REVIEW: Limited Edition Miller Lite Beer Pringles (Grilled Beer Brat, Beer-Braised Steak, and Beer Can Chicken)

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It’s almost Memorial Day, aka the unofficial start of Summer, aka prime grilling season (you know, if you’re the type to relegate your outdoor meat cooking to only one particular time of year).

In the spirit of the season, Pringles is teaming up with Miller Lite beer to bring a few different types of beer-inspired grilled meat potato crisps to store shelves: Grilled Beer Brat, Beer-Braised Steak, and Beer Can Chicken. (If you’ve never had beer can chicken, it’s where you stick an opened can of beer up a chicken’s butt before grilling it, ostensibly to… infuse the chicken meat with the essence of beer? It doesn’t actually make it taste like beer in my experience. Maybe it keeps the chicken moist, I’m no food scientist.) Anyway, although I don’t drink beer nowadays, I DO eat Pringles — and chicken, brats, and steak — so I tried all three.

Beer Can Chicken: The worst of the bunch. Not bad, but not good. Very neutral, in other words. These tasted like regular Pringles, honestly, that were maybe just a little… off. I heard someone online suggest that they tasted like chicken ramen packets, and someone else excitedly agreed, but I didn’t get that sense AT ALL. A Pringle flavored with chicken ramen seasoning would have been much better (though probably not accurate for Beer Can Chicken and chicken ramen seasoning Pringles have already been done). I found myself tired of these after two crisps.

Beer-Braised Steak: Interesting, and better than the BCC, but I wasn’t in love with these, either. There was definitely more of a meaty essence with these — even, dare I say, steak-meat — and a decent charcoal hint at the beginning, but it felt like it was all right up front on the chip, with no nuance or longer-lasting flavor.

Grilled Beer Brat: The best of the bunch, if only because it felt the truest to its intention. Though I still didn’t get any “beer” flavoring, this one nicely mimicked an actual grilled brat. My only complaint was the same as with the Beer-Braised Steak version — the flavoring could’ve used a little more oomph. All of the seasoning seemed to be at the beginning of the tasting, and I didn’t really feel like it warranted eating a bunch to get that good initial taste.

Because I wanted to know if I could trust my taste buds — and the Pringles food scientists to get it right — I blind taste tested each to see if I could pick out which one was which. The Chicken’s blandness was unmistakable — I guessed it on my first go-round. The other two took a bit more work. I initially mixed up which was which, but after having about three of each, I got them correct. Additionally, I tested them on my daughter, who went in with zero knowledge of the intended flavors. She thought the Chicken was “regular Pringles,” Steak was “garlic,” and Brat was “mint.” She also declared that she didn’t like any of them, and was scandalized that I tried to give her beer. Kids, am I right?

Purchased Price: $2.00 (each)
Size: 5.5 oz cans
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 5 out of 10 (Chicken), 6 out of 10 (Steak), 7 out of 10 (Brat)
Nutrition Facts: (14 Crisps) 150 calories, 9 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium Brat/Steak 180 milligrams of sodium Chicken, 17 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 0 grams of total sugars, and 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Utz Limited Edition Lemonade Potato Chips

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Who called them “Lemonade Potato Chips” and not “PotADEo Chips?”

Utz. It was Utz. What kinda question was that? You see the picture. I assume your follow-up question is, “Wait, WHY did Utz make a lemonade flavored potato chip?”

Well, Nosy, I’ll tell ya, Utz partnered with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation to support childhood cancer research. It’s for a great cause, larger than all of us. Maybe stop asking so many questions, eh?

Ok, it’s getting a little awkward here between my imaginary friend and me, so I’ll just move on.

Lemonade-flavored chips. On the surface, that does seem strange, but I guess it hinges on your opinion of “sweet” chips. I kinda liked those Lay’s Tootie Frootie Oh Rootie or whatever chips. I love lime tortilla chips. I even kinda dug the Chicken and Waffles Lay’s, so a sweet element in a chip has worked for me. Do these?

Yeah, I think they do. Utz made a serviceable lemonade-flavored potato chip. It all starts with the fact that Utz has a classic potato chip to start with.

These look and smell exactly like regular salted potato chips, with maybe a hint of citrus at the end if your schnoz is up to the task of sniffing it out. Lemon didn’t pop my nostrils like I expected, which was encouraging, because I feared these would be overly artificial.

While I like these overall, it’s a bit of a mixed bag… pun intended, I guess. Some chips have a soft sweetness that really pairs well with the salty base chip. Others skip the sweetness entirely and go right to a borderline unpleasant sour blast that lingers a little too long. It’s like one out of every ten chips got dusted with a little too much of that malic acid taste.

