Category: Reviews

REVIEW: Mtn Dew Baja Point Break Punch and Baja Laguna Lemonade

Marvo 1 Comment

It’s Mtn Dew Baja Blast’s 20th anniversary! It’s been two decades since the flavor debuted at Taco Bell. Does that make you feel old? Well, you’re not alone, my Gen X and Millennial friends. It’s also Mtn Dew Baja Season! What is that? It’s when Mtn Dew releases Baja offshoots in tropical flavors to let us know summer is here. Although this year’s flavors, Baja Point Break Punch and Baja Laguna Lemonade, hit shelves a few weeks earlier than previous years.

Baja Point Break Punch is a Dew with a blast of natural and artificial tropical punch flavor. Now, you might be yelling in your head, “Hey! Wait a minute! Didn’t Mtn Dew already Dew a Baja Dew with tropical punch flavor?” It Dew-d, I mean, did. That was 2021’s Baja Punch, but Baja Point Break has a different tropical punch flavor. And I imagine there will be future Baja Dew iterations with a blast of tropical punch flavor. But is this one a blast? Well, yeah, it is.

Looking at the can’s artwork, the flavor seems to combine pineapple, raspberry, blueberry(?), cherry, and donuts. Okay, I’m pretty sure there’s no donut flavor, but those yellow thingies sure look like donuts and not pineapple slices. Its flavor is cherry and raspberry heavy with a bit of pineapple in the background. But there’s enough of the pineapple to convince my taste buds that this is “tropical.” Overall, the fruit combination tastes great and is a little unique from other tropical punch offerings I’ve had.

But enough with the inferior flavor of the two.

If you have to choose between Baja Point Break Punch and Baja Laguna Lemonade for your sugary, caffeinated beverage, go for the one with alliteration because it might be the best limited edition Baja flavor ever. This delightful Dew features a blast of mango lemonade flavor. Now, you might be yelling in your head, “Hey! Wait a minute! Didn’t Mtn Dew already Dew a Baja Dew with mango flavor?” It Dew-d, I mean, did. That was 2022’s Baja Mango Gem, but Baja Laguna Lemonade has a hit of lemonade that makes it taste more of a hit than Mango Gem.

Despite not being in the product’s name, mango is at the forefront of this soda, and adding lemonade takes it to another level. It’s so good that I want to find a suitable professional golfer to name this combination after, similar to calling an iced tea lemonade mix an Arnold Palmer. Laguna Lemonade starts with a bold mango flavor, and then the lemonade flavor appears to add some sourness to the proceedings. It’s a one-two flavor punch that I won’t forget, unlike Baja Mango Gem. Seriously, I can’t remember what it tastes like.

Purchased Price: More than one should pay on eBay
Size: 12 oz cans
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Point Break Punch), 9 out of 10 (Laguna Lemonade)
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 170 calories, 0 grams of fat, 50 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 44 grams of sugar (including 44 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Blue Bell Gooey Butter Cake Ice Cream

Denis 7 Comments

I must admit that I know precious little about the city of St. Louis. I know that arch thing is there, and…well, that’s about it. I did not know what people from St. Louis were called until just now, and even after finding out they are generally referred to as St. Louisans, I’m not sure exactly how to pronounce that. But I am proud to say that I have expanded my base of St. Louis knowledge a bit more, thanks to the new Gooey Butter Cake ice cream from Blue Bell.

It turns out that gooey butter cake, which are three words I’ve previously never typed together in my life, is a delightful, sugary treat that is native to St. Louis. I cannot explain why Texas-based Blue Bell decided to use it as its newest concoction, but I’m glad it did.

For those of you who are not St. Louisans or not well-versed in Midwestern culinary culture, gooey butter cake is a somewhat thin yellow cake that is dense like a brownie and often has a layer of cream cheese on top. The Blue Bell label describes this version as “cake batter ice cream combined with a luscious cream cheese swirl and rich gooey butter cake pieces.”

I would not have known the ice cream base was cake batter-flavored if not for the label, as it seemed to me just like the regular Blue Bell vanilla flavor. But the important parts of this ice cream are the cream cheese and gooey butter cake pieces, and they really deliver a home run. The cream cheese swirl is wonderfully silky and creamy with a strong cheesecake-like flavor, and you never know how much you will get because the color blends in almost seamlessly with the ice cream.

