lay s Kettle Cooked Fritos Chili Cheese Potato Chips Bag

After polling the general public for over half a decade and creating almost every flavor iteration imaginable, Frito-Lay seems to have decided to start leaning on its heavy hitters. Last year’s inter-brand crossovers brought us Doritos, Cheetos, and Funyuns flavored potato chips. This year, they’ve come back, but they also brought along the new Lay’s Kettle Cooked Fritos Chili Cheese Flavored Potato Chips. What a mouthful, literally and figuratively.

Lay s Kettle Cooked Fritos Chili Cheese Potato Chips Closeup

So how are they?

They’re very accurate. One of the fun parts of these flavor extensions is that because they’re all in the same brand “family,” we get the actual seasoning blends but on a different chip base. Having the EXACT same seasoning is part of the enjoyment.

The cheese flavor is apparent right away and not too overwhelming. The chili seasoning and cumin flavors come up quickly, especially when munching on over-seasoned chips. Before long, I got that feeling in the back of my throat as if I’d just done the cinnamon challenge but grabbed the wrong spice jar, which ended up being smoky chili powder.

It’s possible the corn chip sweetness balances this seasoning better than kettle chips because these get pretty salty pretty fast. It’s almost to the point that they’re a self-regulated serving size kind of snack. But I think the super high chili flavor is an identifying characteristic of Chili Cheese Fritos, so I wasn’t bothered by this.

Also, the significant crunchiness of a kettle chip was the right pairing for such a potent seasoning blend. I think the Kettle Cooked Chips are the far superior chip format among all that Frito-Lay offers, especially when trying to translate a flavor generally found on a uniquely crunchy and savory corn chip. Regular Lay’s just weren’t going to get the job done here.

Lay s Kettle Cooked Fritos Chili Cheese Potato Chips Bowl

Overall, I enjoyed these arguably over-seasoned chips. The chili cheese flavor on the kettle chip base is strong but recognizable. I wouldn’t be mad if they stick around for a while, and they also seem like a good fit for tailgates.

Purchased Price: $3.79
Size: 8 oz bag
Purchased at: Mariano’s
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (about 15 chips) 150 calories, 9 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 190 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Panda Express Beyond Orange Chicken

Marvo 20 Comments

Panda Express Beyond Orange Chicken Top

I have not eaten my weight in Panda Express’ Orange Chicken, and moments of my life were used to calculating whether I did. But I’ve eaten so much of it that I can instantly tell Panda Express’ faux fowl Beyond Orange Chicken doesn’t taste EXACTLY like the real deal.

But I felt that was going to be the case before trying the new entree because I’ve eaten enough plant-based chick’n/chik’n/chic’n/ch’ken/ch’k’n products to know what to expect, which is something that doesn’t taste exactly like chicken.

Panda Express Beyond Orange Chicken Exterior

It’s hard for me to explain the flavor of the plant-based meat in this entree. It’s not poultry-like, but I don’t find it unappealing. The Orange Chicken sauce is the same sweet stuff with a slight kick that made Panda Express what it is today. I’ve always thought that it’s so tasty that it would go great with any fried animal or plant-based protein, and that’s the case with Beyond Orange Chicken.

However, while I like this and would eat it again, its overall flavor doesn’t convince me it’s as craveable as the original, which is what the Panda Express website claims. But if you’re into plant-based meats, it’s definitely worth a try.

Panda Express Beyond Orange Chicken Finger Heart

While I don’t find the entree’s flavor odd, its appearance is a little weird. Unlike the various piece sizes of the O.G.O.C., Beyond Orange Chicken are uniform and look like Beyond Meat’s attempt to recreate BTS’ finger hearts in faux-meat form.

Panda Express Beyond Orange Chicken Innards

The interior looks tofu adjacent, and the off-white spots in the “meat” look peculiar. Although my issues with the spots might be the result of looking at way too much sci-fi anime and manga. The protein’s texture reminds me of slightly dried up tofu (UPDATE: I’m eating leftovers and they now remind me more of a chicken nugget), and while the exterior has some crispiness, it’s more like a Chicken McNugget than the original Orange Chicken’s breading.

Much like Panda Express’ steak and shrimp entrees, Beyond Orange Chicken has a premium upcharge. Because of that higher price, not being as delicious as the original, and being a limited time offering, I don’t think I’ll ever come close to eating my weight in it.

Purchased Price: $15.90
Size: Large a la carte container
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (4.75 oz) 440 calories, 22 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 810 milligrams of sodium, 47 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 15 grams of sugar, and 13 grams of protein.