Izze Sparkling Blackberry Juice!

We picked up this drink in the 'Organic' section of our local grocery store.  Why?  The slick look, and the Blackberry flavor(A rarity in the carbonated drink market).  That's all it took to get our attention and pick a can up.  They're sharply designed 8.5oz cans and look great.

This fizzy beverage contains 70% fruit juice, no preservatives and some vitamins added in to boot.  I'm happy to report it tastes great.  It stays true to what it says, delivering rich blackberry flavor with some fizz.  Its surprisingly smooth and not too sugary, offering a nice tickle to the back of the throat as it goes down.  Definitely worth a try if you're a fan of juice or are looking for a healthier alternative to Soda.  There are quite a few other flavors as well including Clementine, Grapefruit, Apple and Pomegranate.  If you get a few cans they'll make your fridge look like a rainbow!

-Sirio

Buy this snack :)

Kozy Shack Flan : Creme Caramel!

Today I cover Kozy Shack Creme Caramel Flan, a new offering in their line of quality refrigerated products.  Their other delicious offerings include rice, chocolate, and other styles of puddings.  What distinguishes the Kozy Shack brand from the competition?  In my opinion its the flavor, quality of ingredients(no artificial stuff or preservatives), and the homey quality of these foods.  I also just learned that all their snacks are gluten free, so it also appeals to special dietary needs.

This offering just showed up on shelves recently and having not seen this dessert alot in the US, I decided to give it a shot.  The packaging is nice and eye catching, featuring a black box with hints of red, orange and other warm colors.  They really paid attention to making it appealing, and it shows.

In terms of the cups themselves the interesting thing is the way they can be eaten.  You can either eat them straight out of the cup like any other pudding, or flip it over and serve it like a proper creme caramel on a plate(it comes out of the pack very easily).  The attention to this detail definitely impressed us.

Flavor wise?  It tasted like a mix between a Creme Brulee and a good custard, with hints of caramel.  The texture was very pleasant and it was the type of snack you didn't want to eat too fast.  Savory, sweet and velvety, its definitely worth trying if you like any type of pudding treat.  Two thumbs up!  Find it at your local grocery store.

-Sirio

Calbee Snapea Crisps: Caesar Flavor!

Though this particular snack was originally intended to be a salad topping, we decided to pick this up after being informed by "That Girl" from The Something Awful forums. Baked snap peas? What's that like? Having no preconception of what this might possibly be like, we decided to give it a go.

I ripped open the white and pea-green aluminum bag, and took a peek inside. What I found kind of surprised me: the naturally green snap peas were so light, so fluffy. In terms of texture, they kind of reminded me of a much fluffier Cheeto. Since they're baked, there is no greasy residue. The snap pea flavor is very, very mild. What stands out is the Caesar dressing flavor. It's a bit salty, a bit savory, and a bit tangy. And all tasty!

Snap peas in general are a yummy, and of course healthy snack. With Calbee Snapea Crisps Caesar Flavor, you can still munch on a tasty snack, without the high calorie and fat content. This is a recommended, guilt-free pleasure!

-Rachael

 Buy this snack :)

Pan's Mushroom Jerky!

We first heard about Pan's Jerky via one of our readers that pointed us to their twitter account. The whole idea of this jerky really called out to us thanks to its definitely plausible concept.

I mean, mushrooms in general have been used to make plenty of very good meat substitute products (As a non vegetarian, I can attest to the yumminess): Portobello burgers, Chik'n products and more. They were nice enough to send us
some samples to review.

For some back-story about this product, this Mushroom Jerky recipe is a family recipe from the island of Borneo, Malaysia that's been prepared for 15 years by the Pan family. The recipe was recently brought over to the US, and we can happily say that it impressed all of us. There was some skepticism about how close to a beef jerky experience this variety would come, but we were pleased by the result.

If presented out of bag, you really cannot tell that this is a vegetarian product. The color, texture and general look are really reminiscent of any other beef jerky. This can probably be attributed to the usage of the mushroom stems to make this jerky. Their fibrous, meat like texture lends itself really well to making it fit in as a Jerky.

This jerky is damn good, with a tough consistency that is very easily chewed. There are a few things I noticed about this flavor wise off the bat: It’s more sweet than salty, and it has quite a pleasant aftertaste. The jerky also has a mildly moist quality to it, unlike most other dry jerkies. This could be thanks to the palm oil used in its preparation. I really enjoyed that aspect, because unlike other jerky products I wasn't reaching for a glass of water every few minutes.

The oddly appealing mix of mildly salty and sweet flavors kept us reaching into the bag until there was none left. We give this jerky a resounding awesome for pulling off a delicious vegetarian jerky that has the right mix of elements to appeal to any meat lover(Myself included!). Two thundering thumbs up for waaaaaay exceeding our expectations. Link below for purchasing a bag of this goodness($3.99!)

-Sirio & Rachael

Buy this snack! :)

Boylan's Sugar Cane Cola!

Boylan’s Sugar Cane Cola has a lot of things going on that we like: Its been around for 109 years, is free of any preservatives, artificial colors or flavors, has no sodium and features good ol’ fashioned cane sugar, a rarity in this day and age.

We picked up this bottle due to its distinctive yet classic glass bottle featuring an embossed ‘vintage soda’ blurb on the outside surface. There’s something really nice and nostalgic about having a frosty glass bottle in your hand compared to the typical plastic bottles we come across on a daily basis.

Upon taking our first swig the first thing we noticed was how clean the flavor was, lacking that typical odd aftertaste that high fructose drinks feature. It wasn’t overly sweet but it had that distinctive Cola taste that we all love. In terms of ingredients, Boylan’s understands that a little goes a long way. Staying away from artificial ingredients helps Boylan’s version of cola stand out in a big way from its grocery store counterparts. We commend them for sticking to their tried and true recipe and delivering a superior cola product. If you want a step up from high fructose, this is the drink to beat.

Buy this snack :)