Tag: Fast Food

QUICK REVIEW: Dairy Queen Dipped Strawberry with Ghirardelli Blizzard

Joe 1 Comment

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Strawberries and chocolate are as synonymous with Valentine’s Day as the Patriots are to the Super Bowl. Siding with the 99 percent of the country that does not associate romance with Tom Terrific emblazoned bed sheets, Dairy Queen is taking inspiration from the chocolate-covered fruit for February’s Blizzard of The Month -— Dipped Strawberry with Ghirardelli Blizzard.

An apparent upgrade of the bygone Choco Chunk Strawberry Blizzard, this treat features strawberry topping blended with vanilla soft serve and Ghirardelli chocolate chunks along with a sexier title.  

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With a creamy pink pelagic canvas bestrewn with dark chocolate isles and ruby red strawberry reefs, it certainly looks like a dessert from Cupid’s freezer. The vanilla base combined with the strawberry syrup create a flavor closer to the fruit’s Fragaria roots than that of artificial chemical.

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As for the advertised Ghirardelli pieces, they come in both dark and white chocolate and are immediately recognizable as the genuine article. The occasional strawberry chunk and bitter chocolate pairing is as good as a Brady to Gronk Iso slant, but unlike their NFL counterparts, the connection is infrequent.

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The chocolate pieces are smaller and more numerous which leads to many bites of bitter chocolate that overwhelm the strawberry topping alone. The white chocolate chips on the other hand deserve their own Lombardi, but they are too sparse for my liking. I found only three or four of them in my bowl, but the hint of buttery flavor meshed exceptionally well with the other elements.

Overall, the topping and fruit pieces create a delightful base and the Ghirardelli chocolate pieces are the real deal if a little darker than I would have liked. Quasi-retuning flavor or not, I’m glad DQ opted to give us the holiday-inspired Dipped Strawberries and Ghirardelli Chocolate over something more novel like “Brady’s Deflated Brownie Bash.”

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: Mini
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Mini) 350 calories, 15 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 48 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 40 grams of sugar, and 8 grams of protein.

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QUICK REVIEW: Dairy Queen Triple Truffle Blizzard

Joe 5 Comments

Dairy Queen Triple Truffle Blizzard

Dairy Queen subscribes to the same belief as me that the only thing better than chocolate candy is even more chocolate candy. In that vein, January’s Blizzard of the Month is the returning Triple Truffle Blizzard which consists of vanilla soft serve blended with chocolate topping mixed with fudge, caramel, and peanut butter truffles.

Caught up in the excitement of this announcement, I celebrated by channeling Chunk with my best Truffle Shuffle. Having never seen The Goonies apparently, my wife was less amused and more poised to call an ambulance, clearly unimpressed and rather disturbed by my spasmatic gyrations.

After consulting with my divorce attorney (what monster has never seen The Goonies?!) I chose to sample each of the candy pieces individually before going in for the ménage à truffle.

As a card-carrying peanut butter-holic, the salty, gritty quality of the peanut butter candy is particularly satisfying and well balanced in its chocolate shell. The caramel truffle is no Sloth though as it provides a sweet, syrupy texture that finishes with a deeper but faint coffee note. The fudge truffle is less potent but lingers more than the other Goonies with a pleasantly fudgy aftertaste.

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When multiple pieces converge on one’s spoon, the Triple Truffle becomes, dare I say it, three times as good. The peanut butter and caramel complement each other particularly well while the fudge pieces lend a needed cohesive backdrop. Unfortunately, the chocolate topping they advertise as being included is so faint and has less depth than One-Eyed Willy’s vision.

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In the end, the bites with healthy truffle representation are excellent but infrequent, leaving many a naked spoonful of the somnolent base. While a decent romp through the Goon Docks, this adventure doesn’t lead to a long-lost trove of pirate rich stuff.

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: Mini
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Mini) 380 calories, 15 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 54 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber 46 grams of sugar, and 8 grams of protein.

