Cup o Gold

There are some candies you don’t run across unless you’re in a place like a convenience store or the impulse aisle somewhere. For some reason or another, certain candies aren’t featured as much as other candies. An example of this is Whatchamacallit. While these can be found in impulse aisles at Target and other stores, rarely have I seen it sitting next to a big bag of candy in the candy aisles.

Cup o Gold is a candy that you rarely find even in convenience stores and impulse aisles. They are plentiful in candy shops, but not outside of candy shops. Cup o Gold is a rare treat for me seeing as how it’s kind of hard to find, unless you’re at Fry’s or a candy shop a lot, and because I don’t often buy it because I never can remember if I like it or not. I figured why not and decided to give it a go.

A Cup o Gold

The center of a Cup o Gold

Texturally, Cup o Gold is very solid. This meant that I could cut through it, so I had to resort to biting it to expose the middle. The cream in the middle is a bit fluffy and has a marshmallow whip type of texture. In the chocolate you’ll find bits of almond and coconut. Flavor wise Cup o Gold is good, but its fault is that it may be too sweet. It may sound ridiculous to say something tastes too sweet when it comes to candy, but maybe it’s because I was expecting something like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. I have an affinity toward Reese’s PBC and PB M&Ms because the sweet is cut by the salty peanut butter. Overall though, if sweet is your thing, and you don’t mind having to bite a little harder to get to the center of a chocolate cup, Cup o Gold may be your thing.

Cup o Gold: 8/10

Honey BBQ Cheeto Puffs

If you recall, in my last entry I wrote about how chip makers don’t put out nearly enough BBQ flavored chips. After this post, it was as if the next chip brand decided to spite me and put out a BBQ flavor to accompany a chip I would have not seen coming.

Honey BBQ Cheetos. That sounds eight kinds of off to me. Cheetos are best known for their Crunchy and Flaming Hot variety. Any sort of deviation from this isn’t TOO far off the cheese or Flaming Hot trail. There are White Cheddar Cheetos, Hot Cheeto Fries, and Chili Cheese Cheetos, but I have to say that Honey BBQ caught me by surprise. The honey part in the flavor name especially got me because not even potato chips come in honey BBQ. The only snack that comes in Honey BBQ are peanuts and other varieties of nuts. This was interesting, to say the least.

A Honey BBQ Cheeto Puff

The first puff was a bit off smelling to me. The flavor was a mild BBQ flavor, but it was combined with some sort of cheese or butter smell. As you can see in the picture, this product still retains the trademark Cheeto orange. Overall, it was a bit odd and I’m not sure if it was good, but I know it wasn’t bad. Confusing, familiar, and somewhere better than below average is where this chip lies.

Honey BBQ Cheeto Puffs: 7/10

Andy Kapp BBQ Fries

In the chip world, most things come in the form of squares, circles, ovals, or triangles. However, there are certain chips that try to break out of this mold. Take for instance Doritos 3D. These came in puffed, three pointed…puffs. Why did they get rid of these? I’m not sure. One popular type of snack that falls into the chip category I suppose are fries. I don’t mean the ones one would get at a fast food restaurant, but rather the sticks that you would get in a bag at a convenience store, such as Hot Cheeto Fries. One company that I’ve seen a bit more of, though not as much as the big names like Cheetos, Lay’s, and Doritos, is the Andy Kapp line of fries. Sticking to the name, the mascot for Andy Kapp, I assume, is Andy Kapp himself. I just noticed that if you put an H in front of his name, he becomes Handy Kapp. That had nothing to do with this review at all.

While on a trip to grab a diet energy drink or two at a 7-11, I saw Andy Kapp BBQ Fries. BBQ is a flavor that is usually made with potato chips. I’m not sure why the corn chip or Sunchip market hasn’t embraced this flavor yet, but if you recall, Tailgate BBQ Doritos got a 10/10 from me. It was then never seen again a few weeks after that entry. Anyway, I decided to grab a bag of Andy Kapp BBQ Fries and go to town.

An Andy Kapp BBQ Fry

The flavor is very reminiscent of Lay’s BBQ chips. If you eat enough of these fries, the flavors become even more similar. This is a good thing because BBQ flavored potato chips seem to be a favorite with everyone. The texture is a bit different, but as you eat more, it all become indistinguishable in your mouth .I liked this product, and would like to see more BBQ flavored chips that aren’t made from potatoes. It’s a known fact that BBQ sauce goes great with everything, so chip makers have really nothing to lose.

Andy Kapp BBQ Fries: 8.5/10

After Easter Candy Bonanza

After Easter sales at Target. This cost me only 2.69

Jalapeno Jack Sun Chips

Though chips may come in many shapes, they are often made of the same things. Most chips are made of either potatoes or corn. However, there is one kind of chip that is made of something other than corn and potatoes. That chip line is the Sun Chips line. Claiming to be made of whole wheat, and also claiming to be "better" for you, Sun Chips are delicious.

