Tag: Combos

What are Garlic Parmesan Combos?

The ‘bos are back in town, this time in the flavor of garlic bread.

How are they?

I imagine most people enjoy the taste of garlic bread, and Garlic Parmesan Combos do a pretty good job mimicking that flavor profile. That being said, you’ll probably also need to be a big fan of hard, horrific smelling cheeses to really enjoy these. More on that later.

I usually prefer pretzel Combos to the baked cracker cylinders, but the crackers did a great job as a bread proxy. They’re basically as salty as the pretzels too, which I appreciated.

The filling is exactly as advertised. It’s a cheesy, garlicky clump of dry mud. If spread on a loaf of bread, it’d be gross but would probably taste how you’d want snackified garlic bread to taste, with perhaps more cheese flavor than you’re accustomed to. It was definitely a bit too much for me.

The garlic didn’t bother me, but that cheese…

Anything else you need to know?

I mean, look, I knew what I was getting into, but the filling smells awful. Garlic and parmesan aren’t exactly scents you’d want to burn a candle of, but it’s so much worse than I expected.

I basically held my breath before popping each one in my mouth. I called them “‘bos” as a joke, but I think I now know what the “BO” stands for.

It stinks (literally) because they do actually taste good. The smell was just so hard to overcome. If I walked into an Italian joint and caught a waft of garlic and parmesan, I’d probably find it appetizing. Something about that smell coming off that weird Combo paste nearly made me sick.

Conclusion:

It probably didn’t help that my bag had a loose asteroid of filling just floating amongst the crackers like a bag of inverse silica gel, but I really couldn’t get over that rancid smell. It knocked the score of these otherwise tasty snacks down 4 whole points.

Maybe I’m just too sensitive? If you’re one of these maniacs who pop provolone cubes like Tic Tacs, these may not bother you. You’ll most likely enjoy the taste, but just know that if you eat a bag, you might want to steer clear of society for a day or two because you’ll probably reek.

Purchased Price: $2.39
Size: 6.3 oz.
Purchased at: Wawa
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 oz) 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 mg of cholesterol, 300 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of total carbohydrates, 3 grams of total sugars, 0 grams of fiber, 2 grams of protein.

What the heck took so long?

Combos have been around since the mid 70s, but have only really ramped up production on their “sweet” varieties in the past year. I loved the Caramel Crème and Vanilla Frosting flavors, so why wouldn’t I snap-buy Chocolate Fudge? Seriously, how are these just coming out now after all these years?

Combos have been a staple of my diet since I was a kid. I’m pretty sure my typical lunch in high school was a Twix, a bag of Combos, and a Snapple. Times – and my metabolism – have changed to the point I can’t even remember the last non-sweet Combos I ate. I missed you, Combos. It’s good to have you back in my life. Let’s see if Chocolate Fudge can live up to my hype.

Well, they nailed the “salty” part of the name. Unfortunately, they slacked on the “sweet” part. I’m not 100 percent positive they delivered on the “chocolate fudge,” but you better believe they came through with the promise of “pretzel.” And you can “quote” me on that.

You know what you’re gonna get from a Combos pretzel – it’s crispy, salty, and hollow – not the greatest pretzel in the world, but not the worst. For some reason, I didn’t remember just how salty they were. I guess I just figured a lot of the sodium was coming from the cheese filling.

I would say the only pretzel snack that packs more saltiness per piece is those terrible sticks I used to get in my elementary school lunch. Ya know, the ones in the yellow box? The ones I can easily Google the name of, but choose not to because I want you to dive into your memory bank and reminisce about simpler times. I’m sure it’ll pop into my head by the end of this review.

The filling here tastes like a run of the mill chocolate icing… I think. It’s pretty dull. There is not nearly enough chocolate flavor. It gets lost in the salt and gives each piece a smokey burnt taste. I’ve gone on record as loving burnt snacks in the past, but when you’re promised a sweet element, it’s not nearly as enjoyable. I don’t normally crave more sweetness, but it definitely would have helped here. There wasn’t enough balance between the salty, crunchy pretzel and the smooth, sugary filling. I definitely recall Caramel Crème and Vanilla Frosting being sweeter.

I could be nitpicking. I understand these are a pretzel based snack, but the lack of a strong flavored filling really let me down. You’d get the occasional chocolate heavy piece, but it was almost instantly masked by the salt. More chocolate “fudge” flavor and I would have rated these 9 out of 10 pretty easily.

Still, Combos are a classic snack, and the bag is just small enough to kill in one sitting, which leads me to more nitpicking. You know I love picking at the nits.

Sometimes serving sizes get on my nerves. Forgive the pun, but they really need to stop trying to sugar coat it. This bag shouldn’t be listed as six servings. Just make it a two serving bag and stop trying to bamboozle people by slapping a “130 calories” stamp on the front of the bag. No one is reaching into a bag of Combos and thinking, “Oh boy, these are good for me!” Who eats one ounce of anything? If I had to wager a guess, one ounce is like eight Combos. I can eat eight slices of pizza, why exactly am I stopping at eight Combos?

But I digest…

You kind folk came here to read a review about the taste of new Sweet & Salty Chocolate Fudge Combos, and I’m loading this article with way too much filler… unlike the Sweet and Salty Chocolate Fudge Combos. *fake golf swing.*

So all in all, these are good. They could have been great. You’ll still have no problem polishing off the entire bag. They probably aren’t going to curb your sweet cravings, but they might do fine as a savory snack replacement.

Combos has now blessed us with Caramel, Vanilla, and Chocolate. I’m anxiously awaiting the inevitable Peanut Butter revival. And after that, I want a mixed bag of all of them. Let’s turn these into the new Oreos and just go balls to the wall on potential sweet flavors.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 oz. – 130 calories, 45 calories from fat, 5 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 6 gram of sugars, 2 grams of protein, and 2% iron.)

Item: Combos Sweet & Salty Chocolate Fudge Pretzel
Purchased Price: $2.49
Size: 6 oz. bag
Purchased at: 7-Eleven
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Good, but not great. Bag goes down easy. Good crunch. Chocolate and pretzel are a great mixture no matter what. Grade school memories. The occasional chocolate heavy piece.
Cons: Overly salty to me. Not enough filling. Overall weak chocolate taste. Not as good as other sweet Combos flavors. Customer bamboozling, My real golf swing. Took to long to produce. Bachman Pretzel Stix