Godiva Gems: Ice Cream Parlor Dark Mint Chocolate Chip Truffles

Alright, so the title may be the longest title I've posted so far. At Target there was a stand with Godiva products separate from the other candy, so I wondered why this was. The items on this rack were a bit pricier than the other candy items, which was understandable, since it's from Godiva. I argue that they could have put these products next to the Lindt and Ghiradelli products, but I'm not in charge. Anyway, seeing a new line of candy at Target, I figured I had to try it.

I decided that the first product I would try would be these. Chocolate and mint is almost always a good combination, or at the very least, never a bad combination. This bag is a bit bigger than a bag of Lindt truffles, so I assume that's why they're a bit more expensive. Speaking of Lindt truffles, this bag reminds me of Lindt truffles, as does the candy depicted on the front. No matter, Skittles and M&Ms have the same packaging and shape, and they're worlds apart.

A wrapped Godiva Gem

A gem cut in half

The filling was not what I expected. I was expecting a rich, buttery taste, but what I got was something a bit fancier than a Junior Mint. The chocolate was solid, but as stated before, the filling was lacking. As time went on, I could see how the candy SORT OF resembled mint chocolate chip ice cream, but it wasn't close enough of a resemblance for me. However, I recall Lindt's attempt at making a dark chocolate and mint filling truffle, which I didn't like too much either. Perhaps, the epitome of dark chocolate and mint is found in an Andes chocolate thin mint.

Godiva Gems: Ice Cream Parlor Dark Mint Chocolate Chip Truffles: 7/10

Frito Lay Pizza Flavored Snack Mix

One of my favorite lines of snacks is the Munchies line. The concept behind Munchies is combining chips such as Doritos, Cheetos, and other Frito Lay products and mixing them all together in one bag. They come in various flavors. The only downside is that sometimes there are pretzels in them, which is a no go for me. The other chips have a crisp, light texture, whereas the pretzels are kind of a hard road block. The other day, I found that snack mixes like Munchies aren't found just in the U.S.

That's right, Japan has its own line too. I recognize Doritos and Cheetos, but I have no idea what Mike Popcorn is. Anyway, in my previous post I mentioned that pizza flavored chips are hard to come by, well the Frito Lay company has decided to shove the opposite in my face once again. The pizza on the bag looks quite nice and artisanal.

Cheeto, Dorito, Mike's Popcorn

The pizza smell and flavor were there, but the flavor was a bit lacking. It was a bit underpowered flavor wise, which is hard to do with Doritos or Cheetos. I can't speak for Mike's Popcorn. The texture of the Cheeto and Dorito were the same as the ones found in the States, but the popcorn was a bit stale. This is why I don't like to buy pre-packaged and pre-popped popcorn unless it's drizzled with all kinds of stuff. There was a divide among my students as to whether this was good or bad. The younger students seemed to like it, but the older students didn't like it at all. To sum it up, it had a good smell and initial flavor, but it was a bit under flavored and the popcorn was stale.

Frito Lay Pizza Flavored Snack Mix: 7/10

Doritoes Pizza Supreme

Previously, I had written about a new flavor of Ruffles. In the same entry, I stated that Doritos were among my favorite chips. It's always exciting when Doritos comes out with a new flavor. Doritos Tailgate BBQ earned a 10/10 rating from me. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it since writing the review. Hopefully, the next flavor would be able to fill the void

Pizza, now there's a flavor one seldom sees when it comes to chips outside of Pringles. What does pizza taste like in chip form? Maybe it tastes terrible, maybe it tastes good. I wouldn't know unless I tried this flavor.

A Pizza Supreme flavored Dorito

As my students put it, "This tastes like Goldfish", and I'm sort of inclined to agree. For those that don't know, there are pizza flavored Goldfish. For those that do know, imagine the flavor coating on the pizza flavored Goldfish on a Dorito. That's basically it. It was good, but not great. The flavor didn't seem to be as intense to me as their original flavors such as Nacho or Ranch. A solid flavor on a good chip.

Doritos Pizza Supreme: 8/10

Molten Hot Wings Ruffles

Among my favorite chips are Doritos, Cheetos, and most kinds of kettle chips. Others include Funyuns, and Lay's potato chips aren't too far behind. However, the chips that would be somewhere on the bottom of my list are Ruffles. I'm not sure why I don't like Ruffles as much as other chips. When I eat them, the taste is fine. I think the one of the main reasons why I don't like Ruffles is because they're a bit harder than other chips. Plus something about the ridges throws me off.

That doesn't mean, however, that I won't be willing to try any of their new endeavors. Enter Molten Hot Wings flavor. Besides the picture on the front, you wouldn't know that this was a new flavor of Ruffles. Other chips such as Doritos and Lay's tend to color coat their bags according to the flavors. With a bold new flavor such as Molten Hot Wings, I would think they'd make it flashier. However, it's not the bag of the chip that matters, but rather the chip itself.

A Molten Hot Wings Ruffle

Initially, the flavor was like that of Cheddar & Sour Cream Ruffle. However, the smell and flavor of buffalo wings came through. The flavor was good. What would have made this chip even better is if they had some kick. Even though it has the word molten in the name, there was VERY LITTLE spice. You could eat half a bag and not notice any sort of heat coming from the chip. I think you could recreate this flavor by mixing a bag of Cheddar & Sour Cream Ruffles with some Frank's Red Hot Sauce. This was a solid flavor, but I would have liked it to have lived up to its molten name.

Molten Hot Wings Ruffles: 8/10

3 Musketeers Cherry

No, I'm not dead yet, I just had a VERY relaxing week off which consisted mostly of Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Anyway, Valentine's Day was many weeks ago, and when I bought these candies, a few days had already passed. Who can pass up candy that's more than 30 to 50% off? I know I can't, so here's a write-up on one of them.

3 Musketeers is not my favorite chocolate bar. If I had a choice between this and any other chocolate bar, I'd probably choose the other bar, but not if the other bar was a Baby Ruth. It's not that 3 Musketeers is terrible, it's just that it's just not good. The chocolate fluff is boring and the flavor is forgettable. A plain chocolate bar is preferable over a 3 Musketeers bar in my opinion. However, as you can see, this is a cherry flavored 3 Musketeers bar. They have Mint 3 Musketeers which is better than the regular 3 Musketeers. That's available year-round though, so I figured at a discounted price, 3 Musketeers worth giving a shot.

A fun-size 3 Musketeers Cherry cut in half

This is definitely the best of the 3 Musketeers bunch in my opinion. The cherry flavor isn't too overpowering like that of a cherry cordial. The cherry essence is a nice compliment to the the dark chocolate flavor. Neither flavor dominates, and both are able to mix very well. The cherry fluff gives a sweet fruity flavor while the dark chocolate holds it back from being too sweet. While, this was good, I could see it becoming disgusting after too many. It is better than regular 3 Musketeers though, and because of it's unique, seasonal flavor, I might choose this over a different candy bar.

3 Musketeers Cherry: 7.5/10