Because of they are delicious, I found myself buying this bag on impulse at 7-11. The label states that this flavor is new and I certainly have not seen it anywhere else. Then again, I don't really pay that much attention to Sun Chips. Even though I like them a lot, I've probably only tasted the three original flavors which are Original, Cheddar, and, my favorite, French Onion. I haven't even tasted the ones that come in the loud bags like Harvest...something or another. However, this one came in a handy "big" bag and I decided it wouldn't hurt to give this a go.

A Jalapeno Jack Sun Chip

To be frank, I didn't taste any difference between this and French Onion. If there was some sort of jalapeno heat that was supposed to come off, I didn't feel it at all. Even though I was a bit disappointed that this flavor wasn't that much different from the other Sun Chip flavors I remember, that doesn't it was bad. Like I said before, French Onion is my favorite flavor of Sun Chips, so I still really liked this. However, I feel like I have to deduct at the very least 1/2 a point or maybe even a full point just because I expected something cheesy and spicy, but instead got something I already knew. From a flavor perspective this chip was still great though, so don't hesitate to give them a try for yourself.

Jalapeno Jack Sun Chips: 8.5/10

Diet Big Red Soda

My beverage of choice wherever I go is usually a diet soda. Among my favorites are Diet A&W Root Beer, Pepsi Max, and, of course, good old Diet Coke. However, sometimes, like with all good things, when you have too much of a certain diet soda, you grow tired of it. It doesn't mean that the soda isn't good anymore, it just means you've grown too accustomed to it, so you don't appreciate as much as you once did. That is why, for better or for worse, I'm always willing to try different diet sodas that I've never tasted before.

Enter Diet Big Red. I've read about Big Red soda before, but I've never tasted it. Wal-Mart sold non-diet versions of Big Red, but I would rather save my 150 or so calories for solid food. However, the other day, Wal-Mart did in-fact start selling the diet version of Big Red, so into the unknown I go!

Diet Big Red in my Christmas cat glass

There aren't many red colored sodas, so who knows what this was going to taste like. When most people think of Big Red, they think of Wrigley's Big Red gum, and I was almost certain that they wouldn't flavor a soda with cinnamon. Well, the best way to describe the flavor of this soda would be that it tastes like bubblegum. That's right, think about the flavors of Bazooka Joe or Big League Chew, and this soda tastes pretty much like what you're imagining. According to Wikipedia, the flavors are derived from mixing lemon oil, orange oil, and vanilla. Also according to Wikipedia, this soda is a favorite of several celebrities, including Karl Malone.

I can't say that I liked this soda, nor can I say I disliked it. It was refreshing at first, but after a while, I can see how it can turn disgusting. My friends did not seem to like the soda, with one of them describing it as tasting like cough syrup. I wouldn't go THAT far, but this soda is definitely not for everyone. I guess it's a soda that you would like if you grew up drinking it, but for the rest of us, it's a hit or miss.

Diet Big Red Soda: 5/10

Red Ninja Umeboshi flavored candy

I pretty much made the name up on the fly. There's no English label on the back, so I had to make up a name based on the packaging. Anyway, sometimes there are candies that are seen as "acquired tastes". One of the most popular candies that have an "acquired taste" is licorice. Some people love it, others despise it. Some people don't like sour candy. This is why candy comes in all sorts of different variations of sweet and sour. However, there are some candies that are seen as, "Why would they ever make a candy that tastes like this?" This is one of those candies.

It seems as if Japan took my image and decided use it as a mascot for a candy. I'm fine with that as long as I get some royalties. There's a grape variation of this candy, which has a stockier ninja on it I've never been a fan of umeboshi; having never tried it, how could I? I've seen several umeboshi flavored candies in Japanese markets, but the idea of eating a pickled plum in candy form never appealed to me. However, you know what does appeal to me? Great packaging. I bought this candy, not knowing what umeboshi tastes like, based off of the fact that the bag was interesting. I could only pray that this would taste good, or at the very least, decent.

An umeboshi gummy

Let me give it to you straight: Don't get this candy. That is, unless you like your candy to have a salty-sour flavor, akin to, as one of my friends described, "fish sauce". The taste gets worse the longer you keep it in your mouth. I thought my students were overreacting when they said this tasted terrible. I don't think I've had a candy that tasted this wretched since the double salt licorice I wrote about some months back. The smell is that of fermented something, which is never good with candy, and the taste is salty and sour and just wrong. The grape flavor tastes infinitely better when compared with this. Most candies would taste infinitely better compared to this.

Red Ninja Umeboshi flavored candy: 0/10