Here are some interesting new and limited edition products found on store shelves by us and your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of the products, share your thoughts about them in the comments.
What a great idea! Combining a candy a lot of people love with another candy a lot of people hate to possibly create a candy that’s not so bad. (Spotted by Scott at Star Market.)
Sweet, salty, and Kettle Brand Chips? That is a ménage à trois my tongue would like to join to make it a foursome. (Spotted by Tammy at Fred Meyer.)
Hey Canada! Thought you were special because you had Rice Thins. Well, you are special no more! (Spotted by Michael at ShopRite.)
“The Taste That Takes You Home”? To be honest, the only chicken noodle soup I ate at home was Campbell’s condensed chicken noodle soup. (Spotted by Marvo at Safeway.)
These cakes must be super trippy when you’re high. (Spotted by SH at Vons.)
Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new or limited edition product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email ([email protected]) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.
If you’re curious to know what we’ve already covered, check out our Spotted on Shelves Flickr set.
Jack in the Box’s latest slogan is, “Go Big or Go Hungry.” And they’ve supported it with sandwiches like Jack’s Big Stack and Waffle Stack. The big heads at Jack in the Box also brought back their Really Big Chicken Sandwich and introduced the new BBQ Really Big Chicken Sandwich.
But I’m a 5’7″ Asian man who once played 3-on-3 basketball with five other guys who were all at least six inches taller than me and six times as skilled as me, so I think I’ve got a good idea of what would be considered “really big.” And I have to say that I don’t believe the Jack in the Box BBQ Really Big Chicken Sandwich is really big.
Now I could spend an entire review complaining about the sandwich’s size, but I already poured a large glass of whine when I reviewed the original Really Big Chicken Sandwich. So what else can I complain about?
I could complain about the use of grilled onions instead of onion rings, the somewhat conservative spreading of BBQ sauce, the decision to use the predictable American cheese, the lack of crunch from the chicken patties, the lack of crispiness from the bacon, the 2,019 milligrams of sodium, and the bun that looks toasted, but doesn’t feel toasted. But instead of listing my complaints in a comma-filled, 57-word sentence, I’m going to say the Jack in the Box BBQ Really Big Chicken Sandwich is really good.
What makes this sandwich, as the kids like to say, yummy in my tummy is the BBQ sauce, bacon, and onion combination. After tasting it, I have to say I’m glad onion rings weren’t included because the grilled onions give it an onion flavor that’s not chompblocked by deep fried batter. The BBQ sauce is sweet and tangy, but kind of generic tasting. However, the onions and the smokiness from the bacon enhance the sauce. There’s also enough sauce on the top and bottom buns to give the sandwich flavor, but not so much sauce that you find yourself wanting to celebrate Arbor Day early for all the napkins you used to clean yourself.
The edges of the chicken patties were crispy, but everything else not so much. The two chicken patties were a bit dry and aren’t very meaty, but they are flavorful. The two slices of cheese seem like overkill. I understand the need for one slice because something should be the glue that keeps the patties from sliding around. But even with the second slice, its flavor is cloaked by the other toppings. A thin slice of cheese also doesn’t help make the sandwich appear “really big.”
Oh crap, I’m complaining about trivial stuff.
Well, before I start complaining about more stuff, I have to say the packaging your BBQ Really Big Sandwich comes in is correct, Jack in the box. Thanks to the BBQ sauce, onions, and bacon, it really is clucking delicious.
(Nutrition Facts – 727 calories, 345 calories from fat, 38 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 83 milligrams of cholesterol, 2019 milligrams of sodium, 502 milligrams of potassium, 63 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar, and 32 grams of protein.)
Item: Jack in the Box BBQ Really Big Chicken Sandwich
Purchased Price: $4.99 (small combo)*
Size: N/A
Purchased at: Jack in the Box
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Clucking delicious. Bacon, BBQ sauce, and onion topping combo makes this sandwich taste really good. Flavorful chicken patties with crispy edges. Part of a cheap limited-time-only combo. Putting the word “clucking” on packaging to replace the word “fucking.”
Cons: Not really really big. Thinking that it needs onion rings. Contains almost a day’s worth of sodium. Other toppings overwhelm the cheese’s flavor. Playing basketball with players who are much better than you.
*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I pay more for stuff than you probably will.