The cake pieces are a mixture of small, crumb-size morsels and larger square chunks, and that’s another mark in the plus column in my book. When you get a spoonful with just the crumb pieces, there is more than enough flavor to satisfy. And then, when you luck out and get a big nugget, you get to enjoy the chewy, buttery, sugary bliss it provides. After one bite, I regretted buying the pint size instead of the half-gallon, and I’m pretty sure the contents of my pint are not going to live to see tomorrow.

Having never eaten real gooey butter cake, I cannot say whether Blue Bell nailed the flavor profile with this ice cream. But it certainly nailed a delicious, creamy treat, and you can bet that if I ever find myself in St. Louis, that I’ll be hunting for some gooey butter cake. In the meantime, I’ll probably head back to the store and pick up a half-gallon.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: One pint
Purchased at: Brookshire Brothers
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 280 calories, 13 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 130 milligrams of sodium, 38 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 27 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Taco Bell New Cantina Chicken Menu

Marvo 4 Comments

Taco Bell’s new Cantina Chicken Menu features three major new ingredients:

  1. A slow-roasted chicken with a mix of Mexican seasonings, including garlic, onions, and chilies.
  2. Avocado Verde Salsa that features tomatillos, green chili peppers, and avocado pulp.
  3. Shredded purple cabbage.

Okay, the addition of purple cabbage makes it more like 2.5 major new ingredients, but the purple stuff is a welcomed addition that not only brings color but also a pleasing crunch to those menu items with it.

Cantina Chicken Crispy Taco

This was my favorite from the new menu, which features slow-roasted chicken, three-cheese blend, creamy jalapeño sauce, and three-cheese blend grilled on the outside of a white corn tortilla shell. Sure, it looks like the white corn tortilla shell got bear-hugged by the grill press because it was almost split into two when I pulled it out of its wrapper, but it’s still delightful.

There are few ingredients, but what made the difference for me was the cheese grilled on the shell, which gave it a different crunchy texture and a notable cheesiness that also let the jalapeño sauce and the mild flavors of the slow-roasted chicken come through. It was a nice cheesy chicken taco with a slight kick from the jalapeño sauce, and the addition of the Avocado Verde Salsa gave it a mild avocado flavor, making it taste even better.

Price: $3.79*
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 290 calories, 16 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 520 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, less than 1 gram of sugar, and 16 grams of protein.

Cantina Chicken Soft Taco

The soft taco version doesn’t contain the exact same ingredients as the crispy taco. It’s stuffed with slow-roasted chicken, avocado ranch sauce, lettuce, shredded purple cabbage, pico de gallo, and cheddar cheese.

Peel back that flour tortilla, and you’ll see a rainbow of ingredients I don’t find quite as tasty as the crispy taco version. There are a lot of different flavors here, more so when the Avocado Verde Salsa is added, but among those flavors, it’s hard to notice the chicken. Maybe mine didn’t have much, or maybe there’s too much of a rainbow of ingredients. It’s a fine tasting product, but it was kind of a letdown after tasting the crispy taco one first.

Price: $3.99*
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 210 calories, 10 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 520 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 12 grams of protein.

Cantina Chicken Burrito

This menu item has double the slow-roasted chicken than the soft taco version, avocado ranch sauce, creamy chipotle sauce, lettuce, shredded purple cabbage, pico de gallo, and cheddar cheese in a flour tortilla. So basically, it’s a thicker, meatier, and saucier Cantina Chicken Soft Taco, but it tastes better than the smaller menu item.

With more chicken stuffed inside, the protein and its seasonings are more noticeable than with the soft taco. What’s not noticeable is the cheddar cheese, but that was expected with the inclusion of two sauces. With more space in a burrito-sized flour tortilla for additional chicken, there’s more of a flavor balance, even with the inclusion of the Avocado Verde Salsa, which kind of makes it taste like there’s a little guacamole in it. Overall, a solid tasting product.

Sometimes, I make fun of Taco Bell with these split burrito shots by saying it’s always a sea of brown, red, and white, but the purple cabbage here adds some desperately needed color. But let’s be honest, the number of folks who cut Taco Bell burritos in half is tiny. Raises hand.

