Friday, February 26, 2016




The protein packed 'dairy' snacks and beverages segment is highly competitive and growing. Regular yogurt isn't good enough these days and as companies search for the next new thing, we are introduced to new products and types of 'snacks' and beverages. Today I have a local company B'More Organic which has a line of Skyr beverages for consumption.


Now Skyr is a type of Scandinavian style yogurt that is supposed to be like Greek Style yogurt only with the northern European twist I guess. So if you're a fan of the Greek stuff- I'm not, you will probably have a better experience with this than I did.


The color is of course natural so it isn't vibrant and 'pleasing' as it may be but it does look ti be natural. The taste is definitely tangy and the strawberry flavor is natural and present. You can tell there aren't any added sugars or any of the things yoplait or some of the other yogurt/smoothie makers use to make things more palatable to the mass market. It goes down pretty smooth and it isn't bad, but it doesn't fit the flavor profile that I find enjoyable. I don't like the tang and it exists. If that's your thing I think you will be able to enjoy this and I havent't seen Greek yogurt smoothies in the market. Also, if this process to make is less destructive than the Greek yogurt, it might be worth it to make this at least an occasional change of pace item in your repetoire.

Rating: 3/5 (from a non-Greek yogurt fan)

Wednesday, February 24, 2016



My uncle has to travel for work and this visit he brought back some items for us to try. First was some of the Oreos that they have over in India. So my family and I tried both strawberry creme and orange creme. These cookies on the outside seem like they would be the same but once you open the pack (it says Cadbury on the outside and not Nabisco) the cookies all seem to be slightly thinner and have less cream in them.

Both varieties have a strong scent of flavoring to them and strong coloring. The taste of the strawberry isn't bad, very strong but yet artificial. The orange, while initially a little off-putting is actually not bad. The wafer cookies are a little crispy and more difficult to bite on. The flavor is different, not quite as robust in my opinion but they aren't bad. I prefer the domestic versions better.


Now Thums Up soda was the big thing to try once I got it. It's a Coca-Cola product that comes in a blue can with a red logo. Remind you of anything? To me the taste is sort of between that of a Coke and their chief rival. Sort of like "New Coke" slightly sweeter and not quite as heavy as our sodas here. The caffeine content seems to be strong though or maybe it was my mind playing tricks on me because I felt like it was more of an effect on me in the evening.  Overall this was interesting to taste common products from another place.

Sunday, February 21, 2016



So this was something that you don't see everyday and it immediately caught my eye. Spring and the Easter time frame is always a period where you can find some brand new baked goods and ideas from companies. This has to be one of them and I couldn't believe it.

I can tell you the fear that I had of this cake mix was that it would just be a plain yellow cake with some special icing on it, or even worse, not very special icing. Happily, I was wrong. Even when you are mixing this cake together you can smell the batter and it is different. While baking it comes out even more and it was a great surprise and feeling knowing that there was effort put into this mix.

The icing itself is also unique but I'm not sure it really tastes like a Krispy Kreme doughnut. When applied to the top of the cake and eaten though it is a nice unique taste. It is truly a cross between what a normal Krispy Kreme tastes like and a cake doughnut, because this is literally a cake. It's very good but I don't think I would enjoy this on a regular basis but as a special item it would be great. Even better that as a bundt cake like I made, would be cup cakes.


Rating: 4.5/5

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

I'm back with a brand new snack to discuss. Smoked Gouda is one of the newest hot flavor trends this year. There is a good reason, it combines a lot of the things we love in snacks, smokey flavor and cheesiness. Cape Cod is a Snyders of Hanover brand and these are Kettle chips.

Now One thing about Kettle chips is that they can be inconsistent. I think that is supposed to be part of their appeal but at times to me it can be very annoying when it's too many of them folded over where I don't get a quick and crisp crunch and I find these Cape Cod chips have that issue. They aren't too bad but I would prefer them to be closer to the Harris Teeter brand in cut and cook style.

Flavor wise, these are on point. They have a good balance and it isn't just a miniscule dusting like Lay's chips often have. The amount of powder can leave a little bit of dust on your hands but I enjoy that. To me it lets me feel like I was actually eating something with substance. Overall these are a nice flavor that will probably end up in regular rotation before long.

Rating: 4/5