Pepsi Peach

 

Product circa: 2024

I've long contended that Pepsi is way better at making flavored colas than Coke, and at this point, one could argue that they are more prolific as well.  While Coke has been making more and more "odd" colas, they have often involved various levels of exclusivity, with some being harder to find than others.  Pepsi has continued to issue colas over the past few years, and their availability has mostly been wide and long in duration, and as always, they taste better.

Pepsi Peach is perfect for what it is trying to be.  Artificial peach flavoring is ubiquitous, being mostly employed in candy, but beverages as well.  The flavoring is extremely strong and can be overpowering and artificial-tasting.  In this product, it is not.  They used the perfect amount to pair with the Pepsi flavoring, and while it doesn't exactly taste like you're biting into a juicy peach, this stuff is perfect, and I wish they made it year-round.

Herr's Philly Cheesesteak Potato Chips

 

Product circa: autumn 2024 (for football season?)

My skepticism of this product was corroborated by the ingredients list.  As expected, these have no meat flavoring in them whatsoever.  In fact, at this point, most sandwich-flavored snacks can safely be assumed to be sandwich toppings-flavored ones.

At first taste, these seem to be mostly a copy of the "sour cream & cheddar" genre of chip.  If you concentrate, however, you can get some added onion powder.  And eventually I realized that the cheese flavoring on these is exceptional, with a deep, aged, and vibrant flavor.  They're also noticeably oilier and saltier than normal.

These are perhaps the best cheese-flavored chips I've ever had, but they taste nothing like a cheesesteak.

Funyuns Steakhouse Onion

 

Product circa: 2024 and most likely earlier

Oddly enough, the first impression I get of these is tomato powder.  It's in the ingredients list, and I'm not sure why.  But other, these are heavy with herbs and spices, and with the tomato, it reminds me most of pizza-flavored snacks.  There's also a heavy dose of steak sauce-like umami here.  Overall, I'm not sure it's better than the original, but it's a nice change.

Doritos Salsa Verde

 

Note: This is a presumptive Ephemeral Nom

Product circa: 2024, and probably before and after

I think I've seen this one around over the years, but I'm finally getting to try it.

Very salty and heavy on MSG, both of which are very high on the ingredients.  Then the flavor is very green: green chiles, like jalapeno, maybe even tomatillo, then green herbs, like parsley and cilantro.  Not too heavy on onion and garlic.  Very decently spicy.  But heavy on salt.  I wish the flavors were stronger; this snack is fairly subtle.

Mountain Dew VooDOO 2024

 

Product circa: autumn 2024

The yearly tradition returns.  Evidently this is known as "VooDEW 6.0".

Anyway, the flavor of this stuff hasn't been announced yet, but people online have been saying it continues the "Halloween candy" tradition by being flavored like a strawberry candy of some sort - some are staying strawberry Nerds, strawberry Starbursts, and even others.

I'm pretty underwhelmed with this one.  It definitely has a candy-like flavor that approaches cotton candy/candy floss.  When I push myself, I can understand the strawberry Nerds comparison.  I'll update this post when I learn of the reveal.