Monday, January 21, 2019

New 2019 Snacks Part 2



This past week has been a flurry of unexpected activity with news of family members moving around which may result in better living conditions for yours truly. One member of the house was out in Vegas for a bit while others were working overtime which offered me full roam of the place for a few days. Then came the big moment of a sequel to one of my all-time favorite films in the form of Glass. After leaving a showing of that with a feeling of satisfaction regarding the film and baffled irritation at the world of film criticism proper winter weather arrived at last allowing for nice snowy walks. Times like this always leave that question of what to write about. I want to get in depth about the movie but unlike the rest of the internet, I believe in giving people a chance to get out and see something before spoiling it. Also thought of reporting my time camping out in the basement catching up on movies and playing old Playstation 1 games but what interest does my nightly excess hold for any of you? Instead we're going to talk about the things that have kept me fueled during this busy period by which I mean the continuing wave of new junk food.

Sour Patch Kids Cereal
One of the outright strangest concepts for a cereal is this new take on Sour Patch Kids. Truthfully I'm not a huge fan of the original candy. Sure I buy a bag once in a great while but it isn't a brand begging for expansion. Furthermore the notion of sour cereal is a little off-putting. Sour and milk are two items that don't pair easily. Even so my goal was to give this a fair shot.
Opening the box was easily the best part of the experience as the smell is just heavenly. It's a little hard to explain with how much is going on with all the sweet fruit and sour notes wafting into my nostrils but god do I ever want a candle of this scent.
Cereal can't exist solely as an air freshener so it was time to serve a proper bowl. The first bite was confusing to say the least. It wasn't bad nor was it good either. Further bites didn't really alter that initial opinion. The flavor is sort of like sour Trix only the texture can't quite live up to that description. Instead of airy pieces that are easy to eat each piece is tight and moisture resistant. The aftertaste is pretty lousy which makes finishing more of a punishment. That being said there are still elements of it that I enjoy but I don't think this is anywhere near good enough to stay on shelves. Let's be generous for the effort it makes to be different and give it a 2 out of 5.

Fruity Lucky Charms
Sometimes a snack comes around that doesn't seem all that necessary or unique upon first glance only to reveal something amazing on further inspection. That is definitely the case with Fruity Lucky Charms which enters the crowded markets of fruit and marshmallow cereals and manages to carve out a proper place for itself.
As you can see I'm totally enamored by this stuff and the reason is quite simple. This is Monster cereal levels of tasty if not better. You could slap a silly horror creature on the box and I wouldn't doubt for a second that this was a part of that legendary line-up. The dry pieces have a bit of a tart pop to their flavor not unlike Trix though a little deeper. Then there's the marshmallows, so many marshmallows. Maybe I simply lucked out with a good box but this thing is packed full of em.
If you are a fan of breakfast or just have an out of season craving for monster cereal do not miss out on a box of this greatness. An absolute delight that earns a full 5.

Crisp Apple Pop Tarts
Pop Tarts have been making a massive push to expand the brand recently with cereal, bars, and even mini bites. Somehow during the planning process Wal-Mart ended up with an exclusive flavor called Crisp Apple.
Straight out of the package you'll notice some classic artificial green apple scent which carries on in the taste department. Thankfully it's a clean flavor that doesn't fall into sour territory. There's no hiding how fake it is but it's still a pleasant apple experience. So far I've only had them toasted but seeing as they're quite decent I'd imagine room temperature or frozen wold be equally tasty. Gotta give these a strong rating of 4. They may not be an absolute knockout but they make for solid late-night lifesavers.

Love Oreo
Of the multiple new Oreo variations none are quite as confounding as these Love cookies. Instead of stating outright what these are supposed to taste like the packaging merely describes them as having a “tangy cream.” Even after taking down multiple cookies with milk, coffee, or straight up I still can't quite figure out what they were aiming for. Maybe it's supposed to be a sort of candy heart flavor but it's nowhere near as horrible as those chalky monstrosities. All mysteries aside what really matters is if these are any good which is where things get a bit complicated.
Love Oreos honestly remind me of ginger lemon cream cookies my mother used to buy from some natural foods company. Problem is chocolate doesn't mix as well with semi-citrus flavor as ginger does so the whole experience is sort of odd. Fluid is really the saving grace here with coffee improving the taste slightly and milk even more than that. Can't forget to note the valentine messages on each one though who among us really takes the time to stare at our cookies? In the vast landscape of Oreo varieties Love comes up a bit short. They're edible and sort of alright yet slightly gross all at once. let's be nice and give em a 2.5 as there will likely be a couple people who enjoy them.

Carrot Cake Oreo
After what seems like an eternity of rumors and fake-outs Carrot Cake has become an official Oreo flavor at last. Somehow the results manage to live up to the long wait thanks to solid use of the graham cookies with tasty cream cheese goo inside. For as much as they get right there really isn't much to talk about with this offering since it's basically what we expected with little in the way of surprise. I will add that this particular cream seems to be more clingy than the usual stuff which is a real pain for those of us with sensitive teeth. In the end this is really tasty just not very surprising so let's go with a solid 4.

Pistachio Oreo Thins
Alright so these aren't new at all. In fact they've been on the shelves since, I think, last spring. Still gotta abide by the golden rule that if I haven't tried then it's new to me. The reason I've dodged these for so long is that I can't stand pistachios at all which as you might imagine makes giving fair opinions on the topic pretty much impossible. Then again these weren't purchased by me. They were bought for the pistachio inhaling nephew who actually can offer a fair assessment of this particular thin cookie sandwich. His opinion was oddly the same as mine as we made displeased faces in unision upon eating them.
For the life of me I can not understand how these are still on shelves. They smell weird, taste worse, and the aftertaste only furthers the insult. Even milk can't save this abomination. Truly one of the worst Oreo products ever brought to market. These are a sad mistake that walks away with a miserable rating of 1.

And that's a wrap on yet another round of sugary goodness. You may not believe it but the current shopping list is only half finished with even more cereals, pop tarts, and Oreo variations along with a few moderately healthy options. So be on the lookout for further junk food in the coming weeks. The next Sentai update will likely be up in a couple days so long as it can be finished between bouts of schoolwork and some work for another site. Not like I'm lacking for time however as biblical cold weather has me trapped indoors for at least another day.

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