REVIEW: White Cheddar Chex Mix

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White Cheddar Chex Mix Bag

As the world’s preeminent Chex Mix connoisseur*, I won’t pretend I was blown away by the prospect of a White Cheddar flavor.

Cheddar Chex Mix exists. White Cheddar just felt redundant. We only get a new Chex Mix flavor every few months, and nothing about it felt innovative.

Why do we need White Cheddar? Who at General Mills ate Cheddar Chex Mix and said, “Yeah, it’s good, but can we make it whiter?”

Actually, let’s not theorize about who would say that.

Nevertheless, it is my sworn duty to try every single Chex Mix flavor, so I acquired a bag – a bag that instantly bugged me because it looked exactly like one of my all-time favorite flavors, Honey Nut.

White Cheddar Chex Mix PIeces
White Cheddar Chex Mix (top) Cheddar Chex Mix (bottom)

As I inspected the pieces of the mix itself, I couldn’t help but feel like White Cheddar Chex Mix was missing something big – the cheese cracker. That is, without a doubt, my favorite Cheddar mix piece, so I was bummed Chex instead opted to go with the generic, teeth-shattering rye chips.

That being said, most people love that piece way more than I do, so I understand.

They say you eat with your eyes first, so if I ended the review there, we’d be looking at a 4 out of 10. Luckily, I fulfilled my oath and tasted it.

Chex Mix, you’ve done it again!

White Cheddar Chex Mix Mixed

The White Cheddar flavor had way more complexity than I wanted to give it credit for. On any given bite, I felt like I was eating everything from gourmet popcorn to garlic bread.

I bought a classic Cheddar Chex Mix bag, and while comparing, I noticed just how different regular cheddar and white cheddar really are. These had a more subtle flavor as if it was a light cheddar mixed with parmesan.

On the first handful, I got hit with a Wise Buttered Popcorn nostalgia wave. I haven’t ripped one of those yellow bags in ages, but that’s exactly what it tasted like. Once the mild cheddar cheese took over, it reminded me of another classic bagged popcorn – Smartfood White Cheddar.

I couldn’t shake that overall popcorn vibe and almost wish they included popcorn within the mix. It was like opening one of those tri-flavor Christmas tins and alternating bites between the cheese and the butter flavors.

But it didn’t stop there. The flavor kept slightly morphing as I crunched on, with some bites genuinely putting me in mind of a buttery garlic bread with a dash of cheese. I highly doubt these contain garlic powder, but the sample sent to me didn’t have ingredients listed, so I can’t confirm. Either way, I think I have an idea for a new Chex Mix flavor down the line.

All of my assumptions were wrong here. This is not just a lazy reboot of the Cheddar flavor. It’s a delicious new entry in Chex Mix’s elite snack lineup. I’d recommend grabbing a bag of Smartfood and creating a mega White Cheddar mix.

I still like Cheddar slightly more, but these are coming in just a tick below. Feel free to release any color cheddar you want moving forward.

(*2015-18, 2020. I won’t forget about 2019, Alex G. of Denmark. Hope you enjoyed your reign on top, you fraud.)

DISCLOSURE: I received a free product sample. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: Not available
Purchased at: Received from Chex Mix
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: Not available on sample packaging.

REVIEW: Burger King Ch’King Sandwich

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Burger King Ch King Sandwich Whole

Burger King has a mixed record with chicken sandwiches. My previous experience was in the form of the Original Chicken Sandwich. That’s the hoagie-like version that can have some questionable quality chicken in the form of a pressed patty. I ended up throwing half of it away because it was just not good.

So naturally, when Burger King put its new Ch’King into the ever-growing field of fast food chicken sandwiches, I knew it was time to give BK an opportunity to redeem itself.

In 2019, Popeyes started a movement through the fast food industry that is still being felt two years later. It started serving a high quality, flavorful chicken sandwich that made the standard fast food fare pale in comparison. In my opinion, Popeyes’ offering has yet to be bested. However, I went into trying the Ch’King neutral and was curious how it would end up ranking.

Burger King Ch King Sandwich Wrapper Back

The options you have at the moment when ordering are either a Ch’King or Spicy Ch’King. Both come on toasted potato buns with a signature sauce and crisp pickles. The spicy variety is the same chicken as the original (no spicy seasoning in the breading), just tossed in a spicy glaze. BK also offers a “Deluxe” version of both that sees the pickles removed for lettuce and tomato. I opted for the standard Ch’King.

Burger King Ch King Sandwich Wrapper in Wrapper

It was interesting to see it packaged in a bag similar to Chick-fil-A and Popeyes. However, upon opening it, it was wrapped in the standard wrapper. I am not sure if it’s just my location that opted for this, but I have a feeling (based on some of the soggy bits) it may not be the correct way to serve it. The sandwich itself is decently sized — not quite as big as Popeyes’, but bigger than the standard Chick-fil-A.

