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 Robbie at H-E-B.)
(Spotted by Rachel C at Trader Joe’s.)
(Spotted by Tommy at Shaw’s)
(Spotted by Robbie at H-E-B.)
(Spotted by Tommy at Aldi.)
(Spotted by Robbie at H-E-B.)
(Spotted by Leonard G at Walmart.)
NATTY LIGHT!!! Birthday Party Edition? So looking at the balloon set the way past puberty Mr. Peanut is holding, am I to assume this is for 21st birthday celebrations? Also, I don’t drink or follow beer news, but for some reason I know Natural Light is considered the Worst Beer in the World. (Spotted by Tommy at Walmart.)
Maybe my head is broken, but I swear this Red Bull Winter Edition Arctic Berry Energy Drink smelled and tasted like blueberry with my first sip. Of course, that’s impossible because there’s already a blueberry-flavored Red Bull. And it clearly states it’s a “cool raspberry” flavor on the can.
This Winter Edition Red Bull started being available in Summer 2020. Yes, it’s a bit early, but not surprising anymore since the brand released its 2020 Summer Edition in Winter 2020. Ugh. I feel I broke my head a little more by typing the first half of this paragraph. I could really use something that vitalizes my body and mind. Arctic Berry replaces Plum Twist, which was the Winter Edition from 2018-2019 in the U.S.
The energy drink looks like a pre-freezer or melted Louie-Bloo Raspberry Otter Pop, but it doesn’t taste like one was poured into a Red Bull. It’s a blue raspberry-flavored Red Bull, but its tartness is heavier than an Otter Pop. And, of course, there’s that medicinal aftertaste the energy drink is known for. The blueberry scent I initially sniffed turned into a cotton candy-like aroma as I nursed the can.
It’s an okay flavor, but I wouldn’t repurchase it. There’s something about it that I don’t quite like, and I’ve been wracking my possibly broken head trying to figure out why. I enjoy blue raspberry-flavored products (Louie-Bloo Raspberry has always been my favorite Otter Pop), but maybe my taste buds think it doesn’t go well with Red Bull. I dunno. I asked my friends Little Orphan Orange, Alexander the Grape, and Poncho Punch, but they don’t know why either.
Like all 12-ounce cans of Red Bull, this also has 114 milligrams of caffeine, which gave me a decent energy boost. Also, I kind of like the muted baby blue can color.
Arctic Berry is not my favorite Winter Edition Red Bull. Granted, there have only been two in the US, so it can either be the best or second-best (or worst) US Winter Edition Red Bull at this time. So I guess it’s the second-best. It’s definitely much lower down the list when it comes to all the brand’s flavors.
Purchased Price: Paid way too much on eBay
Size: 12 fl oz can
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 160 calories, 0 grams of fat, 125 milligrams of sodium, 40 grams of carbohydrates, 38 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.
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 Leonard G at Walmart.)
There is a semi-large, local to Kansas City pizza chain that makes a really fine cheeseburger pizza. I just thought I’d throw that out there to let it be known that a tasty cheeseburger pizza is within the realm of possibility.
What this local chain does right, it’s worth noting, is add pickles (you know, sliced pickle “chips”) and gobs of mustard. Now, I’m not even a mustard and pickle person on my REGULAR cheeseburger, let alone when I consume a pizza masquerading as a cheeseburger. But on this particular pie, it works.
Sadly, unless you are in the KC Metro area, you can’t have this unorthodox delight. Instead, I present to you, Domino’s depressing new cheeseburger pizza. According to the chain, their pizza is made with “a ketchup-mustard sauce, American cheese, beef, fresh onions, diced tomatoes, shredded provolone and cheddar cheese.” Opening the box, I was pleasantly surprised to see how well it had been constructed. The smell was appealing, too, but only in a generic, “yep, that smells like a pizza, alright” sort of way.
The visual and olfactory positives would be the high points of this forgettable dining experience.
The first thing I noticed when taking a bite was the overpoweringly obnoxious falsity that is American cheese. I’ve unwittingly ended up with American cheese on another Domino’s pizza at some dark point in the past, and all I really want to know is why? American cheese has its place in the world, sure – on an actual cheeseburger, mixed up in some scrambled eggs, melting messily atop a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich – but the desire to include it on a pizza is peculiar, no matter what the pizza purports to be.
The next thing I noticed was that I DIDN’T notice the sauce. As previously stated, the pizza was supposed to have a ketchup-mustard sauce. There was something under the cheese, I think, but all I really detected were subtle notes of slightly tangy wet.
Onions were present, but there were few and they added little, and the beef was your standard pre-formed, pre-cooked, straight-from-a-box, hamburger pellet that seems to find its way onto any national chain pizza when “beef” is involved. (Somewhere there is a beef pellet factory churning out hundreds of thousands of pounds of this product annually, I’m sure.)
Two things surprised me in a good way: the diced tomatoes added a pleasant and necessary juiciness to the proceedings (and I say this as someone who is generally anti-hot tomatoes in most situations) and the hand-tossed crust tasted fresh and flavorful, with a buttery, crunchy exterior and a soft, pillowy interior.
In fact, the crust was so enjoyable, and the construction and freshness of the overall pizza so impressive, I found myself excited to try Domino’s again at some point in the near future. Only, you know, not this particular pizza. And okay, probably not for full price. But the next time they run one of their 50% off specials? I will definitely consider probably giving them another shot. Maybe.
Purchased Price: $11.99 (promo price)
Size: Large
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 slice) 380 calories, 19 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 880 milligrams of sodium, 35 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugar, and 15 grams of protein.
