Nestle Toll House White Chip Chocolate Cookie Frozen Dairy Dessert Sandwiches, to be exact. But that’s is one super duper long name that would’ve made the title of this post comically long for one product. (Spotted by Robbie at Randall’s.)
Spotted something new? Send your photos to [email protected].
Mmmm. Flavor charged. Type USB-C. Universal Snacking Bits-Cheesy. (Spotted by Phil at Redner’s and Van P at Dollar Tree.)
Spotted something new? Send your photos to [email protected].
Monster Voodoo Grape Energy Juice contains the following: white grape juice concentrate, apple juice concentrate, red grape juice concentrate, Concord grape juice concentrate, and plum juice concentrate. Despite that concentration of juice concentrates, the can says it consists of only six percent juice. However, I don’t need to concentrate much to notice its great grape flavor.
I’m not sure what the deal is with the whole “voodoo” theme, and I’m not going to concentrate at all on the relationship between grape and voodoo. I’ll let AI do that.
Okay, AI has told me that while voodoo and grape don’t have a direct relationship, the color purple and voodoo, um, doo. Purple is one of the three Mardi Gras colors — along with gold and green — and Mardi Gras has a deep relationship with New Orleans’ voodoo culture. Kevin Costner was in the movie JFK, which was set in New Orleans, and Kevin Bacon played a minor role in JFK. BOOM!
Oh, wait. We’re not playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. My bad.
Voodoo Grape’s enticing aroma and delicious flavor are pretty straightforward. If you’ve had a grape soda in your life, or voided a Sodastream’s warranty by using it to pump carbon dioxide into grape juice, you have a pretty good idea of what this smells, tastes, and feels like. It has a bold grape flavor that makes my mouth feel like it just got punched in the face by the Fruit of the Looms red grapes. Its carbonation isn’t as strong as a Grape Crush, but there are plenty of bubbles to tickle your tongue.
While it’s a great tasting grape beverage and it gets my heart pumping with 160 milligrams of caffeine, I can’t say I’d choose it over Monster Energy’s other grape-flavored energy drink, Ultra Violet, if I’m standing in front of store coolers concentrating on what beverage I’m going to pick up to wake my tired body. Ultra Violet also has a great grape flavor and the same caffeine amount, but with no sugar and only ten calories, which is a pretty easy tiebreaker when choosing between two great options.
Also, Milla Jovovich was in a movie called Ultraviolet. She was also in Dazed and Confused. In that movie, Matthew McConaughey played David Wooderson and debuted his real-life catchphrase, “alright, alright, alright.” McConaughey was also in the film A Time to Kill with — that’s right — KEVIN BACON! BOOM!
Purchased Price: $3.75
Size: 16 fl oz can
Purchased at: 7-Eleven
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 150 calories, 0 grams of fat, 190 milligrams of sodium, 39 grams of carbohydrates, 36 grams of sugar (includes 36 grams of added sugar), 0 grams of protein, and 160 milligrams of caffeine.
There have been several Alani Nu Slush flavors over the years — Pink Slush, Blue Slush, Cherry Slush, and now this new Lime Slush. Here’s how the company describes it:
Icy, citrusy, iconic — Lime Slush Energy is here to sweeten your spring break with all the adventure and none of the sugar! A river of bold lime and sunny lemon flavors, each can serves up B vitamins, 200mg of caffeine, and our signature slushie twist. One sip? And, bestie, you’re off the map and in the moment!
Um, cool, bestie.
Despite trying several Alani Nu Energy flavors over the past year, this is my first Slush variety. I’m not sure why it took me this long, but if Lime Slush is any indication of what I’ve been missing, I must seek out the other Slush flavors.
To be honest, Lime Slush reminds me of the Bang Lime Pop Drop I reviewed a few weeks ago — another lime creamsicle-style drink that caught me pleasantly off guard. But while the Bang leans into the creamy, candy-like sweetness, the Alani Nu version takes a slightly different approach with a more pronounced sour lime flavor and a little less creaminess. Both drinks smell and taste wonderful, but I can’t say I like the flavor of one over the other.
