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Cheez-It Zingz Chipotle Cheddar

Cheez-It Zingz: Chipotle Cheddar

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Kat Graham

If you haven’t tried Cheez-Its’ newest product Cheez-It Zingz: Chipotle Cheddar you are surely missing out.  The newest member of the Cheez-It family is-in size-the “big brother” to its smaller companions.  At about double the size of a regular Cheez-It, it packs in a punch of flavor that you won’t be able to resist.

The smokey cheddar was a bit overpowering the first time I tried it but my mouth quickly adjusted to the delicious taste.  The crackers have just enough heat to add a bit of a kick but not enough that the average Joe would find them to be too spicy.  Just the right amount of “ZING.”  Certainly less mundane than the regular Cheez-It, I believe I’m well within bounds to say that they will make a big splash in the snack food isle.  I know that they’ll find a special place in my pantry.

Overall, I was quite impressed with Cheez-It Zingz.  They’re smokey, Zing-y and live up to their name.  Would I recommend them? “Yea!” I would!

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-Kat Graham

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a&w ten

A&W Ten

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Jeremy Hobbs

A&W Ten is the last Ten series soda review, at least until the Dr. Pepper-Snapple group decides to Ten-ify some of the other flavors in their portfolio. Personally I would love to try a Sun Drop Ten. But that is neither here nor there, you came here to read about low calorie root beer.

It is rather yummy. A&W Ten is right there with Dr. Pepper Ten in terms of quality, and may be the most true to the original flavor of the whole line. I really was not able to taste anything chemical-y in the after taste, and the flavor was plenty sweet. A&W Ten puts its ten calories to wonderful use.

A&W Ten will definitely be the root beer of choice in our household. It is greatly superior to other diet versions on the market, and with no real drop in flavor from the full calorie version, we will be glad to sacrifice all of those extra calories. Very much a win-win situation.  If you click the link below and browse the other Ten articles, you’ll find hits and misses. A&W Ten is a home run. So, as you have probably have guessed, this is going in to the ‘Yea!’ column.

Official Site

-Jeremy Hobbs

Read About Other ‘Ten’ Sodas

7UPTEN

7Up Ten

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Kat Graham

Well, folks, I feel like my last few articles have been on the “meh!”/”bleh!” side and I hate to continue that trend but I would never lead you astray when it comes to my honest opinion of a product.  So as we begin to wrap up our soda “Ten Soda” series I bring you 7Up Ten.  A watered-down, sweetness-lacking, hardly-flavored beverage.

To be completely fair in the review I tried the soda not once but twice.  The first bottle I bought I hardly had any sweetness to it.  I know I’ve complained in previous articles that too much soda syrup makes me gag but this was the complete other extreme.  The carbonation was a little funky too.  The bubbles were fine the first few sips, but after about 10 minutes it seemed almost flat.  Was this a product of intense Florida heat? Possibly. But I’ve never seemed to have this problem with any other sodas.  After this epic failure I picked up another bottle next time I hit Winn-Dixie to give it a fair chance.

The second wasn’t a whole lot better than the first.  It still lacked sweetness but the carbonation held up a bit better.  Something was certainly lacking though and this time I realized that the whole time I was missing the lemon-lime flavor.  In a regular full sugared brew of 7Up the flavors come through beautifully but they were a bit lost in 7-Up Ten.

All in all, I have to say I was disappointed.  I expected more from the soda and it just didn’t deliver. Going to have to give it a “Bleh!”

Official Site

-Kat Graham

***Look for our final “Ten” review on A&W Root Beer Ten coming soon!***

cayman jack

Cayman Jack Margarita

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Jeremy Hobbs

In my quest to find the perfect ready to drink margarita, I think that I may have found something special tucked inside a small display in a gas station cooler door. Cayman Jack is the epitome of an ultra premium malt beverage, and I can say for certain that I have never tasted one better. Regardless of flavor. Cayman Jack may be the nectar of the gods.