Burger King Ch King Sandwich Top

Upon taking it apart, I notice the crispy pickles are certainly not the standard fast food pickles. I expected dill pickles, but found them to be more like bread & butter. Generally, I don’t care much for bread & butter pickles, but they worked very well with the overall flavor of the sandwich. The sauce, described as a “savory signature sauce,” was the weakest point. It was just a generic mayo-based sauce with no real strong flavors other than slightly sweet. I’d have preferred the standard mayo instead. The bread was a nice upgrade from the standard buns and helped sell the “premium” feeling of the sandwich.

Burger King Ch King Sandwich Split

It’s a good-sized chicken fillet, breaded in a crunchy coating we’ve come to expect from these new chicken sandwiches. However, by the time I got home, it had lost some crunch due to being double wrapped. This didn’t necessarily take away from my overall enjoyment, but I had looked forward to that TikTok-worthy CRUNCH and didn’t really get it. As for its taste, it was perfectly fine, but blander than Popeyes’. In fact, the closest comparison in flavor was Chick-fil-A. The meat itself was juicy and tender. It’s always nice to get a perfectly cooked chicken sandwich as I think we can all relate to that experience of biting into one, only to be greeted by dry or rubbery meat.

Burger King Ch King Sandwich Wrapper Front

Burger King is certainly coming out swinging with its new sandwich. It’s a solid attempt with a lot to like and also some opportunity for growth. While I personally don’t feel like it topples Popeyes for the top spot, it certainly has its place at the podium.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size:N/A
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 800 calories, 36 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 90 milligrams of cholesterol, 710 milligrams of sodium, 69 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 9 grams of sugar, and 33 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Lucky Charms Marshmallow Clusters Cereal

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Lucky Charms Marshmallow Clusters Cereal Box

What is Lucky Charms Marshmallow Clusters Cereal?

Rice Krispies Treats Cereal’s reformulation is one of the most controversial topics in cold breakfast history.

Introduced in 1993 and taken away for seemingly no reason in 2018, the cereal delivered an extra crunchy version of a Rice Krispies Treat that could hold up in milk and still provide a super sweet spoonful of satisfaction.

Kellogg’s brought the cereal back in 2019 and replaced the chunks of treats with sweetened puffed rice and marshmallows. The new version wasn’t awful, but a far cry from its former self, which is why I was ecstatic when I saw the latest release from General Mills: Lucky Charms Marshmallow Clusters. Did Lucky swoop in and save Snap, Crackle, and Pop from themselves? I sure hope so!

How is it?

Lucky Charms Marshmallow Clusters Cereal Dry

Well, it isn’t Rice Krispies Treats Cereal. I try to go into every new product with an open mind, but the comparison was inevitable and set me up for a bit of a disappointment. But it’s not all bad.

The sweetened corn and rice clusters remind me of a crunchier version of Kix, and despite their pleasantly mild vanilla taste, they aren’t nearly sweet enough to remind me of a marshmallow treat.

Lucky Charms Marshmallow Clusters Cereal Milk

The mild flavor gets even milder, almost extinct when added to milk. I also find their size kind of bizarre. They aren’t quite big enough to dominate a spoon like Frosted Mini-Wheats, but they’re far from Cap’n Crunch territory too, making the proper spoon balance tricky. There’s a reason most rectangular cereal pieces aren’t this big and flat.

Anything else you need to know?

The Lucky Charms marshmallows are excellent. Vibrantly colored and full of crunchy-yet-soft freeze-dried splendor, their pronounced sweetness brings a very welcome balance to the unfortunately bland clusters. Although Lucky Charms isn’t one of my favorite cereals, I prefer its normal Cheerios-adjacent glazed oat pieces to these new hypothetically sweeter and more fun clusters.

Conclusion:

Whether or not I had inflated expectations, this cereal would have been a letdown. Between its odd shape and texture and too mild flavor, this just makes me miss the 90s classic even more.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free product sample. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 11.2 oz. box
Purchased at: N/A
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup/37 grams) 150 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 32 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Pringles Wavy Pineapple Habanero

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Pringles Wavy Pineapple Habanero Can

What are Pringles Wavy Pineapple Habanero?

Move over mango; your long-standing love affair with habanero is being put on pause. The newest Walgreens-exclusive Pringles variety puts a fresh tropical twist on the classic wing pairing with a pineapple infusion.

How are they?

