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.
There’s also a version with just a splash of milk and no flavoring. (Spotted by @TheJoshCatlett at Walmart.)
(Spotted by David B at 7-Eleven.)
(Spotted by @Paynen_Sahrow at Walmart.)
(Spotted by @TheJoshCatlett at Dierbergs.)
(Spotted by @TheJoshCatlett at Walmart.)
If you have somehow managed to maintain your New Year’s healthy eating or weight loss resolutions until March – kudos to you! And an even bigger kudos because you have managed to maintain your goals while visiting this website daily – I guess exposure therapy works?
This is the time that most people’s resolutions slowly disappear as the temptations of Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, and life gets to us all. So why am I even talking about New Year’s resolutions now? Because as I was sampling these Outshine Simply Indulgent Bars and reading the nutrition label, I thought, “Hey, these are relatively healthy and taste pretty decent too!” Of course, healthy is definitely relative. Outshine markets their products as “feel-good” and “wholesome,” but these are different topics for another time.
Let’s focus on the indulgent part of these bars instead. For me, indulgent would be a triple-layer cake with lots of frosting and extra goodies on top and shoved inside. However, this version of indulgent probably conflicts with the simple part of these bars. So while I would not say that these bars are indulgent, they were tasty.
I opened the box, and like other Outshine products, the bars were all orderly placed inside. When taken out, they do not look very exciting and look like all other frozen bars. Similar to their appearance, there was no alluring smell to stimulate my senses either. However, upon the first bite, I immediately could tell that these indeed contained milk – they were actually creamy in flavor!
I started with the mango bar, which also appeared to be softening first. It had a very light mango taste, and I would have appreciated a stronger flavor presence. I decided to move on to the strawberry bar. Again, a light fruit taste. But this one also had some strawberry bits, which I appreciated because of the texture contrast and small flavor bursts. It reminded me of eating a Yoplait yogurt, except in frozen dairy bar form.
Next, I was eager to move to the non-fruit flavors: chocolate and coffee. These are the first two non-fruit flavored products from Outshine, although they have dabbled with chocolate before with its Half Dipped Bars. The chocolate bar reminded me of chocolate milk, where there’s a satisfying chocolate presence, but you aren’t eating a chunk of fudge.
Lastly, there’s the coffee one. I was most excited about this bar because it contains 20 milligrams of caffeine. The coffee taste was definitely present, but still light like the others. This could work well for an afternoon treat with a little buzz.
If you really want to enjoy these bars like you would with ice cream, I recommend you wait until they start to soften or just bite in and let them slowly melt in your mouth. I prefer the texture profile of the first option, though.
In summary, if you are still sticking to your New Year’s health-kick but want a hint of an ice cream treat, these will suffice. To be clear, these are not a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream substitute, but an alternative if you have a small craving to satisfy. They also have five grams of protein per bar. The flavor profiles are not strong or indulgent, but present (with the mango and coffee having a slightly lighter presence for me). But the milky creaminess help deliver a general contentment.
DISCLOSURE: I received free product samples. Doing so did not influence my review.
Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 14.7 oz (1 box of 6 bars)
Purchased at: Received from Nestlé
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Mango), 7 out of 10 (Strawberry), 7 out of 10 (Chocolate), 6 out of 10 (Coffee)
Nutrition Facts: (1 bar) Mango – 100 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 25 milligrams of sodium, 14 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 13 grams of sugar, 10 grams of added sugars, and 5 grams of protein. Strawberry – 100 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 25 milligrams of sodium, 14 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 13 grams of sugar, 10 grams of added sugars, and 5 grams of protein. Chocolate – 90 calories, 3 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 12 grams of total carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 11 grams of sugar, 8 grams of added sugars, and 5 grams of protein. Coffee – 80 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 10 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 10 grams of sugar, 7 grams of added sugars, and 5 grams of protein.
There are also two other flavors — Orange Breeze and Tropical Sunrise. All flavors have zero grams of added sugar, 25 calories, and approximately 180 milligrams of caffeine per can. Mtn Dew is partnering with LeBron James to launch the energy drink line that’s supposed to offer a mental boost and immunity support. (Spotted by @CourseURHere at Walmart, Justin at Walmart, and David B at QT.)