The chips themselves are very good, but as I said, I like Utz potato chips. These would be a huge win if each chip had an even coating of salt, sweet lemon, and just a pinch of citric sourness. As they are, I think they’re pretty good. Eat as many chips in one bite as possible to balance the flavors.

I’m not a “finish a bag of chips in one sitting” guy because the grease gets to me, but I polished half the bag of these, only pausing a few times to grimace at the rogue sour chip.

I like ‘em. It’s definitely a good summer chip. I imagine these will have their haters, but I encourage you to pick a bag up, especially with the good cause attached to them.

Lemonade could be the new “hot” trend of the season. It’s a ubiquitous flavor on its own, but we’ve already seen some weird collabs in the chip world, and I shockingly didn’t detest Popeyes’ Pickle Lemonade. If these take off, you can probably expect more brands to milk lemonade for all its worth, and who knows, maybe fudge will be the next seasonal limited edition around the corner.

…I’m sorry. Buy these. Not bad! Good cause!

Purchased Price: $2.94
Size: 7.75 oz. (Family Size)
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (about 20 chips) 150 calories, 9 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Wendy’s Frosty Fusions

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Remember Wendy’s Frosty Swirls that came out (checks notes) a month ago?

Well, they have been whip kicked to the curb by Wendy’s red ponytails and replaced with the upgraded Frosty Fusions. Just kidding. These are the Frosty Swirls, which are very much still around, with a crunchy topping. Brownie batter gets Oreo cookie pieces, caramel has toffee pieces, and strawberry comes with strawberry Pop-Tarts Crunchy Poppers.

Like the Frosty Swirls, all three are available with either a chocolate or vanilla base. For my review of the previous line, I went with chocolate, so this time I decided to go with vanilla.

An issue I had with the Caramel Frosty Swirl was how weak the caramel sauce was. Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, it’s still weak here with this Frosty Fusion. But the tiny, plentiful toffee pieces add a bit of sweet butteriness to make up for the sauce.

However, even with the toffee, I can confidently say this one isn’t as flavorful or outstanding as the other two. Also, even though I know toffee is going to toffee, I was a bit annoyed by how the pieces stuck to my teeth. Although, maybe that’s me projecting my disappointment with this dessert since I love caramel.

The Oreo Brownie Twist Frosty Fusion combines two chocolatey flavors with the brownie batter sauce and Oreo pieces. Not surprisingly, the cookie pieces enhance the already delicious swirled sauce, and on this vanilla canvas, they both stood out.

On Wendy’s website, the description says, “Not gonna lie, there’s a lot going on here—and all of it is delicious.” While I don’t believe there’s a lot going on with this souped-up Frosty because it’s just three components, all of it is very tasty, and the dark cookie pieces add a pleasant contrasting texture.

Much like IKEA instructions, I sometimes don’t read product descriptions until after the fact, and that’s what I did with the Strawberry Pop-Tarts Frosty Fusion. Because I didn’t look it up, I initially thought this came topped with untoasted Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tart pieces. However, I was pleasantly surprised after realizing it came with Pop-Tarts Crunchy Poppers, which, after thinking about it, made more sense texture-wise than untoasted and uncrunchy Pop-Tarts.

I tasted the strawberry sauce more than the Pop-Tarts’ filling, but didn’t mind that because it enhanced the Pop-Tarts’ flavor, making this a sweet, fruity, and crunchy treat. Much like the Strawberry Frosty Swirl was my favorite among the three swirls, this topped treat was the best of the bunch.

My thoughts about Wendy’s Frosty Fusions mirror what I thought about the Frosty Swirls. The Strawberry one is outstanding, the brownie batter one is excellent, and the caramel one is good, but at the same time, a bit underwhelming.

Purchased Price: $5.89 each
Size: Small
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Caramel Crunch), 8 out of 10 (Oreo Brownie Twist), 9 out of 10 (Pop-Tarts Strawberry)
Nutrition Facts: Oreo Brownie Twist – 520 calories, 23 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 370 milligrams of sodium, 68 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 54 grams of sugar, and 10 grams of protein. Pop-Tarts Strawberry – 370 calories, 9 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 210 milligrams of sodium, 65 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 52 grams of sugar, and 8 grams of protein. Caramel Crunch – 420 calories, 10 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 390 milligrams of sodium, 75 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 60 grams of sugar, and 9 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Little Caesars Mtn Dew Mango Rush

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IT BURNS! MY MOUTH IS ON FIRE! CURSE YOU, LITTLE CAESARS, AND YOUR MTN DEW MANGO RUSH! I SWEAR I WILL SQUASH YOU TO MAKE YOU A LITTLER CAESARS AS PAYBACK FOR MAKING MY MOUTH HOTTER THAN YOUR HOT-N-READY PIZZAS!

