Author: Erin

REVIEW: Sprite Vanilla Frost

Erin Leave a comment

Earlier this year, we were introduced to Sprite Chill, and in keeping with cool words, the lemon-lime soda is now bringing us Vanilla Frost for the holiday season. This version is exclusive to Kroger-affiliated stores, and instead of promising a cooling sensation like Chill, it sets out to keep you cozy with the classic flavor of vanilla and just maybe a hint of spice.

The packaging is adorned with a simple snowflake design that’s nondescript enough that you might accidentally grab one of these thinking it was a regular Sprite dressed in a winter sweater. If that happens to you, I hope you’re a vanilla fan because if you aren’t, you might have to take your anger out on the nearest snowman.

The drink is perfectly clear like a regular Sprite and just as bubbly and crisp as one. The vanilla flavor is noticeable from the first sniff, and while it’s not overwhelming in the taste, something about it comes across as slightly artificial. I thought this might bother me, but it ended up not being an issue as I continued drinking.

At first, it reminded me of a cream soda or something you might order at an old soda shop – it’s a little weird, you’re not sure you love it, but you can’t deny it has a certain nostalgic appeal. The vanilla isn’t overwhelming, but this drink has a dessert feel to it that reminds me of citrus pies or ice cream floats. It wouldn’t be my first choice for having alongside a meal, but it works on its own as a self-contained sippable sweet, and I could see it being a successful cocktail mixer. In addition to the usual effervescence of Sprite, this seems like it might have a bit of something else to give it an extra kick. I thought I could detect a slight gingery touch that, when combined with the vanilla, definitely pushes this drink into winter-months territory.

I purchased two bottles of this and have zero regrets, but your enjoyment of this Sprite will likely come down to your feelings about combining vanilla with lemon and lime. I found the pairing to be pleasantly wintery and would happily sip on it at a holiday party. I won’t be sad if it doesn’t return next year, but that’s also kind of the appeal of a limited edition; like a snowflake on the tongue, it’s here and it’s gone. Vanilla Frost makes my nice list, but if I wasn’t in proximity to a store that carried it, I wouldn’t overpay for a special delivery.

Purchased Price: $2.00
Size: 20 fl oz
Purchased at: Mariano’s
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 bottle regular) 200 calories, 0 grams of total fat, 110 milligrams of sodium, 54 grams of carbohydrates, 54 grams of total sugars, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Starbucks Turkey Sage Danish

Erin 4 Comments

Alongside the usual sweet suspects like pumpkin spice, peppermint, and gingerbread, the 2024 Starbucks holiday menu brings a new savory offering in the form of the Turkey Sage Danish. It features turkey sausage lightly coated in béchamel sauce and wrapped up in a flaky pastry. As a firm believer that turkey and stuffing shouldn’t be relegated to only a small handful of days each year, I was excited to see if this snack could capture some of those flavors in a neat little dough package.

My danish arrived lightly warmed up, and when I pulled it out of the paper bag, I was pleasantly surprised to see it nicely browned in several places and generously scattered with herbs. Two sides of the pastry are folded over like little dough arms attempting to hug their filling but ultimately letting the turkey tumble out. The sausage crumbles aren’t exactly appealing, looking like the grayish meat morsels you might find in a Hot Pocket. I happen to love Hot Pockets, so that isn’t a knock on either product, but I don’t think anyone will look at these poultry pebbles and think, “Those look tasty!” When eaten alone, they aren’t particularly flavorful. The sausage itself doesn’t seem to have much seasoning, with most of the flavor here instead coming from the herb topping. The bottom of my danish was golden and crisp, and while the middle had a bit of a doughy, not quite done texture, other parts were puffed in the flaky layers you’d look for in a laminated pastry.

This has a very familiar taste that’s less “fancy bakery pastry” and more like a slightly underbaked Pillsbury crescent roll that’s been nestled up to the stuffing on your Thanksgiving plate. I love the sagey, herb flavors here and wish they would be even more pronounced. The béchamel is a welcome addition, bringing a little creamy note and preventing things from becoming too dry, but as stated in the description, there isn’t a whole lot of it.

Sizewise, this eats like a snack more than a breakfast. Mine had a few turkey sausage crumbles in the middle, but mostly what you see on the outside is what you get, maybe two tablespoons worth. Writing up the nutrition facts, I noticed that this item has less protein than the last coffee I reviewed. It seems to be a popular trend now to cram as much protein as possible into everything, but as someone not particularly worried about that, I was happy to eat this as a savory afternoon snack. I enjoyed the Turkey Sage Danish and would probably order it again if I was looking to scratch my stuffing itch while on the go, but if you want a filling breakfast or lunch, you’ll have to pay almost $10 and gobble up two of these.

Purchased Price: $4.95
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 270 calories, 13 grams of total fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 480 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of total carbs, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 5 grams of total sugar, and 8 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Dunkin’ Holiday Cookie Signature Latte

Erin 2 Comments

October is over and no matter how much Halloween candy you’re left with, the calendar is moving on to the winter months and sweets associated with them. Do you still have 25 mini Snickers? Eat ‘em quickly because it’s about to be cookie time. Dunkin’ is ushering in the season with its new Holiday Cookie Signature Latte. It’s a blend of espresso, milk, brown sugar cookie-flavored swirl syrup, and toasted almond flavor. The drink comes topped with whipped cream, a caramel drizzle, and cookie butter crumbles. At least, it should.

