The BIGS: Buffalo Wing and Bacon Salt Seeds!

What do I like about the BIGS seeds?  A) They're sunflower seeds, which I love.  B) The variety of flavors that they offer and C) I'm having trouble writing this review because I keep reaching in to have a few more seeds.

They went with a simple idea, to infuse jumbo sunflower seeds with different flavors from different companies.  Place said seeds in resealable, bright red bags and you have a formula for success.  I've always enjoyed plain Sunflower seeds but the idea of having spicy, or smoky bacon flavored ones just hit home.  We contacted the Bigs after finding out about them on Twitter and they sent us a few bags, today we're covering the Franks RedHot flavored seeds(Known as Buffalo Wing) and the Bacon Salt infused ones.

So off the bat, love the packaging: Bold fonts, logos for the different flavor infusions(The Franks one has a hot sauce bottle, the bacon one has the Bacon Salt logo).  A warm color scheme makes these pop out, and the extra large logo definitely lets you know these seeds are large and in charge.

Flavor wise:  The Red Hot ones offer a spicy bite to the seeds that I loved.  The kick builds up as you eat more and more and it rocks.  The hot sauce flavor isn't too strong, instead being more of a mild spicy tang that complements the seeds really well.  The Bacon Salt ones have a really pleasant saltier, smoky flavor reminiscent of a slice of bacon.  I'm glad they didn't go overboard with the seasoning!  The amount of seasoning on each of these seeds is perfect and doesn't overwhelm the seed flavor..It complements it.

We commend the BIGS for offering this unique twist on Sunflower seeds.  Stay tuned for our upcoming reviews about other flavors, including Zesty Ranch and Dill Pickle!  Recommended for any seed lover out there.  These are fantastic!

-Sirio

Buy this snack :)

Kathy Kaye Peanut Caramel Cob!

Novelty foods can be a fun experience.  You never really know if the fun food your looking at will have a good taste to match.  I liked the idea of the Peanut Caramel Cob.  It's popcorn, peanuts, and caramel fashioned into the shape of a corn cob.  The green corn husks on the plastic wrapper add to it's clever packaging. 

I opened the top of the plastic wrapper, and slid the cob up, kind of like a popsicle.  The first thing I notice is the smell, it's a very sweet caramel.  I went for it, and took a decent sized bite.  The text on the wrapper did say this was soft and chewy, but... Wow.  This was unbelievably soft, and chewy.  I was expecting something just a bit more crunchy, just based on my past caramel corn experience. Lots of maneuvering was required for me to get this out of my teeth.  Texture-wise, I wasn't the biggest fan, but  the flavor made up for it.  A nice, sweet caramel melted in between crunchy peanuts, and super-soft popcorn.

Basically, the flavor of this snack is pretty good.  But it's the sticky, way-too-chewy texture that was the only con I could notice.  Give this a shot!  I nearly wish they served it at the movies, just don't expect a very crunchy texture. :)

~Rachael

Buy this snack :)

Gamer Grub: Pizza Flavor!

I first ran into these snacks at E3 and was quite intrigued by the concept, a yummy snack specifically formulated for Gamers.  What exactly are these supposed to offer that make these appealing to gamers?  The addition of vitamins, 'neurotransmitters' and easy to serve, non greasy nature.  The slogans on the packaging are "Boost your game, no keyboard crumbs!"  If you take the time to read the near infinite ingredient list you'll realize that a lot of work was put into making these a one stop snack for gamers.

The current ones we're reviewing is the pizza flavor(One out of 4 flavors offered).  The mix includes a zesty blend of Cheese Curls, Tomato Almonds, Sesame Sticks, Pita Chips, Fried Onions and Pizza Cashews.  The packaging is colorful and eye catching, featuring a foil style packaging.

From what I could tell you pour a handful of these in your hand and eat them all at once, combining all the elements of the mix in your mouth to form a pizza flavor.  You could also pour them directly into your mouth as the package recommends.  Taste wise it was very good and tangy, and the mix of different flavors and textures were pleasant.  They were a little messier due to the sheer amount of seasoning but had a decent pizza flavor.  The only thing I can say is kind of lost in translation is the individual seasoning of each snack element in the mix, all the different seasonings kind of mix together.  Overall a really tasty snack to try, whether you're a gamer or not.  Nice packaging, portable, and real easy to eat.

-Sirio

Buy this snack :)

Kasugai Mixed Nuts!

While perusing our local Japanese grocery store here in Seattle, we came across Kasugai Mixed Nuts. What drew us to the this particular package was the colorful variety of nuts pictured on the front. Not to mention the introduction "A Happy Present from The Earth". Who doesn't like presents, especially happy ones? We were happy to give this one a go.

We opened the yellow, square bag, and surveyed the snack inside. Before us was a selection of nuts, in both different textures and colors. Choices varied from the large sesame and nori seaweed covered nuts, to the small sweetly coated nuts. The crunchy wasabi peas added a green pop of color to the assortment, though the taste a bit subdued. As a whole, the taste of this snack was mild and even. It's something we could find ourselves enjoying with a cold beer or any other cold, crisp beverage.While we were perhaps expecting to experience some stronger, specifically spicier flavors, we were nonetheless pleased with this snack. If you are a fan of the sweet and salty combination, this snack is definetly a winner. It is easily one of those snacks that you could find yourself finishing with little effort. Good for any time, whether it be at your desk at work, or during a movie at home.

Buy this snack :)

Sahale Sing Buri Cashews!

So lets see here, these were given to me by a coworker on a day that I didn't have enough time to get lunch due to a crunchy schedule that we were on. I had never heard of Sahale snacks but was enticed enough to give these a go.

The packaging in itself was enticing enough to check these out. I was surprised I'd never heard of such a thing but I guess these are also a little hard to find in stores(Whole Foods and Amazon carry them). The mix was called Sing Buri, or looking at the blurb on the back:

• Sing Buri - Lemongrass, soy glazed cashews, pineapple, peanuts, and sesame seeds lightly dusted with mild chinese chili make up this exceptional, aromatic blend reminiscent of a great Thai dish.

Now that is enticing enough for a go! The bag itself is really upscale and appealing so I opened them up and gave them a shot. Now the thing with cashews is that they are already pretty rich in themselves, so I wasn't sure what to expect with a whole new slathering of toppings on every cashew. I tried them and found them to be pretty good, exceptionally sweet with a mild spiciness to them. The sweet, spicy and salty flavors were all in pretty good harmony. They smelled really good and have an interesting and exotic nature to them, however I could only eat a few every time I picked up the bag due to how incredibly rich the cashews were with all the extra toppings.

I'd recommend these for very light snacking needs, but there's no way I could see anyone eating a bag of these in one sitting. However, these are definitely a great option if you want to upscale from the typical Planters brand blandness.