QUICK REVIEW: Starbucks Cordusio

/ / Reviews / 2 Comments

Starbucks Cordusio

What is the Starbucks Cordusio?

Having recently returned from a trip to Italy, I was excited to try this new Starbucks Cordusio, which the coffee chain’s site says is named for and inspired by the Piazza Cordusio, a popular city square in Milan. It’s also where Starbucks just opened its new Reserve Roastery. This espresso-meets-mocha drink consists of espresso, mocha, and whole milk.

How is it?

I enjoyed the dark mocha flavor – the description says it has a taste of dark chocolate, which I definitely tasted. It felt like I was indulging in a super dark chocolate bar. Give me all the chocolate! There’s more of a coffee taste than Starbucks’ regular mocha, which in my opinion is creamier and less coffee-like. Because it seems like I’d be drinking dessert, I rarely get a regular mocha. Coffee is what I want!

I took my time with it and found it to be more of a sipping drink that can last you through the morning.

Is there anything else I need to know?

The menu sign at my neighborhood Starbucks advertised this as a short, but you can get it in any size. My friendly barista shared that both the short and the tall have two shots of espresso, so it just depends on how much milk and mocha you want with it.

Conclusion:

I thoroughly enjoyed the sophisticated feel of the Starbucks Cordusio. Heck, even the name sounds fancy! I’ll definitely get again, now that I’m finally moving to hot drinks after iced coffee season.

Purchased Price: $4.45
Size: Tal
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Tall/12 fl. oz.) 200 calories, 9 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 110 milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 17 grams of sugars, 9 grams of protein, and 155 milligrams of caffeine.

QUICK REVIEW: Pillsbury Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cinnamania Toaster Strudel

/ / Reviews / 1 Comment

Pillsbury Cinnamon Toast Crunch Toaster Strudel

What is the Pillsbury Cinnamon Toast Crunch Toaster Strudel?

Combining the aromatic spices of Cinnamon Toast Crunch with the crisp flakiness of Pillsbury’s iconic Toaster Strudel, these heat ‘n eat treats take a cold cereal classic and turn it into a warming breakfast.

How is it?

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Toaster Pastries Pic 5 jpg

If there’s one thing about Toaster Strudels that’s always bothered me, it’s the icing that comes with them. While delicious, I don’t think that Pillsbury ever puts enough packets of it in the box. Each one is teeny-tiny, and you can only use a single packet per pastry unless you plan on eating some of them naked and unadorned.

Setting the icing situation aside, the Toaster Strudel itself was the true star of the show. Post-toasting, each pastry was pleasingly browned and filled my kitchen with the delicious smell of cinnamon sugar, alluding to their sweet, spiced filling. Although the top of each pasty was crisp and flaky, I thought that they were a little dry and chewy on the bottom, and they would have greatly benefited from some more butter or shortening in the dough.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Toaster Pastries Pic 7 JPG

Luckily, the much anticipated liquid spice goo more than made up for the pastry’s faults. The filling isn’t too strong, but it makes this Toaster Strudel taste genuinely reminiscent of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, ensuring that kids and adults alike will enjoy eating these for breakfast.

Is there anything else I need to know?

When you bite down onto one of these when they’re fresh from the toaster, the filling is about the temperature of lava, and it will burn your mouth if you’re not careful. Plus, the filling in mine had all run down to one end, leaving me with a few bites of plain dough.

Conclusion:

The Pillsbury Cinnamon Toast Crunch Toaster Strudel is a solid addition to the line. Sweet, aromatic, and true to the cereal, these are a solid breakfast choice for a chilly fall morning.

Purchased Price: $3.87
Size: 23.4 oz. box/12 pastries
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 pastry with icing) 180 calories, 60 calories from fat, 7 grams of total fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 9 grams of total sugars, and 2 grams of protein.

QUICK REVIEW: Auntie Anne’s Birthday Cake Pretzel Nuggets

/ / Reviews / 1 Comment

Auntie Anne s Birthday Cake Pretzel Nuggets

What are Auntie Anne’s Birthday Cake Pretzel Nuggets?