QUICK REVIEW: Baskin-Robbins Bobsled Brownie Ice Cream

Joe 2 Comments

Baskin Robbins Bobsled Brownie Ice Cream

When the snowmen in my yard light impromptu bonfires to fight the frigid cold, ice cream is the last thing on my mind. Still, the sight of Baskin-Robbins returning Bobsled Brownie made me race over for a frozen treat. January’s Flavor of the Month boasts blonde brownie pieces and a fudge crackle ribbon mixed with milk-chocolate-mousse and butter-caramel-flavored ice creams.

The dessert itself is an imposing sight with a large crag of the fudge crackle ribbon jutting out of the ice cream mountain base. The chocolate and caramel ice cream slopes are swirled together preventing one from isolating a single track. Fortunately, the two combine to provide a smooth, creamy consistency with a flavor that vacillates depending on the ratio in any given spoonful.

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Depressingly, the brownie pieces that always excite me when advertised are neither large nor frequent enough to add more than a spongy textural contrast. They don’t detract from the dessert, but I would not have noticed their absence. An unexpected rider for me is the attenuated but still chewy chunks of caramel that are as commonplace as the brownie bits. The flavor works well, but I do not appreciate having to chew parts of my ice cream.

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The fudge crackle ribbon, on the other hand, is bold and pervasive but also firm and difficult to break apart. Small pieces occasionally cleave off from the core and find themselves in the mix, but a pickaxe the pink plastic spoon is not. This does, however, result in unavoidably fudgy, dark spoonfuls of the crackle ribbon that my chocoholic self adores.

Despite flirting with the lip of a caramel curve, Bobsled Brownie is an enjoyable treat. While some of the elements seem as out of place as a Jamaican bobsled team, everything works well enough together to be a cool running.

Purchased Price: $2.79
Size: Large scoop (4 oz.)
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Large scoop) 310 calories, 19 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams trans fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 130 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 24 grams of sugar, 2 grams of dietary fiber and 5 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Starbucks Christmas Tree Frappuccino

Vin 2 Comments

Starbucks Christmas Tree Frappuccino

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Baristas are selling me Fraps while misspelling my name at cashiers!

I must mumble, because per usual, my Starbucks cup said “Ben.” That’s ok though because nothing could break my holiday spirit, for today I was trying the new Christmas Tree Frappuccino that looks exactly like a Christmas tree!

Well, kinda like a Christmas tree, I guess?

Look, I know how advertising works. I wasn’t expecting my drink to look like Rockefeller Center, but then again, I also wasn’t expecting Charlie Brown.

The whipped cream looks more lime than pine, and when you think about it, the entire premise is flawed. In theory, the whipped cream portion represents the iconic image of a Christmas tree, so said tree would be like five feet of trunk, and one foot of branches! More like, “Bark, the herald angels sing.” Right?

Guys?

Fine. ‘Tis not the season for petty whining, so I’ll just let it go, let it go, let it go. (Sung to the tune of “Let it Snow,” not that Frozen song, although I guess that works too. You decide!)

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The whipped cream gets its green color due to a matcha infusion, which I’ll be honest, I barely noticed. The topping was drizzled with caramel as well as candied cranberry “ornaments,” so I tasted those more than the actual cream. I mainly order Caramel Fraps, so the whipped cream tasted like it usually does on those.

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Phantom matcha aside, the caramel was delicious as always. The cranberry pieces added a nice little crunch element. There’s a freeze-dried strawberry tree topper that did its job because it was the “star” of the show. I enjoyed it.

I made sure to leave plenty of toppings so they could mix in with the Mocha Peppermint Frap.

I finally took a big gulp and O Tannenbaum was it good! That chocolate mint goodness had me singing Ave Barista.

If I had to equate the flavor to something familiar, it tasted like a liquid Andes mint. It wasn’t quite mint chocolate chip ice cream like you’d expect. There’s not much flavor discrepancy when combining chocolate and mint, but I still say this leans more towards an Andes.

