Category: Spotted on Shelves

Spotted on Shelves is back for more at the 2019 Summer Fancy Food Show (FFS) in New York City. I scoped out new products from familiar brands and interesting things from up-and-coming companies.

I, and everyone else present, ate many free samples. So many samples. This did not affect what was chosen to appear in this column or my opinions of the products.

We’ve seen the savories. We’ve seen the sweets. We have to stay properly hydrated, though, so let’s hit on all the wet stuff at FFS that will keep us refreshed and moist. (Yeah, that’s right – I said it. Moist.)

Maud Borup’s Very Cherry and Blue Raspberry Fizzy Drink Bombs

One of my favorite finds at FFS were these little bath-bomb-like spheres that you drop into water to make a fizzy fruit drink. The ball spins, rises and sinks, and sheds edible glitter as it dissolves. The resulting drink is a bright cherry or raspberry flavor. I totally want to drop these into champagne. I just hope Grandpa Joe and I don’t bump into the newly-washed and sterilized ceiling.

Available in specialty grocery stores starting in Mid-August 2019.

Don Pablo Bourbon Infused Coffee

My attempts to find interesting coffee products at FFS were hampered a bit by my complete disinterest in coffee as a drink. So I imagined them as hot cocoa products instead, and a bourbon-infused hot cocoa sounded interesting to me. I did take a hearty whiff of the coffee grounds and they smelled lovely, so I’m thinking they taste pretty good as well. It’s made by soaking coffee beans in bourbon, drying them, then roasting (which cooks off the alcohol but leaves the flavor).

Available in September online, Amazon and select big box retailers.

Nestea Peach Black Tea, Lemon Black Tea and Raspberry Green Tea

It wouldn’t be summer without some iced tea, now would it? Nestea was showing some new flavors and new formulas of its bottled iced teas. All three had nice flavors that weren’t too tart or overwhelming. The Raspberry Green Tea was pretty light on green tea taste and sweetened with beet sugar. The Peach and Lemon had beet sugar but also Stevia to sweeten.

Available now at select grocery chains and discount retails, more outlets coming.

Republic of Tea The Bates’ Tea, Violet & Mary’s Tea, and Lord & Lady Grantham’s Tea

Get out your corsets, the Downton Abbey movie is coming! And now you can trade zingers with your favorite salty granny over a cup of Republic of Tea’s new Downton movie themed tea bags. I didn’t taste these, but they smelled lovely. The Lord & Lady Granthams’ flavor is Black Tea with Royal Spices, Violet & Mary’s is Caffeine-Free Ginger Mint Herb Tea (because can you picture Violet amped up on caffeine?), and The Bates’ Plum Pudding Black Tea.

Available starting August (leading up to the movie release in September) in specialty and natural foods markets and CostPlus World Market.

iQ juice Vitalize w/CBD

The CBD sign drew me in to the iQ juice booth, but what made it really interesting to me were the juices themselves. My jury’s still out on this whole craze, so I didn’t taste its Vitalize with CBD pre-production samples, but another variety I did try – Fat Burner – was truly delicious. I find the idea of a really good base juice with CBD as an ingredient more appealing than something where flavor is secondary to the CBD. The owners told me they chose fruits for Vitalize with anti-inflammatory properties (like dark berries), to play off of CBD’s similar benefits.

Available before the end of 2019 at specialty grocery and health food stores and select mass-market retailers.

Mingle Blood Orange Elderflower Sparkling Mocktails

Mingle is a line of non-alcoholic sparkling mocktails that can be enjoyed as-is, or mixed with your tipple of choice. Obviously a great option for non-imbibers, but I also think it’s handy for lazy folks like myself who never seem to have all the ingredients for classy cocktails. Its new blood orange elderflower flavor was refreshing and fruity but not overly tart.

Available starting in Mid-July at regional grocery chains and select domestic retailers.