Pringles pretty much nailed this new yet familiar combination of sweet and heat. It follows the same trajectory laid out by mango but has a distinctly acidic and sharp pineapple flavor that works just as well, if not better, than its orange-colored sibling. The crisps aren’t overly sweet, but they have a dominant pineapple presence that starts immediately and lingers well into the aftertaste.

The habanero sits behind the pineapple and exists much more in spicy flavor than it does heat. There’s a great herbaceous and peppery flavor that builds more substantially than any fiery tingling, and even after eating seven or eight in a row, I don’t feel a need to reach for water.

Pringles Wavy Pineapple Habanero Closeup

The only real downside of this experience is the Wavy-ness. In every other situation, wavy chips trump non-ridged, but I’ve never been convinced of how the wave translates to Pringles’ pressed potato crisps. The crisps are crunchier than normal Pringles, but they strike me as feeling hard in a stale way more than crunchy, and they don’t carry any extra flavor.

Anything else you need to know?

There’s something about this flavor pairing that reminds me of Chinese food, specifically sweet and sour pork with its chunks of pineapple sitting in sweet acidic sauce. There’s no meat flavor here, but if it was added in and the name was changed, I would have no problem believing that it’s another wacky Pringles flavor.

Conclusion:

Pringles nailed the flavor, but the wavy texture needs some work. That won’t stop me from finishing the tube, though. These crisps are complex enough that it is impossible for me to eat less than six every time I pop the lid.

Purchased Price: $1.99
Size: 4.8 ounces
Purchased at: Walgreens
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (12 Crisps) 150 calories, 9 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 135 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, less than 1 gram of sugar, 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Mtn Dew Baja Flash and Baja Punch

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Mtn Dew Baja Flash and Baja Punch Cans

Mtn Dew is not only good at making caffeinated fruity sodas, but it’s also good at giving those caffeinated fruity flavored beverages unique names. Think of all the Dew varieties that have ever existed and their names. Beyond Pitch Black and Pitch Black II and the Game Fuel offerings, there haven’t been many that reuse monikers.

But the popular Baja Blast now has to share its first name with new varieties — Baja Flash and Baja Punch.

With it being a pineapple coconut-flavored Dew, I’m surprised Baja Flash wasn’t called Baja Colada. Because it didn’t, I wondered if Mtn Dew was hesitant to give the soda a boozy-sounding name, but then remembered that time it offered its Spiked Lemonade line, Dew Shine, and Johnson City Gold. Also, I would’ve preferred Baja Colada because Baja Flash sounds like it would be a better name for a dune buggy.

Mtn Dew Baja Flash Closeup

As I poured some into my glass, I could smell the sweet coconut more than the golden fruit. Also, the pineapple isn’t as prevalent as the coconut when it comes to taste, but its flavor seems to stick out more in the aftertaste. The coconut might turn off some folks, but I dug it.

Pineapple isn’t new to the DEWniverse. There’s the pineapple-flavored Maui Burst, which is one of my all-time favorite Dew varieties. This isn’t as great as Maui Burst, but it’s a fine tasting Dew.

One last thing. While drinking it, one adjective that came to mind was creamy. There’s nothing creamy texture-wise, it drinks like any other soda, but the coconut flavor has me thinking it. Maybe my mind is too occupied with building a dune buggy called Baja Flash to think straight.

Mtn Dew Baja Punch Closeup

While I have no alternative names for Baja Punch, there’s a possibility that its name is a new one for Mtn Dew Solar Flare, which was a 7-Eleven fountain exclusive way back in 2014. Or it could be another name for Mtn Dew Southern Shock, a Bojangles exclusive last year. Both also are described as Dew with a tropical punch flavor. Oddly, I didn’t try either one, but Baja Punch does taste familiar to me.

When I first opened it, I smelled mango. After pouring it into the glass, I smelled pineapple. But when I drink it, I get a bit of cherry and something citrusy that could be pineapple. It’s definitely tropical punch flavored. Again, it reminds me of another Dew flavor, but I’m not sure which one. It also tastes less sweet than Baja Flash, but again, my mind might be distracted by thoughts of dune buggies.

Overall, Baja Punch is tasty, but my taste buds prefer Baja Flash.

Purchased Price: More than anyone should pay on eBay
Size: 12 fl oz cans
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Baja Flash), 7 out of 10 (Baja Punch)
Nutrition Facts: (12 fl oz) Baja Flash – 170 calories, 0 grams of fat, 55 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 44 grams of sugar, 44 grams of added sugar, 0 grams of protein, and 55 milligrams of caffeine. Baja Punch – 170 calories, 0 grams of fat, 55 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 44 grams of sugar, 44 grams of added sugar, 0 grams of protein, and 54 milligrams of caffeine.

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