SPOTTED: Quaker Chocolate Life Cereal
(Checks to see is Quaker still makes Cinnamon Life) I only care about Chocolate Life Cereal because I want to combine it with Cinnamon Life Cereal. (Spotted by Dorothy at Walmart)
REVIEW: Swiss Miss Lucky Charms Hot Cocoa Mix
What is Swiss Miss Lucky Charms Hot Cocoa Mix?
Swiss Miss brand hot cocoa mix with Lucky Charms marshmallows for a mashup of epic magically delicious proportions. If your brain is more fashion-oriented, then all you need to know is: Swiss Miss X Lucky Charms.
How is it?
This one is pretty easy. It’s a mashup of two well-known delicious things. Some questions to help you out on this one if you are on the fence. Do you like Swiss Miss instant hot cocoa mix? Do you like dehydrated marshmallows? Do you like fun and colorful things? Are you part-leprechaun? If you answered YES to at least three of these, you will love this item.
It’s not revolutionary by any means, but it is fun. The hot cocoa is like you remember from those snow days off from school with a surprisingly very rich chocolate flavor for a simple instant mix.
The marbits seem to be the actual ones plucked out straight out of the cereal box with the new assortment shapes represented. They add nice colors to the stark brown beverage, and since they are larger, they don’t immediately disintegrate once added in.
I also like that, depending on how quickly you consume them, they have varying levels of crunchiness. Unfortunately, there weren’t that many marshmallows, but I guess that’s the price of having fun-branded ones. Someone’s gotta pay those licensing dollars!
Anything else you need to know?
I used eight ounces of water in my creation, but you can also use milk for a richer taste. It doesn’t suggest one, so feel free to go wild based on what you have in the fridge or what your preferences are. I wonder what Lucky’s go-to milk in leprechaun land is. (UNICORN MILK???)
As mentioned before, this mix isn’t revolutionary in its flavor profile. However, it is novel in that it is Swiss Miss’s first official collaboration with another well-known brand. So congrats on that Swiss Miss!
Conclusion:
This is a neat take on hot cocoa that blends Swiss Miss’s nostalgic chocolatey goodness with those elusive but colorful and well-known marshmallows. Could you have already made this with things in the grocery store? Yep. Do the unique shapes and colors add immensely to the flavor experience? Absolutely not.
However, it’s the perfect beverage for a cold, winter day when you crave something more fun to drink, and dare I say it? Magically Delicious!
Purchased Price: $12.99
Size: 9.18 oz box
Purchased at: Amazon
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 Envelope Cocoa and 1 Envelope Marshmallows) 180 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, 31 grams of sugar, 1 gram of dietary fiber, and 1 gram of protein.
SPOTTED: Smartfood Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries Popcorn Mix
Update: We tried it! Click here to read our review.
Imagine if there were bags out there that didn’t get popcorn. Smartfood Oops All Berries! (Spotted by Dorothy at Giant Eagle)
REVIEW: Witch’s Brew Kit Kat
What is Witch’s Brew Kit Kat?
Hershey’s has turned witch’s brew into its latest Kit Kat flavor. What does witch’s brew taste like? Well, it aligns perfectly with Halloween, witches, and the color green: marshmallow!
Wait…marshmallow??
How is it?
As with the other limited edition Kit Kats, the flavor lies in the light-green-colored crème coating. The inside is standard Kit Kat fare.
Does Witch’s Brew taste different from standard Kit Kats with white crème? Yes!
Does it taste like a marshmallow? I guess so. It’s sweeter than white crème, but marshmallows are not known for their strong flavor.
Is it enjoyable? Yes!
Anything else you need to know?
Though the flavor has a dubious connection to our beloved October holiday, I adore the witch on the package! There was an old episode of Bewitched where Samantha and her aunts were furious that Darrin’s client wanted an ugly crone on his Halloween candy packaging.
This Kit Kat witch might be green and warty, but she’s so adorable that Samantha would hopefully approve. Well done, Hershey’s design team!
Conclusion:
Marshmallow seems like a lazy and forgettable flavor for witch’s brew. I mean, is that really what you get when you mix the eye of newt and toe of frog? But even though trick-or-treaters might forget this Kit Kat once they have finished their Halloween haul, at least they’ll enjoy it while it’s around.
Purchased Price: $3.50
Size: 9.8 oz bag
Purchased at: Dollar General
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2 packages) 140 calories, 8 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 25 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 13 grams of sugar, 11 grams of added sugars, and 2 grams of protein.
REVIEW: Dairy Queen Oreo Fudge Brownie Blizzard
It’s the Blizzard of the Month for August and perhaps the most straightforwardly named Blizzard in history. As you might have surmised, it has Oreo cookies, brownie pieces, and cocoa fudge with vanilla soft serve blended together in the magic DQ Blizzard machine.
It’s like one of The Fast and the Furious movies, which according to Wikipedia, is now known as Fast & Furious for those of you who are sticklers for accuracy on movie franchise names. Regardless of whether there’s an ampersand or not, you basically know what to expect going into any movie featuring Vin Diesel — things are going to explode, and you’ll have a satisfying, albeit predictable, experience (assuming you enjoy explosions and not having to think about the plot).
Will you tell your friends how great the movie was, or will you even remember the movie’s actual name in a month or two? Probably not, and that’s what we have here.
Chances are you’ve had an Oreo Blizzard in one form or another (maybe even the Oreo Firework one that actually did blow up, or at least had popping candy). And chances are you’ve had a Blizzard with brownie pieces and/or cocoa fudge. So there’s nothing earth-shattering here (much like every movie featuring another F&F star, The Rock, unless you want to count the earthquake disaster movie San Andreas), but as I’ve said in some past Blizzard reviews, that doesn’t make it any less tasty.
This is kind of like a greatest hits edition of a Blizzard, and it definitely hits the spot, even if it’s not as fancy-looking as some of its Blizzard friends.
If there is any surprise here, it’s that the textures of the Oreo and brownies work great together. Because both look nearly identical, especially covered in fudge-infused soft serve, you are never quite sure what’s going into your mouth.
While that can be problematic in some situations, like at a middle school lunch table when a friend wants you to taste some grayish mystery meat. In this case, it provides a nice bit of intrigue. Will it be the crunch of Oreo cookies, the chewiness of brownies, or a mixture?
Oreo cookies and brownies also have a difference in chocolatiness, so that adds another level to the flavor. The cocoa fudge amps it up more, but not so much that I feel it’s choco overload.
If you are looking for something unique or with an exciting name, there are plenty of good options on the DQ Summer Blizzard Menu. But if you have a hankering for a familiar, chocolatey treat, you can’t really go wrong with the Oreo Fudge Brownie Blizzard.
Purchased Price: $3.59
Size: Small
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Small) 1,480 calories, 62 grams of fat, 30 grams of saturated fat, 2 gram of trans fat, 100 milligrams of cholesterol, 760 milligrams of sodium, 210 grams of carbohydrates, -2 grams of dietary fiber, 160 grams of sugar, and 28 grams of protein. (These figures from the DQ website appear to be inaccurate, as some are almost double those of similar Blizzards, and having a negative number of grams of dietary fiber seems implausible.)