Speaking of nectar, let us talk about what goes in to flavoring Cayman Jack. Real blue agave nectar gives the beverage what most of the others I’ve reviewed lacked: authenticity. Found only in the most premium mixes, the agave gives CJ a real ‘it’ factor. Further sweetening this work of art is 100% cane sugar. No sticky corn syrup to be found, almost unheard of in this category of drinks. Lastly, to give that beloved tartness associated with margaritas, the bottler squeezes in the juice from real (organic!) limes, not funky concentrated chemicals. What’s not to love?

Mine came from a can, two tall ones for $3.50. But if you purchase the six-pack of 12 ounce bottles, you’ll be holding one of the coolest containers I’ve ever seen. Definitely an attention getter. As if you couldn’t already tell, Cayman Jack Margarita gets a big double thumbs up Hell ‘Yea! from me. If you enjoy margaritas, I don’t see any way you could be disappointed.

Official Site

-Jeremy Hobbs

 

Jeremy’s Margarita Series

Sunkist ten

Sunkist Ten

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Jeremy Hobbs

Orange sodas are by far the easiest soda to replicate in diet form, at least in my opinion. The citrus-y bite masks the after taste of artificial sweeteners really well. When I have friends which are about to embark on a dieting adventure ask me which diet beverages are easiest to stomach, I without fail point them to something fruity. Now I can point them to Sunkist Ten, the best tasting diet orange soda I can remember sampling in a long time. Maybe ever.

The initial taste is very crisp, and completely masks the fact that this is a reduced calorie beverage. It tastes almost exactly like its full-calorie big brother. Of course, you’re going to get a bit of an aftertaste after swallowing, but it is much less pronounced than Diet Sunkist, and its other contemporaries.

So far the Ten series of sodas have been hit or miss, and the Sunkist variety is a home-run. It’s a great summer time beverage, perfect for packing in the cooler and heading out to the lake with. Or just relax with one over ice by the pool. Also, as with most fruity sodas, Sunkist Ten can make for a yummy low-carb adult beverage when combined with a decent vodka or white rum. I give it a ‘Yea!’ all the way around.

Official Site

-Jeremy Hobbs

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mikes margarita

Mike’s Classic Margarita

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Jeremy Hobbs

Number two in our on-going margarita series is Mike’s Classic Margarita. Mike’s, in my mind, has always had a high quality product, a great selection of flavors, and never carried the ‘sissy’ stereotypes with which many of the other premium malt beverages were weighed down. The attractive black labeling is masculine enough that your buddies won’t be questioning your gender or sexuality behind your back. Thankfully, this packaging carries over to their Classic Margarita line.

Mike’s Classic Margarita is flavored with real lime juice and agave nectar. This gives it a more authentic flavor than Lime-A-Rita but is a great deal sweeter. In alcoholic beverages, sweetness doesn’t always equal greater drink-ability. Mike’s is somewhat syrupy, and while that tastes great initially, it starts to sit kind of heavy on your stomach by the end of the bottle or can. They’re very filling and I’ve never had the desire to drink more than one in a sitting. Drinking over ice helps remedy this situation a bit.

If you’re looking for a six pack of something to guzzle down before the game at a tailgate party, I’d give this a ‘bleh.’ You’d probably blow up before you reached the gate. If you’re like myself and just want a convenient, fairly authentic tasting night cap, you could do a whole lot worse than Mike’s Classic Margarita. Giving it a ‘Yea,’ so long as you stick to a serving or two.

Official Site

-Jeremy Hobbs

 

Jeremy’s Margarita Series

morningstar farms corn dogs

MorningStar Farms Corn Dog

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Kat Graham

As I continue my series of MorningStar Farms products, I bring you bad tidings.  I have yet to find a way for a veg-head to enjoy a corn dog.  If you’ve been following my MorningStar posts you’ll see that I’ve been raving about their products but alas all good things must come to an end.  I first sampled a MorningStar corn dog a few years ago and swore them off for life.  As I perused mornignstarfarms.com for my next product to buy and review I thought it was only fair to show their “darker” side.