In 1818, Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein, arguably the world’s first science fiction novel. It tells the harrowing tale of Victor Frankenstein, a single-minded student of science driven to ruin by his obsession with bestowing life on inanimate matter.
In the 1990 documentary RoboCop 2, director Irvin Kershner leads us on an exploration of the science of transferring human consciousness into deadly law enforcement robots. We quickly discover the dangers of such a procedure, as multiple test subjects commit suicide after finding themselves forever trapped in their mechanical bodies.
In 1994’s Jurassic Park, noted chaotician Dr. Ian Malcolm sums up the fears of late twentieth century society when commenting on the science of an island resort filled with genetically resurrected dinosaurs, saying, “your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
Time after time we are warned against charging recklessly into the untamed wilderness of science and technology, yet even in the last few years we find ourselves with peanut butter and jelly vodka, cronuts, Doritos Locos Tacos, Cherry Coke, and pizzas with hot dogs in the crust. These aren’t dinosaurs or robots. These are things we put willingly into our bodies.
So today I publish this review not so much as a review but as a mile marker for future historians to look to when our inevitable self-destruction finally occurs.
These Pepsi-flavored Cheetos are the latest food hybrid to spit in the eye of Mother Nature. They are from Japan.
The nosegrope upon opening the bag gave me pause. I immediately identified something very close to flat cola. Flat Pepsi? I dunno. My nose palate is not so refined. Something else was there in equal measure and it took me a moment to realize that the aroma was the same given off by powdered cinnamon donuts. You know, the Entenmann’s ones in the three pack with powdered sugar and plain.
In these snacks the cheese powder has been replaced with a cola powder that is disturbingly not brown. The first sensation, which I did not expect, was a very acidic bite. It’s very citrusy, almost sour. And it hits hard. It tries to capture the citrus notes of Pepsi, but it’s over the top. Too lemony. The sweeter cola flavor is there but it’s subtler and overpowered by the intense citrus. The flavors are very distinct and don’t really ever mesh well together. But they do linger in the mouth for quite a while to leave you with a weird, marginally accurate, if lemony, Pepsi aftertaste. The corn puff tastes like it should. It doesn’t do a lot besides acting as a vehicle, which is good because there is already a lot going on.
Oh, did I mention these also fizz a little?! Yea! Not like crazy Pop Rocks fizzing, but there is some definite popping and crackling. It’s all about attention to detail, guys. I tip my hat to Frito-Lay for that one.
Overall, this is a pretty accurate flavor recreation. It’s an impressive effort to be sure. That said, I don’t like them. I could only get through a few of them. They’ve got a lot going on and are kind of intense. A few tweaks to the levels of citrus and cola and these could be passable.
These wouldn’t be in my top 100 dream flavor what-ifs, but I’m glad they exist. They either point to a futuristic flavor-fusion utopia in which anything is possible or an apocalyptic hell place where cyborg velociraptors chew our faces off with laser teeth.
(Nutrition Facts – 1 package – 414 kcal, 24.8 grams of fat, 614 milligrams of sodium, 44.6 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of protein.)
Item: Frito Lay Cheetos x Pepsi Shuwa Shuwa Cola Corn Snack
Purchased Price: $3.99 (plus shipping)
Size: 75 gram bag
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: Pepsi-ish. A for effort. Fizzing snacks. Science.
Cons: Lingering aftertaste. Lemon. robot dinosaurs.
Here are some interesting new and limited edition products found on store shelves by us and your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of the products, share your thoughts about them in the comments.
Do you hit snooze several times each morning? Well, you could go to sleep earlier so you don’t have to hit snooze so many times and enjoy a proper breakfast. Or you could go to sleep at an unreasonable time, hit the snooze button several times, and run out the door with these Pillsbury Heat-N-Go Mini Waffles or Mini Pancakes. (Spotted by Dubba at Walmart.)
Or if you cut back the snooze button hitting to one or two, you could fit in the five minute preparation time for these Banquet Morning Bakes. (Spotted by Jarred at Walmart.)
These Lipton Tea K-Cup names could also be the names for body washes. (Spotted by Joshua at Target.)
Wrigley’s 5 Focus gum have a strong burst of mint when you first chew it. I don’t know. A strong cooling sensation in my mouth sounds more like a distraction to me. (Spotted by Conal at Wawa.)
Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new or limited edition product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email ([email protected]) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.