Cookie Dough Oreo

Cookie Dough Oreos were released a good few months ago, but they can still be found in stores as of this posting, and you'd be right to seek them out.

As you take the bite, you might be like me in expecting a cookie dough flavor like the one used in ice creams and other processed foods... the kind that's quite like refrigerated cookie dough from the supermarket.  But for me, the type used in these cookies reminds me not of premade kind, but of the homemade kind you might use from the recipe on the back of Tollhouse chocolate chips.

There's just so much flavor.  Yes, there's the doughy/floury base that lets you know it's cookie dough, and that bit of salt that's just strong enough to notice.  But after that are the touches that remind me of my mother's cookie dough as she's stirring it a giant bowl: a strong presences of vanilla, so strong and aromatic that it's more recognizable as vanilla extract.  Another strong presence is dark brown sugar, so strong that its molasses flavor is clearly detectable.  These notes are so pungent that I'm inclined to say that the creme is perfumed with them.

Add all this to bits of chocolate chips in the creme that add a nice chewy contrast to the crunchy cookie, and you have an impressive, complex, and sophisticated product.


Cookie Dough Oreo:- Outstanding

Original Oreo(for comparison):- Great

Doritos Jacked Test Flavor 855

We have another line of poll products out, and this time they're from Doritos.  It's much like other such products: there are three flavors out on the shelves, and folks can vote online for their favorite at boldflavorexperiment.com.  Doritos will supposedly further produce the winner as a semi-permanent product, but there's a catch: these possible flavors don't have names or descriptions.  It's a blind taste test which your tongue must lead.

Unfortunately, this contest involves Doritos Jacked, not the regular chips.  I earlier explained the disappointment here.

I got my hands on the red version of these test chips.  The smell doesn't offer too much past chili powder.  The flavor of them prove fairly complex, but not in a great way.  Firstly noticeable are small and equal amounts of seasoning like from Doritos Nacho Cheese and Cool Ranch.  A strange combination, but pleasant.  Immediately afterward, however, these flavors are overwhelmed by what I would describe as dry and earthy powdered chile, which lingers and lingers.  The mouthful ends with a strong acidic tang, which might be vinegar, but tastes more like lime, and then a surprisingly hot spiciness, which can get a bit painful after a dozen or two chips in a row.

Bite after bite, chile and lime are the only thing I can taste.  Spice and acid.  The balance is way off.  In the end, they taste more like an experiment in extremes, not a sophisticated and interesting product.


Doritos Jacked Test Flavor 855:- Passable

Gatorade Cool Blue Cherry

Reviewed here almost a year late is Gatorade Cool Blue Cherry, a limited edition that was a sister product to Gatorade Strawberry Lemonade, both of which were flavors exclusive to 7-Eleven for the summer of 2013.

Cool Blue Cherry has more than meets the eye.  The sip starts with simple sweet cherry, which is a bit off-putting due to the blue color.   The sweetness, however, is tempered with an additional tang/sourness that isn't found in the normal line of Gatorades.  But then comes an additional note afterward, which I swear is pineapple.  It's a strange combination, but the overall tone of the drink is more tropical than simply cherry cough syrup, like I was expecting.

It's simple, well-executed, and surprising.

Gatorade Cool Blue Cherry:- Outstanding

Original Gatorade(Orange, for comparison):- Good

acquired: 7-Eleven

Lemon Twist Oreo

Oreo has been slinging an impressive amount of ephemeral cookies, so much so that I have a backlog.
Two summery limited edition flavors of Oreo were released last summer: Lemon Twist and Banana Split.

The Lemon Twist Oreos are simply a variety of Golden Oreo that has a lemony filling, vaguely reminiscent of the old Baskin Robbins Oreo Gold Rush ice cream.  The taste of these bear nothing more than their simple concept.  The vanilla cookie pairs well with the lemon filling, which is plenty lemony, but I wish it were more tangy.

Have you ever gotten a bag of mini lemon creme sandwich cookies from a vending machine?  These aren't as good as those.  It's tough to make that call without tasting them side by side, but I just said it.  It's a decent effort by Oreo, though.


Lemon Twist Oreo:- Good
Original Golden Oreo(for comparison):- Great

Sprite Cranberry

Years after cranberry sodas have graced holiday store shelves, Sprite finally threw its hat into the ring. But, much like the Apple corporation, their "me too" products are often not to be ignored.

I myself am not a big fan of Sprite, but any time Sprite makes a variation, I stand up and take note. See: Sprite Remix Aruba Jam.

The aroma begins in typical sprite fashion, but with a clear addition of tartness, which could perhaps be guessed as cranberry.  The sip isn't tart, though.  It's sweet, but not as sweet as original sprite.  A simple and subtle cranberry flavor forms on the tongue, which soon becomes a generic red berry, which then becomes a generic fruitiness.  And that's about it.  It's a short experience, but it's complex and balanced.

Why can't there be more versions of Sprite?

By the way, just like this and this, Sprite Cranberry goes well with this.

Sprite Cranberry:- Outstanding
Original Sprite(for comparison):- Good

Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash

Aside from being included in just about everything in the months between September in January, cranberry is a flavor that is often injected into sodas in particular for this time of year.

Last year I wrote about Canada Dry's Cranberry variety, which has been gracing autumn and winter shelves for years now. Also years old now is Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash, but is still only seasonal.

Sprite reigns king of the lemon lime sodas in the US and has done so for a long time, but in 1999 Pepsico realized that Slice really wasn't cutting it as competition. 7 Up might be a worthy opponent, but Pepsi does not own the rights to 7 UP in the US.

And so, Pepsi created a new brand to compete on the lemon lime shelves: Sierra Mist. Ever since my first sip, I always knew it was a loser. It just was never as good as Sprite, and I'm pretty sure that its brand performance hasn't been incredible either, though I have no numbers to back that up. A few years ago, Pepsi switched the drink's formulation and called it Sierra Mist Natural.  My verdict remains the same.

Cranberry Splash must be somewhat successful, because it keeps coming out every holiday season.

The Sierra Mist flavor base, in my opinion, is one that is fairly dull and lacks vibrancy.  Despite that it uses sugar over HFCS, it tastes like a mixture of sugar syrup and citric acid.  Luckily, the cranberry makes it better.  It instantly adds a tartness that makes your taste buds stand at attention.  The tartness evolves into an easily detectable cranberry flavor that's quite enjoyable.  But too soon it dissipates into the dead Sierra Mist aftertaste.

It's better than the normal stuff, but not by much.  And, like Canada Dry Cranberry, it looks beautiful in the glass, and tastes better with gin.


Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash:- Good
Original Sierra Mist(for comparison):- Passable

Skinny Cow Snickerdoodle Sandwich

I don't often delve into "health foods" or anything with reduced calories specifically for pleasure.  However, the lady of the house is a big fan of Skinny Cow products, which are a slightly healthier option for those who enjoy frozen desserts.  As someone whose vices lie more toward chips and corn snacks, I am not a dessert lover.  However, I find myself constantly impressed with Skinny Cow.

Skinny Cow offers tons of different desserts in tons of flavors, but occasionally they'll issue some ephemeral ones as well.  This time they have a Snickerdoodle ice cream sandwich which I'm unable to ignore.

The experience begins in a fashion that's unlike actual snickerdoodles: the teeth sink into the two soft oatmeal cookies which have a deep flavor base of molasses.  Later detectable are brown sugar and a bit of cinnamon.  The ice cream is a simple and very enjoyable vanilla.

But in this case, the snack's "healthy" status is what elevates it.  Because Skinny Cow seeks to use less fat in their ice cream, they employ a more clever use of food gums to increase the cream's viscosity and improve the texture.  The result is a cream that's almost chewy, and it's really a joy to pull away each bite.

Between the ice cream's texture and the cookie's flavor, this snack belongs in the order of its full-fat brethren.  If Skinny Cow actually advertised these as ice cream oatmeal creme pies, which is what they really are, they'd be in 4-NOM territory.


Skinny Cow Snickerdoodle Sandwich:- Great