Price: $7.59*
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 540 calories, 30 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 85 milligrams of cholesterol, 1170 milligrams of sodium, 43 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugar, and 25 grams of protein.

Cantina Chicken Quesadilla

The simplest of the Cantina Chicken menu features the chicken, creamy chipotle sauce, and a three-cheese blend in a folded and grilled flour tortilla. This seemed the perfect vessel to showcase the new slow-roasted chicken and Avocado Salsa Verde because there’s little in the quesadilla to get in the way if you don’t dip it into the included guacamole and sour cream containers.

However, without the new sauce or any of the dips, the quesadilla’s flavor doesn’t really tickle my taste buds. But even with them, I can’t say I enjoyed this as much as the other offerings on the Chicken Cantina Menu. Adding the guacamole and sour cream overwhelms the ingredients in the quesadilla, and the new sauce enhances the avocado-ness of the guacamole. While the menu item is fine, I’d pick any other Cantina Chicken Menu item over this one.

Price: $7.99*
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 570 calories, 32 grams of fat, 16 grams of saturated fat, 90 milligrams of cholesterol, 1330 milligrams of sodium, 43 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar, and 29 grams of protein.

Cantina Chicken Bowl

Finally, we have the priciest of the bunch but also the most filling. It comes with slow-roasted chicken, seasoned rice, black beans, Avocado Ranch sauce, reduced-fat sour cream, lettuce, shredded purple cabbage, pico de gallo, guacamole, and cheddar cheese. I’m a fan of any bowl Taco Bell dumps multiple ingredients into, and I’m definitely a fan of this one.

But with mostly the same ingredients as previous bowls, it all tastes too familiar, even with the new chicken and the squeezing of an entire Avocado Salsa Verde pouch all over it. Because it contains a generous helping of guacamole, the new sauce kind of blends in with the avocado, making it less noticeable. But I did like the purple cabbage in this. I know. Praising purple cabbage seems weird, but as I mentioned at the beginning of this review, it does add color and crunch. Despite tasting similar to previous Taco Bell bowls, I’d repurchase it.

Price: $9.99*
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 490 calories, 24 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol, 1150 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 11 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar, and 25 grams of protein.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

REVIEW: Tillamook Chocolate Collection Ice Cream

Marvo 10 Comments

I decided to take up significant space in our freezer to store all four flavors of Tillamook’s Chocolate Collection Ice Cream. Did I have to heat up and eat bags of frozen broccoli, peas, and edamame to make room for the tower of 1.5-quart tubs? Yes. So, thank you, Tillamook, for making me eat a bunch of green vegetables so I could eat a bunch of brown chocolate ice creams.

Brownie Batter

Since the following is the case with three of the four flavors, I’ll get it out of the way here. The ice cream-to-mix-ins and swirls ratio leans heavily to the dairy side, making it hard to get everything in one spoonful. With this flavor, there are brownie dough pieces within the dark chocolate brownie batter ice cream, but they are few and far between. Well, at least, throughout the one-fourth of the container I’ve eaten so far. The smallish pieces have a bold fudge flavor and a pleasant chew that contrasts nicely with the base’s creaminess. But the lack of mix-ins isn’t all that bad because the base has a tasty brownie batter-ish flavor. It definitely tastes different from the bases in the other three varieties, which have a standard chocolate ice cream flavor.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 220 calories, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 80 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 22 grams of sugar (including 18 grams of added sugar), and 5 grams of protein.

Chocolate Hazelnut

Hoping for Nutella vibes here? You’re not getting that. The container contains dark chocolate ice cream with hazelnuts and a hazelnut butter swirl. There are decent-sized hazelnuts, but, oddly, they don’t provide much of any hazelnut taste, only the snap of the nut when I bite into them. Doing all the hazelnut flavor lifting is that stiff hazelnut butter swirl that stands out within the dark chocolate base. Get a spoonful with a hazelnut, some of the swirl, and the base, and you’ve got yourself a Ferrero Rocher on a spoon. But, again, since the mix-ins and swirls aren’t plentiful, most spoonfuls taste like chocolate ice cream.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 240 calories, 15 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 45 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 22 grams of sugar (including 17 grams of added sugar), and 6 grams of protein.