Whether it truly tastes like a lime slush is debatable — I’d call it more of a lime sorbet, with a creaminess that you wouldn’t expect from something billed as icy and citrusy. But that’s not a complaint. It’s just a more interesting drink than its name suggests.
At 200 milligrams of caffeine, zero sugar, and only 10 calories, it also delivers almost everything you want from an energy drink without any of the guilt — which, combined with how good it tastes, makes it very easy to recommend. Though, like all energy drinks in slim 12-ounce cans, I wish it came in a larger 16-ounce version.
Lime Slush is another winner from Alani Nu — and a reminder that I really need to work my way through the rest of the Slush lineup to find out if any of them could also be my bestie.
Purchased Price: $2.89
Size: 12 fl oz can
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 10 calories, 0 grams of fat, 190 milligrams of sodium, 1 gram of carbohydrates, 0 grams of sugar, 0 grams of protein, and 200 milligrams of caffeine.
Spring has sprung.
I’m still staring at mountains of dirty snow everywhere I turn, but as far as I’m concerned, Red Bull is the official arbiter of the season. That’s right, forget the fat little terrified groundhog, because the only animal you should be getting your seasonal assurance from is the bull.
Every year in early March, my rites of spring involve being angry at the Mets’ hypothetical roster, re-exposing my blindingly white calves to the world, and tossing back a few of whatever flavor concoction Red Bull has waiting for me. It’s 2026, and this year it landed on Cherry Sakura, or Japanese Cherry Blossom.
In case you’re like me and are wondering if the flavor name is an “ATM machine-like” redundancy, no, this is Cherry AND Cherry Blossom. Flora and Fruit(a.)
I enjoyed their last foray into Japanese flavors with “Fuji Apple,” and was reasonably satisfied with last year’s Spring Edition, also a fruit/flower hybrid, “Grapefruit Blossom,” so we were off to a good start. Still, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.
After drinking two cans, I’m still pretty stumped on the flavor profile, but I can tell ya, it’s a winner. This is a very confusing flavor, and the internet seems to agree.
Upon first sip, I immediately started lying to myself. Did I taste cherry? I think. It just wasn’t the typical sweet cherry you’d expect. Did I taste something mildly floral? I think. I’d say it’s more “leafy” than “flowery.”
Well, there ya go, it’s Cherry and flowers, they didn’t lie… but wait…
Was it cherry? I just kept tasting slightly sour, unripened fruits. I couldn’t distinguish which fruits. Despite reading the can and trying to convince myself it was cherry, I just refused to commit to that. Was it dragon fruit or something? I liked it a lot, I just didn’t know why.
Then it hit me – does this taste like Strawberry Banana, or am I insane? I might be insane. I’m not alone though. I’ll get to that in a bit.
I couldn’t shake it; I tasted what I would call Red Bull’s attempt at a Strawberry Banana Smoothie. It’s not super flavorful in either fruit’s direction, but something about it just tastes like a lite, unripe version of those two fruits in energy drink form. Like if you mixed 75% Sugar Free Red Bull with 25% Strawberry Banana juice.
Yeah. Cherry Sakura = Strawberry Banana Smoothie. “You’re insane.” So, after a little Googling I saw opinions on the flavor vary from what it’s actually supposed to be to… banana. There were a lot of people saying they tasted banana, which I’m sure sounds bananas.
Maybe this could be the Yanny/Laurel of a new generation. Perhaps my fellow blue/black dress observers are phantom bananas, while the white/gold psychos are something entirely different?
Either way, no matter what flavors you pinpoint, I think most will agree this is a strong addition to the Red Bull lineup. This might be one of my most puzzling reviews, but all I can really tell you is that I kinda loved “Cherry Sakura” by the end.
Purchased Price: $2.50
Size: 8.4 Fl. Oz.
Purchased at: Quick Chek
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 10 calories, 0 grams of fat, 140 milligrams of sodium, 2 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of total sugars, 0 grams of protein.
