{"id":18977,"date":"2015-08-27T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-27T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/?p=18977"},"modified":"2023-08-29T17:48:19","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T03:48:19","slug":"review-combos-sweet-salty-chocolate-fudge-pretzel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/2015\/08\/27\/review-combos-sweet-salty-chocolate-fudge-pretzel\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: Combos Sweet & Salty Chocolate Fudge Pretzel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Combos<\/a><\/p>\n

What the heck took so long?<\/p>\n

Combos have been around since the mid 70s, but have only really ramped up production on their \u201csweet\u201d varieties in the past year. I loved the Caramel Cr\u00e8me and Vanilla Frosting flavors, so why wouldn\u2019t I snap-buy Chocolate Fudge? Seriously, how are these just coming out now after all these years?<\/p>\n

Combos have been a staple of my diet since I was a kid. I\u2019m pretty sure my typical lunch in high school was a Twix, a bag of Combos, and a Snapple. Times – and my metabolism – have changed to the point I can\u2019t even remember the last non-sweet Combos I ate. I missed you, Combos. It\u2019s good to have you back in my life. Let\u2019s see if Chocolate Fudge can live up to my hype.<\/p>\n

Well, they nailed the \u201csalty\u201d part of the name. Unfortunately, they slacked on the \u201csweet\u201d part. I\u2019m not 100 percent positive they delivered on the \u201cchocolate fudge,\u201d but you better believe they came through with the promise of \u201cpretzel.\u201d And you can \u201cquote\u201d me on that. <\/p>\n

\"Combos<\/a><\/p>\n

You know what you\u2019re gonna get from a Combos pretzel \u2013 it\u2019s crispy, salty, and hollow \u2013 not the greatest pretzel in the world, but not the worst. For some reason, I didn\u2019t remember just how salty they were. I guess I just figured a lot of the sodium was coming from the cheese filling.<\/p>\n

I would say the only pretzel snack that packs more saltiness per piece is those terrible sticks I used to get in my elementary school lunch. Ya know, the ones in the yellow box? The ones I can easily Google the name of, but choose not to because I want you to dive into your memory bank and reminisce about simpler times. I\u2019m sure it\u2019ll pop into my head by the end of this review.<\/p>\n

\"Combos<\/a><\/p>\n

The filling here tastes like a run of the mill chocolate icing\u2026 I think. It\u2019s pretty dull. There is not nearly enough chocolate flavor. It gets lost in the salt and gives each piece a smokey burnt taste. I\u2019ve gone on record as loving burnt snacks in the past, but when you\u2019re promised a sweet element, it\u2019s not nearly as enjoyable. I don\u2019t normally crave more sweetness, but it definitely would have helped here. There wasn\u2019t enough balance between the salty, crunchy pretzel and the smooth, sugary filling. I definitely recall Caramel Cr\u00e8me and Vanilla Frosting being sweeter.<\/p>\n

I could be nitpicking. I understand these are a pretzel based snack, but the lack of a strong flavored filling really let me down. You\u2019d get the occasional chocolate heavy piece, but it was almost instantly masked by the salt. More chocolate \u201cfudge\u201d flavor and I would have rated these 9 out of 10 pretty easily.<\/p>\n

\"Combos<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, Combos are a classic snack, and the bag is just small enough to kill in one sitting, which leads me to more nitpicking. You know I love picking at the nits.<\/p>\n

Sometimes serving sizes get on my nerves. Forgive the pun, but they really need to stop trying to sugar coat it. This bag shouldn\u2019t be listed as six servings. Just make it a two serving bag and stop trying to bamboozle people by slapping a \u201c130 calories\u201d stamp on the front of the bag. No one is reaching into a bag of Combos and thinking, \u201cOh boy, these are good for me!\u201d Who eats one ounce of anything? If I had to wager a guess, one ounce is like eight Combos. I can eat eight slices of pizza, why exactly am I stopping at eight Combos?<\/p>\n

But I digest\u2026<\/p>\n

You kind folk came here to read a review about the taste of new Sweet & Salty Chocolate Fudge Combos, and I\u2019m loading this article with way too much filler… unlike the Sweet and Salty Chocolate Fudge Combos. *fake golf swing.*<\/p>\n

So all in all, these are good. They could have been great. You\u2019ll still have no problem polishing off the entire bag. They probably aren\u2019t going to curb your sweet cravings, but they might do fine as a savory snack replacement. <\/p>\n

Combos has now blessed us with Caramel, Vanilla, and Chocolate. I\u2019m anxiously awaiting the inevitable Peanut Butter revival. And after that, I want a mixed bag of all of them. Let\u2019s turn these into the new Oreos and just go balls to the wall on potential sweet flavors.<\/p>\n

(Nutrition Facts – 1 oz. \u2013 130 calories, 45 calories from fat, 5 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 6 gram of sugars, 2 grams of protein, and 2% iron.)<\/small><\/p>\n

Item:<\/b> Combos Sweet & Salty Chocolate Fudge Pretzel
\nPurchased Price:<\/b> $2.49
\nSize:<\/b> 6 oz. bag
\nPurchased at:<\/b> 7-Eleven
\nRating:<\/b> 6 out of 10
\nPros:<\/b> Good, but not great. Bag goes down easy. Good crunch. Chocolate and pretzel are a great mixture no matter what. Grade school memories. The occasional chocolate heavy piece.
\nCons:<\/b> Overly salty to me. Not enough filling. Overall weak chocolate taste. Not as good as other sweet Combos flavors. Customer bamboozling, My real golf swing. Took to long to produce. Bachman Pretzel Stix<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What the heck took so long? Combos have been around since the mid 70s, but have only really ramped up production on their \u201csweet\u201d varieties in the past year. I loved the Caramel Cr\u00e8me and Vanilla Frosting flavors, so why wouldn\u2019t I snap-buy Chocolate Fudge? Seriously, how are these just coming out now after all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1440],"tags":[1839],"class_list":["post-18977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-combos"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18930,"url":"https:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/2015\/08\/12\/spotted-on-shelves-combos-sweet-salty-chocolate-fudge-pretzel\/","url_meta":{"origin":18977,"position":0},"title":"SPOTTED ON SHELVES: Combos Sweet & Salty Chocolate Fudge Pretzel","author":"Marvo","date":"August 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm wondering why Combos hasn't made a chocolate and peanut butter version of these. Don't they like money? (Spotted by Travis at 7-Eleven.) 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If you've tried any of the products, share your thoughts about them in the comments. These sound so M-Azing. Candy Blog has a review. (Spotted by Cara at Target.) Do you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Spotted on Shelves"","block_context":{"text":"Spotted on Shelves","link":"https:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/category\/spotted-on-shelves\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"M&M's Milk Chocolate Bar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7323\/8725871344_568301e07f.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41508,"url":"https:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/2019\/12\/27\/spotted-exclusive-flavor-sweet-barbeque-combos\/","url_meta":{"origin":18977,"position":2},"title":"SPOTTED: Exclusive Flavor Sweet Barbeque Combos","author":"Marvo","date":"December 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Joining Cheddar Cheese Bacon exclusively on Walgreens shelves is this new flavor. (Spotted by Tommy at Walgreens.) Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you\u2019re out shopping and see an interesting new product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email (theimpulsivebuy@gmail.com) with where\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Spotted on Shelves"","block_context":{"text":"Spotted on Shelves","link":"https:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/category\/spotted-on-shelves\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Exclusive-Flavor-Sweet-Barbeque-Combos.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Exclusive-Flavor-Sweet-Barbeque-Combos.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Exclusive-Flavor-Sweet-Barbeque-Combos.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Exclusive-Flavor-Sweet-Barbeque-Combos.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Exclusive-Flavor-Sweet-Barbeque-Combos.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1007,"url":"https:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/2008\/09\/23\/cocoa-puffs-combos\/","url_meta":{"origin":18977,"position":3},"title":"REVIEW: Cocoa Puffs Combos","author":"Marvo","date":"September 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I thought the idea of going cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs was preposterous, like the belief that eating Trix will turn you into a prostitute. For years, I ate the brown balls of naturally and artificially flavored sweetened corn cereal and nothing ever happened to me. There was no bouncing off\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/cocoapuffcomcer-500x500.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":49401,"url":"https:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/2021\/12\/09\/spotted-combos-garlic-parmesan\/","url_meta":{"origin":18977,"position":4},"title":"SPOTTED: Combos Garlic Parmesan","author":"Marvo","date":"December 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Quick question: When referring to Combos, does anyone call them \"'bos\"? I'm asking because the Combos Twitter account keeps calling the snack \"'bos.\" But I've never heard anyone else call them that. 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