German Chocolate Cake

I didn’t think I’d like this one because I’m not a fan of German Chocolate Cake. But the ingredient I dislike about the dessert, shredded coconut, doesn’t show itself much in this flavor, which contains dark chocolate ice cream with a brown sugar coconut swirl, pecans, and chocolate cake pieces. It’s not very coconutty because the swirl is sparse. I’ve gone through about one-fifth of the container and can recall tasting something coconut only twice. But I did bite through three pecan pieces and two cake pieces, which were chewy but not as much as the brownie chunks in the other variety. But, much like the flavor above, there were too many spoonfuls that were just the ice cream base. This was probably the least memorable of them all.

Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 230 calories, 13 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 23 grams of sugar (including 19 grams of added sugar), and 5 grams of protein.

Dark Chocolate Cookies & Cream

Finally, we have a simple flavor that features dark chocolate ice cream with crunchy cookie pieces. “Crunchy” is how Tillamook describes the cookies on the container, but inside, most are as soft as cookies super soaked in milk. But Tillamook didn’t just add chocolate wafers and dust off cookie crumbs from its hands. It included sandwich cookie chunks, so there are also white creme bits. Oddly, that frozen creme does add some texture that should’ve come from the cookies. Unlike the other varieties, this one had a decent amount of mix-ins. However, I will admit that the photo above doesn’t represent the slightly scarcer layers under it. The cookies add a different, dark chocolatey burst than the ice cream. But like the previous two flavors, get a spoonful without a mix-in, and it’s total choco ice cream.

Rating: 7 out of 10<
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 230 calories, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 85 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 23 grams of sugar (including 19 grams of added sugar), and 5 grams of protein.

Tillamook Chocolate Collection Ice Cream Mix.

Because I had all four flavors and for funsies, I combined them all, and that changed nothing because the chocolate base still dominated most spoonfuls.

I enjoyed all the flavors, but none of them wowed me, even the Brownie Batter one. With most, because the chocolate base is so bold and there are limited mix-ins, they tasted like I was eating regular chocolate ice cream 65-70 percent of the time. I can’t believe I’m kind of complaining about eating regular chocolate ice cream. What kind of monster have I become? Maybe these would’ve been better as pints, so the ice cream-to-mix-in ratio would’ve been better.

Purchased Price: $4.99 each (on sale)
Size: 1.5 quart containers
Purchased at: Safeway

REVIEW: Dunkin’ Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Tiffany 1 Comment

What happens when a store known for donuts tries to make banana bread?

Dunkin’ fudged around and found out with its new Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

Well, actually, chocolate chips were used, but you catch my drift.

Launched on National Banana Bread Day, Dunkin’ made a bold statement that it was making the classic bakery treat even better by adding chocolate chips. It specifically mentioned that it’s pre-packaged to ensure it doesn’t dry out. I refuse to use the M-word that rhymes with “voiced” the brand used.

Upon hearing about this new item, I couldn’t help but compare it to Starbucks’ offering because that’s where I usually get my banana bread on the go. So, I decided to do a banana bread face-off.

Starbucks’ version has walnuts and pecans, and I’m calling this out because that could be a non-starter for people with a tree nut allergy. If that’s you, Dunkin’s Banana Chocolate Chip bread is not made with walnuts or pecans! But, you’re going to get literally more with Starbucks’ slice. It was thicker and only 50 cents more.

While the Starbucks one smelled slightly more cinnamon-y, the bites were similar. They both delivered on what you expect banana bread to be — banana-forward but not artificial banana tasting like a banana-flavored Runts or taffy. Texture-wise, the crumb on both was tender and not too densely packed. While the nuts added better textural contrast with the Starbucks one, the chocolate chips in the Dunkin’ one made it a bit more indulgent for me. However, I wish chocolate chunks were used to get the indulgence AND texture.

So it ended up being a pretty close matchup, and both were tasty!

While I’m impressed by how well Dunkin’ executed its Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, I’m still left scratching my head about it. If I want a treat or something to go with my coffee, I will get a donut. Munchkins, for the win!

Purchased Price: $3.49
Size: 1 slice (3.45 oz)
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 330 calories, 15 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 280 milligrams of sodium, 45 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 27 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein.