A documentation and review of limited time, special edition, or otherwise hard-to-find noms.
Product circa: 2021
Another salted caramel!
This is very similar to the Twix product that is previous to this post.
Much like the Twix, the caramel here has a saltier formula than the original and, also like the Twix, there are crystals of salt in the product which you'll occasionally detect.
In the end, this isn't more remarkable than the original product.
Milky Way Salted Caramel:
Original Milky Way(for comparison):
There's even large crunchy crystals of salt in it, but oddly... not located in the caramel, but in the chocolate instead.
Twix Salted Caramel:
Original Twix(for comparison):
Coming off the holidays, Pepsico released this gem for the season. You really have to respect how wacky Dew can get sometimes.
If your first thought was "how the hell are they going to make a citrus drink taste like spiced cookies?", join the club.
In practice, they didn't do a bad job. I think they calmed down the "Dew" flavor for the base, and then they've seemed to have added brown sugar and ginger. That's mostly it. It combines with the Dew just fine. As I've been drinking this, there's a voice in my head saying that they probably added some spice too. If I strain hard, I can maybe pick out allspice as well.
Anyway, it's tasty enough, and a laudable experiment, but it's not just as good as the original. But it can't go unsaid that this is one of the most beautiful can designs I've ever seen.
Mt Dew Gingerbread Snap'd:
Original Mt Dew(for comparison):
Note: This is a Presumptive Ephemeral Nom.
You might be able to find these adorable beer-flavored jelly beans in a specially-made aluminum can that contains single-serving mini bags of beans under its replaceable lid. There might be other packaging options, as well.
Upon opening the little bag and smelling, you'll be hit immediately with yeast, and it's not pleasant - it's dank and pungent.
Taste is a different story. The yeast leads the parade of flavors, but this time it's pleasant, with a sharp floral note that is just plain nice combined with the sugar. As you really start chewing, you get an unmistakable lager beer flavor, with what I have to describe as golden malted barley. Funnily enough, it ends with a "soapy" feel, which is something you'll occasionally hear as a beer descriptor.
Though I wouldn't call these delicious, between the packaging, the taste, and how authentic it tastes compared to its source material, this is easily a 2-NOM endeavor. Well done Jelly Belly!
Jelly Belly Draft:
- Good
Jelly Belly Lemon Lime(for comparison):- Good
As an unsurprising event for Super Bowl 2021, Lays have released their limited time Game Day Chili flavor.
First and foremost, I'm always disappointed when a brand gets an opportunity to add actual meat flavor into a product, but then passes it up. Anyway, this product is completely predictable but delicious at the same time. It contains the same numerous flavors that one would find in chili: spices like chile powder first and foremost, then black pepper, cumin, and coriander; onion and garlic powders; sugar and tomato powder combine to lend a mouth feel reminiscent of barbeque chips; and finally, a bit of cheese powder to simulate the cheese and/or sour cream that one might use to dress their chili.
This barely crosses into the 3-NOM territory, but if Lays had added just a bit more salt to punch up the complex flavors, and to add more saltiness for its own sake, this would rate as 4 NOMs.
I hope you all are celebrating the Super Bowl responsibly!
Lay's Game Day Chili:
- Great
Original Lay's(for comparison):- Good
It was summer of 2017 that Pepsico released yet another Game Fuel variation called Tropical Smash. This product was part of a promotion with the release of the video game Forza Motorsport 7.
Once again, Dew has added zero-calorie sweetener to a drink that already has almost 200 calories. I'm not sure how many dozens of calories are saved by adding Ace-K and sucralose, but I must be the only one who thinks that the taste of the product suffers because of it?
Anyway, the onset of Tropical Smash has a similar feel to the iconic smooth sweetness that normal Dew has, with little in the way of acidic bite to balance it. As the name suggests, bright tropical punch flavors dominate the palate; although official documentation says mango and pineapple, I get mango and banana. Regardless, it's quite tasty. Unfortunately it's punctuated with the sharp pinch of zero-calorie sweetener. And minutes after drinking, the aftertaste is probably the worst I've ever experienced.
The 0-cal sweetener always takes these products' ratings down by 1 NOM, but this is the best one I've ever had, so welcome your first 3-NOM product with 0-cal sweetener!
Mountain Dew Game Fuel Tropical Smash:
- Great
Original Mountain Dew(for comparison):- Great
This limited time item is easy to miss, as its flavor doesn't necessarily seem very unusual.
First taste is intensely savory, the ingredients list revealing both tomato, onion, and garlic powder. The cheese then takes over, but it's not intense. Once again, the ingredients list tells that cheddar, monterey jack, and swiss cheese powders are involved here, though I don't think you're going to pick any of them out. Honestly, the cheese flavor here is way too subtle, and left me wishing I had some original Nacho Cheese instead, with its sharp cheese wallop. This was almost in 2-NOM territory, but I had to go low.
Doritos Ultimate Cheddar:
- Passable
Original Doritos Nacho Cheese(for comparison):- Good