As a Cinnamon Toast Crunch fan, I feel a personal obligation to try new foods that utilize its flavor. I have previously reviewed two Cinnamon Toast Crunch-themed items here. The ice cream was spot-on, but the creamer was a major let-down.
With the release of the new Nestle Sensations Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cinnamilk, I wondered which end of the spectrum it would land on. The concept seems straightforward: a drink that should taste like the milk from a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
I poured some of it into a glass and was immediately disheartened. It seemed quite thick. There are no visible cinnamon specks in the drink. I gave it a quick whiff and was able to detect faint traces of the spice.
I took a swig of it and found the consistency to be immediately off-putting. It was considerably thicker than expected. It is akin to the texture of nutritional drinks, like Ensure. If you have ever been lucky enough to try one of those, you know that it is not the most pleasant experience.
The cinnamon flavoring is quite underwhelming. It was much milder than the milk from a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. There was another underlying flavor that I could not quite put my finger on. Nestle may have been going for a “cereal” taste in the milk. Unfortunately, because I thought of nutritional drinks, I kept perceiving that flavor. It is not necessarily offensive, but it screams artificiality.
My initial plan for this review was to pour Cinnamilk over a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and double-up on the cinnamon-y goodness. It isn’t good enough to do that, though. I did not want to waste a bowl of cereal.
I am not a food scientist, clearly. However, I cannot understand why Nestle did not use real cinnamon in this beverage. This was the same problem that plagued the coffee creamer. If this had actual cinnamon or even a more prevalent cinnamon flavor, I could have overlooked the unpleasant consistency. For me, Cinnamilk completely missed the mark. Store-bought horchata tastes more like Cinnamon Toast Crunch milk, and that does not even contain dairy.
Purchased Price: $1.68
Size: 14 fl. oz. bottle
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 bottle) 260 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol, 190 milligrams of sodium, 41 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 39 grams of sugar, and 14 grams of protein.
Keurig Dr Pepper has released a new sugar-free formulation of its iconic soft drink. Using a combination of aspartame and acesulfame potassium, Dr Pepper Zero Sugar is being described as an addition to the aspartame-only Diet Dr Pepper, rather than a replacement.
Dr Pepper famously has 23 unique flavors, and you can find lists on the internet that purport to reveal them all. I don’t know how accurate these are (carrot, really?), but as a frequent Diet Dr Pepper drinker, I’m very familiar with what they create.
I pour Dr Pepper Zero Sugar into a glass and take a sip. It tastes like the Diet Dr Pepper that I’m familiar with. Yet, I think a more direct comparison will be fruitful.
One result of spending way too much thinking about junk food is that I’ve realized how susceptible to marketing I am. I prefer Coca-Cola over Pepsi partially because of its comfortable, timeless-seeming aesthetic, as opposed to Pepsi’s aggressively cool Generation Next campaign from my childhood. I still think of a Subway sandwich as a healthy option.
I choose Diet Dr Pepper from the work vending machine because it tastes more like regular Dr Pepper. But does it, really? To test this, I grabbed the original, diet, and zero sugar versions to try them side-by-side. It’s a Dr Pepper Challenge, if you will.
I haven’t had a regular Dr Pepper or any full-sugar soda in years, so I taste it first to establish a baseline. It’s very similar to the Zero Sugar version, with a more syrupy consistency and more intense sweetness. I move onto the diet one and am surprised by the difference. The mouthfeel is thinner and the sweetness has a flatness with a slightly chemical flavor that I’ve never noticed before. It does not taste like regular Dr Pepper. This is very concerning to me. Are my opinions so subject to media influence? Am I captive to corporate forces larger than I can conceive? I resample Dr Pepper Zero Sugar to confirm that it tastes more like regular Dr Pepper, and am convinced that it more faithfully replicates the original.
Dr Pepper Zero Sugar has opened my eyes to the truth. Diet Dr Pepper does not taste more like regular Dr Pepper, but this version does. Well played, Doctor, though you can still expect a malpractice lawsuit for all the quarters I’ve fed into the cafeteria soda machine.
Purchased Price: $1.99
Size: 2 Liter
Purchased at: Piggly Wiggly
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (12 fl oz) 0 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 60 milligrams of sodium, 0 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 0 grams of sugar, and 0 gram of protein.