I mixed the toppings in, and they got a little swallowed up. Subtle caramel fought through the mint a couple times, and the cranberry bits provided a fun crunch, but the flavors kinda disappeared into the dark abyss.

I also think there may have been too much ice because it tasted watered down about halfway in. The mocha and peppermint dulled and never lived up to the first couple sips.

In the end, it may not have been exactly what I wanted, but I still appreciated it. I’d like to call “bah humbug” on the $5 price, but I’ll leave you on a positive note. Merry Christmas.

(Nutrition Facts – 420 calories, 21 grams of fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 65 milligrams of cholesterol, 220 milligrams of sodium, 53 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fiber, 50 grams of sugar, 6 grams of protein, and 15 milligrams of caffeine.)

Purchased Price: $5.08
Size: Tall
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Mocha and Peppermint are a winning duo. Freeze dried strawberry was kinda brilliant. Caramel drizzle never fails. Fun overall concept. Candied Cranberry ornaments were a great addition.
Cons: As far as looks go, it’s the thought that counts. Pretty expensive. Didn’t pick up the matcha. Flavors got watered down. Ave Maria isn’t a Christmas song. I did not intend for the Frozen song to get stuck in your head. “Ben.”

REVIEW: Krispy Kreme Gingerbread Glazed Doughnut

Sean

Krispy Kreme Gingerbread Glazed Doughnut

“Gingerbread, gingerbread, gingerbread doughnuutttss. Oh what fun it is to turn little men into fried cake. Hey!”

Building off the spicy success of last season’s Pumpkin Spice Original Glazed, Krispy Kreme is rolling out winter’s favorite spiced cake in the form of the Gingerbread Glazed Doughnut.

You may notice the absence of the word “original” in the title. This is intentional. For the first time ever, KK changed both the dough and the glaze to create the ultimate one-two punch of Christmas delight. The offering is spiced gingerbread dough with hints of cinnamon and ginger covered in a warm gingerbread molasses glaze.

When I arrived at my local Krispy in the mid-afternoon I was afraid I had missed the party. But it turns out I was just in on the most underground secret of the doughnut world. No signs, no posters, and no slot in the doughnut case for them. It seems this one got promoted exclusively through online buzz.

From what I can gather, based on the epic emptying and scrub down of the KK glazing conveyor belt happening at 4 p.m., the molasses glaze created a whole new obstacle in being able to provide these special doughnuts alongside their signature original. After talking to an employee, who described them as “super limited,” I confirmed it was cranked out once in the morning and would not be made again.

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The doughnut looks different from the OG glazed, most notably the darker color and thicker texture of the molasses. The dough is speckled with spice much like the pumpkin version but feels a bit heartier with the modified glaze’s density.

Since eating them straight from the fried belt of dreams was not an option I opted to try the doughnut at room temperature. The flavor is not very bold, and if I had to guess what the change was without knowing I’m not sure I would guess gingerbread.

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The molasses glaze is less sweet and doesn’t pop with the usual bright sweetness of the OG. There’s a nice brown sugar flavor that presides over everything else, and only a tiny hint of cinnamon in the finish that’s fleeting. I don’t get any gingery tingle, but the texture is still enjoyable, soft, and fluffy, although a bit denser than the usual KK offering.

Warmed up, for the eight seconds the box recommends, the brown sugar molasses notes become more apparent and rich, with a greasy buttery flavor, which is what I expect when venturing towards the coveted Hot Light. Still, for a doughnut that’s supposed to represent one of the most spiced breads of the year, it’s very tame and kind of disappointing.

The dough is still quality, and it’s a sugary fried treat so it does taste good. But I don’t get a whisper of ginger, let alone the nutmeg, cloves, or black pepper that make the Christmas bread what it is. As is, this seasonal remix is a downgrade from the original. Ho ho hum.

(Nutrition Facts – 200 calories, 10 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 13 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: $1.69
Size: N/A
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Rich molasses glaze. Classic soft fluffy texture. Balanced sweetness.
Cons: Very mellow spice. No ginger tingle. Can’t eat straight off of conveyor belt.