Kit Kat Lemon Crisp

 

Product circa: post-2020 springtime seasons

Seemingly seasonal and only available in fun size. I always tend to welcome the white chocolate Kit Kats. This one here is white chocolate with a yellow-tinted and lemon-flavored coating, and that’s basically the only thing that is different. But damn, despite this variation being very simple, its flavor is incredible. The lemon uses the white chocolate as a perfect vehicle, and it ends up being the slightest bit tart and even refreshing. It all goes great with the wafers in a perfect balance.

Kit Kat Lemon Crisp: NOM NOM NOM NOM - Outstanding
Original Kit Kat(for comparison): NOM NOM - Good

Doritos Tangy Ketchup

 

Product circa: summer 2023 (contemporary as of this posting)

This product is a presumptive Ephemeral Nom, as it is not clearly a limited edition.

While I think that most ketchup-flavored chips are very tasty, in my opinion they usually end up tasting like tomato powder and spices.

Not these. The tomato flavoring on these evokes the sweet fruitiness that tomatoes can lend to a fresh ketchup. Enough vinegar powder is added to really give that ketchup taste. You have the savory flavors lightly backing everything up, like onion, garlic, and paprika. In the end, these are the most faithful ketchup-flavored snack I’ve ever tasted. I’d rate it higher if I were a ketchup freak… but I’m not.

Doritos Tangy Ketchup: NOM NOM NOM - Great
Original Doritos Nacho Cheese(for comparison): NOM NOM - Good

Lay’s BLT Sandwich

 

Product circa: Summer 2023

I was excited when I saw these, because at least once in the past, I’ve seen the taste of lettuce be successfully conveyed via the seasoning on chips. It seems to me that making chips taste like a BLT is completely possible, but these here fall flat.

The bacon flavoring here somehow manages to be subtle but also the overwhelming component that you taste. After a few bites, you might notice a peculiar cheesiness underneath the bacon. Indeed, the ingredients list boasts cheese flavoring; the only reason I can think it’s there is to mimic a BLT’s mayo? Tomato powder is a listed ingredient too, but to my tongue, it’s undetectable. And no lettuce taste anywhere to be found.

It’s strange that these BLT chips taste more like a loaded baked potato.

Lay’s BLT Sandwich: 1 NOM - Passable
Original Lay’s (for comparison): 2 NOMS - Good

Dr. Pepper Dark Berry

 

Product circa: 2022

Promoting the release of the 2022 film Jurassic World Dominion, we have a generic-sounding variation of Dr. Pepper.

It’s only when I try very hard that I detect a notable fruit flavor when tasting this stuff. Less of a dark berry, and more dark fruits in general. And because a few of Dr. Pepper’s 23 flavorings are such fruits (blackberry, plum), I wonder if they just dialed down the spicy ingredients instead of adding more fruit?

Anyway, it’s almost impossible to discern that this is different from the original without having them side-by-side.

Dr. Pepper Dark Berry: NOM NOM NOM - Great
Original Dr. Pepper(for comparison): NOM NOM NOM - Great

Mountain Dew Typhoon

Product circa: 2022 (re-release), mostly current of this writing

This stuff has been re-released quite a few times over the years via DEWmocracy and Dew Labs, but evidently it originally dates back to 2009.

Yet another tropical punch Dew, this purports to be flavored especially with strawberry and pineapple. I get the former, but not the latter. It’s vaguely fruity, and not very special. Honestly, while punch Dew may have been novel in 2009, in 2022+, it’s not. There’s a handful of punch Dews better than this one.

Mountain Dew Typhoon: NOM NOM - Good
Original Mountain Dew(for comparison): NOM NOM NOM - Great

Mountain Dew VooDew 2022

 

Product circa: Halloween 2022

Pepsico makes another Halloween release of VooDEW for this year 2022. It is a mystery flavor, as VooDEW usually is. The flavor of this stuff hasn't been released yet officially, and it is normally done on the day of Halloween. Evidently the first year of VooDEW (2019) contained a mix of Dew that was flavored like candy corn. I must have missed it that year, because DAMN I would have loved to try that.

Anyway, this stuff rocks. I'm fairly confident that this year's flavor is blue raspberry, a flavor I love. This is also more sour than your usual flavored Dew, which is welcome. Each year the VooDEW flavor seems to simulate Halloween candy, and so this one is fitting. I definitely remember eating sour blue raspberry candy as a kid, and the flavor of this soda really brings me back. Well done, Dew.

Mountain Dew VooDew 2022: NOM NOM NOM NOM - Outstanding
Original Mountain Dew(for comparison): NOM NOM NOM - Great

Coca-Cola Starlight

 

Product circa: Current as of this posting

Coke that tastes like space?  Whatever.

Silly marketing aside, it's great to see that Coke has made a "Creations" line that seems to have various ephemeral versions planned!

Anyway, the color of this stuff is more drastic than its flavor.  It took me quite a few cans before I found myself having any opinion.  At first I would have said that a cotton candy flavor was added to the original formula.  But after some hard thinking, I'm pretty sure that I also taste a strange nuttiness as well.

Have you ever been in a shopping mall and smelled the sugar-roasted nut kiosk?  Capture that essence and combine it with Coca-cola, and this is what you have.  But it's so close to the original that the result is a wash.

Coca-Cola Starlight:- Great

Original Coca-Cola(for comparison):- Great