What is it?

A new flavor of the popular Lay’s Poppables, which debuted last year. This product also brings the number of Lay’s honey-flavored potato snacks introduced this year to two. The other being Lay’s Kettle Cooked Honey Chipotle Potato Chips.

How is it?

Although the bag says “Honey BBQ,” with every crunchy nugget I put into my mouth all I could think about was how they exactly taste like regular Lay’s Barbecue Potato Chips. They have a sweet and tangy flavor, but the heavily seasoned pieces have a pronounced smokiness to them.

But, despite honey being listed in the ingredients, it’s not noticeable like it was when I tried the Kettle Cooked Honey Chipotle Potato Chips recently. It makes me feel sorry for the bees who worked so hard to make the honey. All that buzzing around and I can’t even taste it. Let that be a lesson for everyone. Sometimes hard work doesn’t pay off.

Is there anything else I need to know?

These have the same satisfying crunch as the other Popppables varieties. They’re so crunchy that I sometimes like to chew them with my mouth open to try to amplify the crunch.

They’re good, but there’s something about them that prevents them from not being as addictive as the Sea Salt ones. I mean, I have an unhealthy relationship with the Lay’s Poppables Sea Salt. When I buy a bag there’s a 100 percent chance that I’ll empty it out within the next 12-24 hours. But my relationship with this flavor would make my therapist proud. It’s been 24 hours and I haven’t finish the bag.

Conclusion:

If you like Lay’s Barbecue Potato Chips, but want to eat it in a different form factor, here you go.

Purchased Price: $2.50
Size: 5 oz. bag
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (about 28 pieces) 150 calories, 8 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 220 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.

Few fast food corporations seem to truly love their customers the way that Taco Bell does.

Let’s be honest: with the kind, loving hand of a well-meaning father, everything and anything the Bell creates is done simply to make us, the fickle consumer, in the broadest of generalities, happy. Very happy. They just want to see a satisfied smile on our faces by consistently going above and beyond our culinary dreams in ways the other fast food joints either can’t or refuse to.

From their now-legendary forays into the Tex-Mex beyond with items like the long-forgotten Bell Beefer sandwich and the heat-punishing Volcano Taco, to recent developments like the blockbuster Doritos Locos Tacos and those omnipresent Nacho Fries, if you can dream it, then the kitchen witches at Taco Bell can probably make it a reality.

Case in point, their latest liquidic offering is the absolutely transcendent Strawberry Skittles Freeze, a tart and tangy frozen sojourn into absolute tooth-rotting bliss. Even more so than their Air Heads or Starburst variations, this chilly elixir perfectly captures the very essence and aura of a strawberry Skittle — everyone’s favorite flavor, right? — and pulverizes it down into a sweetly-sour near-solid that is worth the numerous brain-freezes that should occur from sip after fruity sip.

Available in a 16 oz. size for $2.39, you’d think that this would be a prime example of sickly-sweet overkill as many of these experiments often tend to be, but the flavor wizards at TB have managed to get the perfect balance, creating a frozen beverage that is finally without a sour, throaty aftertaste from the sweeteners or, even worse, the archetypical queasy stomach from the massive fructose overload. I ordered two —- one with my meal and one for the road and it was an oh-so-smooth ride the whole time.

This leads the door wide open, hopefully and blessedly, for the Bell to create even more candy-inspired frozen drinks; a lemon-lime Skittles frozen lemonade would be quite bomb, especially in the summertime on a rather sultry Sunday right after mowing the yard. But why stop there? How about a Sour Patch Kids Watermelon freeze to sneak into the movies or, por mi gente, a tamarindo or mango con chile concoction of some sort, maybe with a Tajin seasoning packet for the experts. The Bell’s the limit!

But, until then, I will be happily sipping and slurping the rainbow with every limited-time only moment of refreshing romance I have with the Strawberry Skittles Freeze, thanking my pals at Taco Bell from the very bottom of my enlarged heart for, once again, thinking outside the bun and making my most edible of dreams come true like an overweight (and far more watchable) version of the movie Inception. ¡Cómpralo ya!

(Nutrition Facts – 160 calories, 0 calories from fat, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 40 milligrams of sodium, 43 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 43 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: $2.39
Size: 16 oz.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Pros: Tastes like frozen Skittle juice. No sickly-sweet stomach ache. ice cold and refreshing.
Cons: Limited-time only.

Coca-Cola Georgia Peach and California Raspberry sound like Coke Freestyle machine selections.

Actually, according to the Coke Freestyle website, Coke Raspberry is an option, but peach isn’t.

The two flavors also continue the U.S. state shoutout trend that’s similar to what Hershey’s has been doing with its Flavors of America and what Dreyer’s/Edy’s did with its Slow Churned ice cream regional flavors from 2016.

Sadly, Georgia Peach and California Raspberry are currently the only varieties available. So no Hawaii Pineapple, Arizona Prickly Pear, or Idaho Potato. Maybe later this year or next year?

The first thing that comes to mind after tasting the California Raspberry is Lipton’s Brisk Raspberry Iced Tea. So imagine that with the flavor of Coke to get an idea of what the raspberry one taste like. That’s Brisk, baby! That’s also kind of weird since PepsiCo distributes Lipton’s Brisk Iced Tea.

As for the Georgia Peach, it also has a flavor that tastes similar to me — Haribo Gummy Peach Rings. They’re a little floral, but I love those gummies. The peach is a bit artificial, but it goes well with Coke.

Both are made using natural flavors and cane sugar. The use of cane sugar, like all other products I’ve tried with the sweetener, makes it smoother and easier to drink than those that use high fructose corn syrup.

Unfortunately, they’re available only in glass bottles 4-packs. So if you buy a pack and don’t like it, you’re stuck with the other three. Although, you might find some sucker on eBay who runs a junk food blog to buy two bottles from you at a price that’s equal to what you paid for both 4-packs. Or you could not buy the raspberry one and instead visit your nearest Coke Freestyle machine and try a raspberry-flavored Coke.

Coca-Cola Georgia Peach and California Raspberry are both pleasant flavor variations and definitely worth a try, especially the peach one. I have a feeling a lot of drinkers won’t agree with me about the peach, but I prefer it because its flavor reminds me of my beloved Haribo Peach Rings and I like the uniqueness of it. It’s not every day we see a peach cola.

And maybe, someday, we’ll see more Coke flavors like these.

(Nutrition Facts – 12 oz. – 140 calories, 0 grams of fat, 35 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, 37 grams of sugar, 0 grams of protein, and 34 milligrams of caffeine.)

Purchased Price: Paid too much for them on eBay
Size: 12 oz. bottles
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Georgia Peach)
Rating: 7 out of 10 (California Raspberry)
Pros: Both are pleasant flavored Coke variations. Made with cane sugar. California Raspberry reminds me of Lipton Brisk Raspberry Iced Tea. Georgia Peach reminds me of Haribo Peach Rings.
Cons: Available only in glass bottle 4-packs. Only two flavors. Not a lot of caffeine.