Tap Drops Tokyo, London, Vienna, Paris, Rome, and New York

TapDrops sells tiny bottles of liquid that, when added to purified water, recreate the water of other major cities of the world. You could have the bagel-perfecting water of New York City in Peoria. Apparently the coffee in Rome is something wonderful, and you can get closer to recreating it at home with these drops – or just enjoy the tap water of your favorite metropolis without all the annoying travel.

Available now online, retail distribution TBD.

Jardin Floral Infusions Rose, Honeysuckle, and Lavender

Jardin Floral Infusions are one of the most visually attractive items I saw at the show. I mean – look at those pearly swirls! These are meant to be mixed with champagne or spirits as an enhancer, but I can see them going nicely into any clear drink. I tried the Lavender and Honeysuckle. They’re very subtle flavor-wise, which is great because flowers can get overwhelming fast. The bottles are so lovely I’d totally bring them as hostess gifts.

Available now at specialty grocery and wine stores across the Northeast.

Oh yeah? No Sharkleberry Fin, Rock-A-Dile Red, Pink Swimmingo, or Purplesaurus Rex? (Spotted by John W at Dollar General.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email ([email protected]) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. Or reply to us (@theimpulsivebuy) on Twitter with the photo, where you spotted it, and the hashtag #spotted. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.

Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if the product is old, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

If you’ve seen the product, help out your fellow readers by letting them know in the comments what city and store you found it in.

Here are some interesting new products found on store shelves by your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of the products, share your thoughts about them in the comments.

(Spotted by Jarred at Whole Foods.)

(Spotted by Robbie at H-E-B.)

(Spotted by Sarah R at Sprouts.)

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Kroger.)

(Spotted by Robbie at Sam’s Club.)

(Spotted by Bob K at Wegmans.)

(Spotted by Robbie at Walmart Neighborhood Market.)

If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email ([email protected]) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. Or reply to us (@theimpulsivebuy) on Twitter with the photo, where you spotted it, and the hashtag #spotted. If you’ve tried the product, share your thoughts about it in the comments.

Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if the product is old, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

Spotted on Shelves is back for more at the 2019 Summer Fancy Food Show (FFS) in New York City. I scoped out new products from familiar brands and interesting things from up-and-coming companies.

I, and everyone else present, ate many free samples. So many samples. This did not affect what was chosen to appear in this column or my opinions of the products.

Somehow, I managed to leave FFS on my own feet, not hauled out on a stretcher in a sugar coma. I tried and saw some really interesting and delicious sweet treats that have just landed or will in the future.

Jelly Belly Candy Cupcakes

Last year at FFS, Jelly Belly was showing its mellowcreme ice cream cones. This year, it’s mellowcreme cupcakes. Again, each piece has two halves with its own flavors. In this case, the bottoms are cupcake-flavored, the top is frosting – vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, blueberry or banana. I like the texture of these – I love candy corn, and these are like a refined version of candy corn with more flavors.

Available starting September 2019 in grocery stores, candy shops and retailers nationally

Pechkek’s Misfortune Cookies

Sometimes you find a product that resonates with you on a level that makes you wonder if it was plucked from your brain while you slept. This was one of those times. These fortune cookies are heavy metal black, have delightfully Halloween-ish packaging and are filled with fortunes that are bleak, clever, and funny. If I am ever reincarnated in cookie form, I will be a Pechkek’s Misfortune Cookie. Sadly, they only had paper prototypes on hand at FFS, so I didn’t get to taste them, but I didn’t need to. I want them. I am them.

Available mid-September 2019, outlets TBD

Loacker Double Choc Crispy Wafers

I’m surprised to call a wafer cookie “decadent,” but Loacker’s Double Choc felt so over-the-top rich. The wafers are deep cocoa (but not dark/bittersweet). The filling is thin, gooey, and delicious but left me with choc hands – which I promptly got all over my shirt. Maybe eat them wearing black satin elbow-length gloves just to be safe.

Available in the US starting early 2020, available internationally now.