If you’re able to get this drink as described, I think you’re in for a treat. Dunkin’s brown sugar cookie swirl really does get the job done as far as providing you with a buttery, cookie-forward base. It works well with the espresso and gets additionally complemented by the unsweetened toasted almond flavor. The almond might be the unsung hero here because I don’t necessarily associate it with holiday cookies, but I’ll be darned if it doesn’t balance everything out. Holiday drinks tend to pile on the indulgences, but this still tastes of coffee, and it gives some holiday vibes without drowning me in sweetness. None of the components here are new, but they are enjoyable, and I would order this again if not for a major problem.

Signature lattes come with accessories. They’re always topped with whipped cream and then should be adorned with whatever really makes them stand out. A Holiday Cookie Signature Latte should come with cookie crumbles. My previous experiences with Dunkin’ tell me it excels at crumbly toppings. But I got this drink at two different locations and both were disappointingly devoid of the crumbly cookie bits. The first didn’t make an effort to substitute for them, and the second tossed on some brown sugar and cinnamon to compensate. I can’t fault the drink for being the well-balanced beverage that it is, but it feels somewhat plain and too close to some past drinks to differentiate itself. What Grinch is out there stealing all the crumbles? Can someone catch him soon because I would really like to give this one a higher rating.

Purchased Price: $5.29
Size: Medium
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 380 calories, 14 grams of total fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 190 milligrams of sodium, 51 grams of total carbs, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 45 grams of total sugar, and 10 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Dunkin’ Potion Macchiato

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This Halloween season, Dunkin’ isn’t content just sticking to pumpkin flavors. It’s digging deeper and summoning the purple pigment powers of ube to create the new Potion Macchiato. If you’re not familiar with it, ube is a yam that’s long been used in Filipino desserts and has recently been making its way into various products in the US, usually when someone wants to capitalize on its vibrant violet properties.

The Potion Macchiato features a marshmallow ube swirl blended with milk and topped with espresso. Available hot or iced, the promotional pictures showcase a striking purple base crowned with a layer of deeply dark espresso. None of the ads mention this, but I think it’s important to note that if you stretch out the first syllable in ube, you’ll be making an excellent ghost noise.

Perhaps I should have tempered my expectations, but I was a bit disappointed in the visual appearance of my macchiato. Both portions of the drink were somewhat muted. I pictured the contrast being more vivid, and the beverage I walked away with looked like an apparition of what was advertised. It still felt a little like a novelty, but the ube base was barely purple-hued, and the espresso above it was a light brown. That said, I don’t mind sipping on a murky concoction as long as it tastes good, and I was eager to see if the ube made its presence known.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure it ever does. The overwhelming taste is vanilla and generically sweet. Ube is a milder flavor, so it isn’t surprising that this gets overshadowed, but there’s nothing here to make this drink memorable. I want to say I taste some of ube’s nutty or earthy notes or even that it has a marshmallow vibe, but that would be a stretch. I found myself hoping to taste the espresso more and balance things out, so I gave it a shake, which only resulted in further muddying the appearance and making it look like any other iced coffee.

I think this could be a perfectly satisfying caffeinated treat for those who like their coffee on the very sweet side and since this is Halloween, there’s nothing wrong with leaning into candy-level sweetness. I’ll give the visual gimmick some credit for trying, but I wish the potion itself had more intrigue. Maybe I’ll order my next one with an extra shot of dragon scales? If you’d like to test the Potion Macchiato’s effect on you, get to Dunkin’ soon because this limited-time offering will disappear after the 31st.

Purchased Price: $5.29
Size: Medium
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 280 calories, 6 grams of total fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol, 160 milligrams of sodium, 48 grams of total carbs, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 46 grams of total sugar, and 8 grams of protein

REVIEW: Dunkin’ Pumpkin Vanilla Oatmilk Iced Latte

Erin Leave a comment

The realm of fall coffee beverages is very much a thing, and there is a hierarchy in it. Starbucks has long dominated with its iconic Pumpkin Spice Latte, but there’s always room at the table for a new and interesting take on caffeinated squash. This year, Dunkin’ says they’re “Uppin’ the pumpkin” with its Pumpkin Vanilla Oatmilk Iced Latte – a blend of espresso, pumpkin swirl, vanilla flavor, and oatmilk over ice. This sounds pretty straightforward, and as someone who hasn’t been counting down the days until I can put up a 16-foot skeleton in my yard, all I was looking for was a good standard coffee that hinted at the change of seasons.

There are no whipped cream or cookie crumble additions here to make this photo-worthy; it’s just a regular tan-colored iced latte. The best things are sometimes the simplest, though, and I hoped this might have the sincerity of Linus waiting in the patch for the Great Pumpkin to come. Unfortunately, there is no Great Pumpkin here. Oddly, there is hardly any pumpkin at all. I know that pumpkin is a fairly mild flavor on its own and needs a boost of spice to become what we all associate with “Fall,” but I expected to taste a little more of it here. Or really, a little more of anything.

This drink is very sweet and not very flavorful. The espresso gets lost, and the oatmilk lends a nice creaminess, but it’s too sweet for me to enjoy as a coffee, and it lacks the flavor to make it a fun Fall indulgence. I don’t think there’s anything truly wrong with it, and it isn’t offensive, but at almost six dollars and 300 calories for a medium, I can’t see myself being inspired to purchase this again and I’m not sure why it exists. I suppose it’s an easy way to order an oatmilk beverage without having to customize your order, but I almost feel like that’s doing the oatmilk a disservice. If you’re looking for a coffee to get you into the Halloween spirit, I would look elsewhere because the only thing you’ll be haunted by here is a lack of pumpkin.

Purchased Price: $5.78
Size: Medium
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 300 calories, 4 grams of total fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 62 grams of total carbs, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 42 grams of total sugar, and 5 grams of protein.