Mall-pretzel-mecca Auntie Anne’s is rolling out the winning flavor of its “Pretzel Nation Creation” crowd-sourcing contest. Just in time for the company’s 30th birthday, Birthday Cake Pretzel Nuggets have vanilla dust, chocolate drizzle and funfetti sprinkles.

Auntie Anne s Birthday Cake Pretzel Nuggets 2

How are they?

What immediately jumps out of this birthday cake is the chocolate syrup. While it says “made with Ghirardelli,” this tasted just like the childhood classic Hershey’s syrup. I’m generally not a big fan, and I didn’t think it belonged in a birthday cake flavored item. To me, birthday cake is vanilla, butter, milk and maybe a hint of cream cheese or almond.

The vanilla dust on these nuggets was more like vanilla sugar, which was fine. It was a nice middle-of-the-road vanilla flavor and did a good job of making itself known. The sprinkles were the flat round type – formally called quins – in bright pastels. Very cheerful.

Auntie Anne s Birthday Cake Pretzel Nuggets 3

A friend who tried these with me suggested an all-over glaze might’ve been better, and I agree. Vanilla buttermilk frosting glaze poured over each nugget would’ve screamed birthday cake and been a great sticky landing pad for those sprinkles.

This was my first time trying the nugget format of Auntie Anne’s pretzels. The flavor was good, but they weren’t as soft at the traditional, large, knot-shaped pretzels.

Auntie Anne s Birthday Cake Pretzel Nuggets 4

Is there anything else I need to know?

Because the nuggets are placed in the cup before “birthdayization,” your sprinkle and vanilla experience will be limited to the 3-4 nuggets on top. The syrup works its way down, but there will likely be some blanks at the bottom.

Conclusion:

Auntie Anne’s Birthday Cake Pretzel Nuggets are definitely a mall food – new but still really familiar, cute but institutional, with a tinge of missed opportunity.

Purchased Price: $5.69
Size: 16 oz. cup
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (16 oz. cup) 530 calories, 6 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 340 milligrams of sodium, 106 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of dietary fiber, 40 grams of total sugars, and 10 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Limited Edition Peppermint Bark Oreo

/ / Reviews / 3 Comments

Limited Edition Peppermint Bark Oreo Cookies

Hey, did you guys finish your Halloween ensemble yet?

Are you starting to think about which side dishes you’re gonna be cooking up for Thanksgiving?

Well, guess what? None of that matters anymore, because it’s officially Christmas season.

Sorry, but I don’t make the rules, Nabisco does, and with the release of new Peppermint Bark Oreo, you might as well start duct-taping the Christmas lights to your gutter. It’s here. There’s no fighting it.

Peppermint Bark still feels like a relatively new thing to me. I feel like I never had it until about a decade ago, but it has already become one of my winter staples.

Chocolate and peppermint have always been a winning combo. But there’s something about the mix of white and dark chocolate with those peppermint pieces that do it for me. It’s as if someone reinvented a Hershey-style bar AND the candy cane while improving on both of them. (Hershey’s Candy Cane bar is also excellent.)

Peppermint Bark feels like a natural progression for the Oreo assembly line, and I couldn’t be more excited to try ’em.

Limited Edition Peppermint Bark Oreo Cookies 3

This probably goes without saying, but these cookies smell fantastic. Just imagine that waft you get when tearing open a sleeve of Thin Mints because the scent is identical to that.

You get your standard chocolate Oreo wafers that are “always made with real cocoa” according to the packaging. Perhaps someone was calling the validity of the chocolate into question, so they felt the need to reassure everyone. I guess it’s nice to know.

Limited Edition Peppermint Bark Oreo Cookies 5

While you can never go wrong with the iconic chocolate Oreo, the peppermint flavored crème is the star of the show here. It toes the line between minty and sweet nicely. I’m always a bit nervous companies will go overboard with the peppermint oil, and leave me feeling like I ate an Altoid instead of a cookie.