Red Vines Made Simple Cherry Twist

Some people do not discuss politics at the dinner table. I prefer not to discuss which red licorice is better. There is no right answer – the best red licorice is the red licorice that’s there in front of you. At FFS, Red Vines’ upcoming Made Simple Cherry Twist were in front of me. Well, the packaging was. I didn’t get to sample them, but based on the Made Simple Mixed Berry Twists that I did have, they’ll be pretty close in texture to the original Red Vines with a slightly different flavor.

Available in grocery stores, convenience stores and major retailers starting November 2019

Hammond’s SodaPop and Coconut Cream Pie Milk Chocolate Bars

Hammond’s, of “Pigs N’ Taters” chocolate bar fame, has just dropped two new flavors. My favorite, SodaPop, is a cola-flavored chocolate bar with popping candy inside. As a cola fanatic, I am always skeptical of cola flavoring, but it’s done really well here (thanks for not making it cherry cola!) and the popping candy worked really well. The Coconut Cream Pie has a finely-shredded coconut and ganache filling that will make coconut lovers happy.

Available now online and at specialty stores nationally.

Belgian Boys Dark Chocolate and Salted Caramel Lava Cakes & Cookies & Cream, Raspberry, Cookie Butter, Key Lime and New York Cheesecakes

There’s no better way to get me to stop at your booth at FFS than to dangle cookie butter (aka – speculoos) in front of me, and that’s exactly what The Belgian Boys did. They were showing its new freezer-aisle desserts – single-serving cheesecakes and lava cakes in little glass bowls. The cheesecakes are thaw and eat, the lava cakes are freezer-to-oven. I tried the Cookie Butter flavor, which delivered on specu-locity with a slab of the spread of the Gods on top, a light, creamy cheesecake layer and a cookie crumb crust at the bottom. Bonus points for the tiny shovel-shaped spoons at the booth.

Available in grocery chains and Whole Foods in the MidAtlantic area and regional retailers starting in September 2019.

Mamie’s Pies Peach, Cherry, Pumpkin, Apple, and Blueberry

Mamie’s Pies has been on QVC and Oprah’s “Favorite Things” list, but they’re moving into your local grocery stores soon. These hand pies come individually packaged and frozen – they can be oven-baked, air fried, or deep fried. The samples I tasted were baked the previous day and served at room temperature, but still had flaky crusts and delicious fillings.

Available starting end of Summer 2019 in mass grocery chains nationally

Hot Scream Spicy Ice Cream Salted Caramel Swirl, Strawberry Swirl, Espresso Swirl, Chocolate Swirl, Black Raspberry Swirl, Ginger Swirl and Peach Swirl

Novelty addicts and hot sauce addicts, gather ‘round. Somebody made an ice cream just for you. Hot Scream is basically a good, solid vanilla ice cream with flavor ribbons and a dash of heat. It sounds like a “WHY?” moment, but these ice creams were really good. The heat didn’t compete with the ice cream flavors, it just added a little kick. I’m not enough of a chili fan to crave this, but it was fun to try all the flavors. They would be great for a summer party or outdoor barbecue.

Available now in grocery chains in the Northeast, nationwide distribution TBD.

Waffle Shots Limited Edition 8-packs Peanut Butter & Brownie and Peppermint Bark & Hazelnut

Waffle Shots, the company that makes espresso-shot-sized waffle cone cups, is releasing new flavors for the fall/winter. I didn’t sample these because they were being served with coffee (I hate coffee!) but they’re so cute and useful – I’m definitely going to try them with hot cocoa or cider.

Available starting in September/October 2019 online, Amazon, select department stores and gourmet food markets.

The cotton candy one makes me miss Cotton Candy Oreo Cookies. (Spotted by Kevin S at 7-Eleven.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email ([email protected]) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. Or reply to us (@theimpulsivebuy) on Twitter with the photo, where you spotted it, and the hashtag #spotted. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.

Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if the product is old, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

If you’ve seen the product, help out your fellow readers by letting them know in the comments what city and store you found it in.