The paragraph above is what I expected to scream after drinking Little Caesars’ exclusive Mtn Dew Mango Rush that features a blast of mango sweet heat flavor. But here I am, calmly wondering in mostly lowercase letters if there’s any heat. After drinking the entire 16-ounce can, there’s no spreading of spiciness or tingling that tickles the throat. I notice a little something in the aftertaste when I sip mindfully, but it doesn’t ring any fire alarms in my head. To be honest, I probably should’ve guessed this would be the case since the ballyhooed Mtn Dew Flamin’ Hot from a few years ago wasn’t necessarily Flamin’ or Hot.

This canned Mtn Dew doesn’t have any heat, but most interestingly, it doesn’t seem like it has much mango either. There has been a grove of mango Dew varieties, and what I taste here doesn’t bring any of them to mind. I don’t know if the “sweet heat” flavorings are messing with the natural and artificial mango flavors, but this tastes more like sweet orange than anything else.

While looking up the many tropical Dew variations, I came across a review on this website for a Mtn Dew Mango Heat Game Fuel from 2016 that I completely forgot about. In it, our reviewer, mentioned that it tasted “like Mountain Dew took a carbonated Ecto Cooler, added a splash of Sunny D, tossed in a dash of black pepper, and mixed it all together—by using a Mango Dum-Dum sucker as the swizzle stick.”

I never tried Mango Heat, so I can’t compare. But it does sound like the two flavors are similar. So it wouldn’t surprise me if this is a renamed version of it.

Little Caesars Mtn Dew Mango Rush doesn’t have a rush of mango flavor or heat. It tastes fine, but even though it’s available while supplies last, I don’t think it’s worth rushing out your door to pick up some.

Purchased Price: $2.99*
Size: 16 fl oz
Purchased at: Little Caesars
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 210 calories, 0 grams of fat, 65 milligrams of sodium, 57 grams of carbohydrates, 57 grams of sugar (including 57 grams of added sugar), 0 grams of protein, and 72 milligrams of caffeine.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

REVIEW: Red Bull Summer Edition White Peach Energy Drink

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Peach is a popular summer palate pleaser, and it’s the flavor of Red Bull’s newest Summer Edition. But it’s not the yellow one we’re most familiar with, thanks to the state of Georgia and Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” music video. Instead, it’s the equally as delicious, but sweeter white peach. This energy drink’s colors match the fruit’s, with its pink can and opaque white liquid being inspired by the fruit’s pink skin and white flesh.

The peachy Summer Edition is available in regular and sugar-free varieties, which Red Bull kindly sent me. The full sugar version is much more fragrant than its sugarless counterpart. However, the sugar-free one has a more potent peach punch when it comes to taste. But I find its fruity hit milder than Monster’s Ultra Peachy Keen. However, with both Summer Edition versions, if you told me it was a yellow peach-flavored energy drink, I’d believe you because it has that typical fruitiness that I’ve tasted with similar flavored drinks.

Between the regular and sugar-free versions, I’d have to give an enthusiastic nod to the latter. A weird sour aftertaste happens with the regular one after the fruitiness fades. It’s not off-putting, but it gives me a good reason to prefer the sugar-free one, which is smoother to drink and maintains its flavor from start to finish. However, I find that the artificial sweeteners in this are more noticeable in the aftertaste than with the peach-flavored Monster Ultra.

While I enjoyed the sugar-free one much more than the regular version, I’m surprised I did. I usually prefer the full sugar one when it comes to Red Bull flavors and their sugar-free counterparts. However, not even sugar can overcome the aftertaste and milder peach flavor that regular peach has.

If you ever need a peach-tasting pick-me-up and don’t mind sugar-free beverages, Red Bull’s Sugar Free Summer Edition White Peach is a peachy keen energy drink. As for the regular version, you might not find it to be as peachy.

DISCLOSURE: I received free product samples from Red Bull. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 12 fl oz cans
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Regular), 8 out of 10 (Sugar Free)
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) Regular – 160 calories, 0 grams of fat, 125 milligrams of sodium, 40 grams of carbohydrates, 38 grams of sugar (including 38 grams of added sugar), 0 grams of protein, and 114 milligrams of caffeine. Sugar Free – 0 calories, 0 grams of fat, 200 milligrams of sodium, 3 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of sugar, 0 grams of protein, and 114 milligrams of caffeine.

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