Limited Edition Peppermint Bark Oreo Cookies 2

Not only does it taste good, it’s crispy. Yes, “Crispy Crème,” which I’m pretty sure Nabisco couldn’t flaunt due to trademark laws. The crème is peppered with sugar crystals that mimic peppermint candies. They give it a nice little crunch, and unlike actual candy canes, don’t chew like shards of glass.

Limited Edition Peppermint Bark Oreo Cookies 4

Nabisco’s willingness to get creative with the crème has been my favorite thing about this seemingly endless Oreo-issance. Whether it be adding popping candies or rice crisps, any inclusion made to the crème has enhanced the Oreo. The peppermint crème and sugar crystals are so good here that I didn’t even bother eating the actual cookies a few times.

I know Oreo has had mint flavors in the past, but they’ve perfected it here. Peppermint Bark Oreo Cookies are a winner.

Here’s hoping these last on shelves long into the new year. If you love Peppermint Bark, but don’t feel like paying lots of money for the fancy tin it comes in, pick up Peppermint Bark Oreo, it’ll do the trick.

Purchased Price: $2.98
Size: 10.7 oz. package
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2 cookies) 140 calories, 6 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 85 milligrams of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 13 grams of sugar (includes 13 grams of “added sugar.”) and less than 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Starbucks Witch’s Brew Frappuccino

/ / Reviews / 1 Comment

Starbucks Witch's Brew Frappuccino

“What’s that? [Bat]’s wart, mmm! And [toad]’s breath? Nothing’s more suspicious than [toad]’s breath! Until you taste it, I won’t follow a spoonful.”

So apparently the folks over at Starbucks weren’t quite creative enough to come up with their own ingredients for the Witch’s Brew Frappuccino, so they had to take worm’s wart and frog’s breath from Sally’s soup on The Nightmare before Christmas, and they replaced the animals to avoid copyright infringement. I’m surprised they didn’t add deadly lampshade in place of deadly nightshade.

According to various official descriptions, this purple concoction also has swamp fog, goblin regret (whatever that is), and lizard scales.

I’ve got to hand it to Starbucks: this is a visually stunning drink. The orange-flavored purple base, the green-colored chia seeds, and the green sugar on top of whipped cream. Purple and green will never overthrow orange and black as the ultimate Halloween colors, but this is a fittingly spooky treat.

Will this brew gain the approval of Samantha Stephens, Winifred Sanderson, Sabrina Spellman, and Minerva McGonagall? Ehh.

While I was waiting for my drink, I overheard the barista talking disparagingly about it with a man who I assume was his boss. I didn’t dislike it like they did, but it wasn’t amazing.

The purple base tastes like generic orange Creamsicle. It was a nice enough flavor, but halfway through my Tall drink, I couldn’t really taste it. I don’t know whether I had sucked all the flavor out (like with a Slurpee), or if I had gotten numb to it. Regardless, the second half wasn’t as tasty as the first.

Starbucks Witch's Brew Frappuccino 3

The slimy, green chia seeds (bat warts, I assume) were disappointing. They had no flavor, and they seemed out of place in this drink. It’s nice to break up the monotony in a drink like this, but the chia seeds weren’t the best way to do it. At least you’re getting a minuscule amount of nutrients from their presence, right?

Starbucks Witch's Brew Frappuccino 4

Oddly enough, my favorite part might have been the green-colored sugar (lizard scales?) resting on the whipped cream. I don’t think it’s supposed to taste like anything, but it seemed better than regular sugar. But I doubt you’re supposed to consume it separately.

Starbucks Witch's Brew Frappuccino 5

If you want to try Starbucks’ Witch’s Brew Frappuccino for the seasonal novelty of it, then go for it. It’s not terrible. I love these holiday gimmicks; also, I don’t drink coffee, so I was glad to have another alternative at Starbucks. It’s a fun offering.

If, however, you’re hoping for a delicious drink, there are better ways to spend five dollars.

Purchased Price: $4.95
Size: Tall
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Tall) 270 calories, 100 calories from fat, 11 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium, 39 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 35 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein, and 0 milligrams of caffeine.

Scroll to Top