Now, I’ve never tried a real corn dog so I must proceed with the disclaimer that I may not be a corn dog fan in general.  But then again I’ve never met a meat-eater who didn’t like a good ol’ fashioned corn dog.  I’ll start from the inside and work my way out with this one.  First of all: the stick.  I may have had a faulty stick but by the time I had heated up my corn dog it was sagging already.

Next, the dog.  It was chewy and bland and quite frankly a bit nauseating.  Finally, the “corn.”  To be completely honest I think I must have blocked this part out of my mind.  I’ve never been too happy outside of my comfort zone and this was WAY outside of my comfort zone.  All I can remember is a mouth-full of what I can only describe as thick, soggy cotton. Yuck!

Keeping in mind that MorningStars Farms has set such a high standard for their foods I have to give their corn dogs and absolute ‘Bleh!!!!!!’

Official Site

-Kat Graham

lime-a-rita

Lime-A-Rita

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Jeremy Hobbs

I’m starting a short series of margarita flavored beverages. First up, one almost everyone has at least seen, if not tried, is the super popular Lime-A-Rita by Anheuser Busch. I happen to live in a town where these are manufactured, and a few weeks after these were released, Budweiser couldn’t can them fast enough.

Originally, I could only find them in 24 ounce tall cans, usually in the same cooler as those cheap hobo beers. The classic margarita may be my favorite cocktail (at least at the moment), and at first I was afraid to see what those Bud boys had done to my go-to self medication. But the idea of an easy to grab can intrigued me, and curiosity won out. Before I knew it, I was $2 lighter, and cruising out of the convenience store with my Lime-A-Rita wrapped in the protective sleeve of a brown paper bag.

To be honest, it wasn’t that bad, and certainly wasn’t deserving of its spot in the wrong side of the fridge. I wouldn’t go as far as calling it an ultra-premium malt, but it had a nice flavor, even if the beer notes started peeking through as it warmed up. A 24 ouncer will get warm on you unless you chug it, thus the suggestion to ‘try it on ice.’

The flavor is very lime heavy, and I’ll by no means ever mistake it for the real thing, but it’ll do in a pinch, or after a long day when you don’t feel like pulling out the blender. The 8% alcohol content will certainly get the job done in that department. Be careful, it’ll sneak up on you. I’ll give it a tentative ‘Yea!’ You should be pleased so long as you pop that top with reasonable expectations.

Official Site

-Jeremy Hobbs

 

Jeremy’s Margarita Series

Canada dry ten

Canada Dry Ten

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Kat Graham

I have to admit, when I first heard about the Ten series that sodas were putting out I was a bit skeptical.  Why not just drink diet soda if there’s only ten calories and two grams of sugar? Or if you don’t mind the calories and sugar why not drink a regular of your favorite brand and enjoy it for what it’s worth?  It didn’t make sense to me.  But when I was shopping at my local Winn-Dixie yesterday and saw mini bottles of Ten sodas I figured “what the heck,” and decided to give it a try knowing that we were doing a review series on them for the site.

When I got my goodies home I decided to start with Canada Dry Ten Ginger Ale. I’ve had both diet and regular versions of this delicious drink and figured I could present a pretty informed opinion.  I was genuinely surprised by what I discovered.  The flavor was wonderfully crisp and lacked any syrupy stickiness that drives me away from sugar-filled sodas.  And with only 10 calories I feel less guilt.

I must admit though that I still prefer diet soda.  Ten sodas taste quite the same as diet sodas so I don’t see why I should ingest 10 extra calories and 2 grams of sugar.  I have to give Ginger Ale Ten a “Meh!”

 Official Site

-Kat Graham

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mountain dew throwback

Mountain Dew Throwback

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Jeremy Hobbs

Yesterday we had some Pepsi Throwback, and as promised, today we’re going to kick it old school with Mountain Dew Throwback. Refresher, for those that do not know, the two ‘Throwback’ sodas are supposed to represent the original formulations of Pepsi Cola and Mountain Dew. In a time when milk was delivered to your door, when there was an evening paper, and you had more fingers than television stations, soft drinks were sweetened with REAL sugar, not high fructose corn syrup.

Today, corn syrup is much cheaper, and very few people can tell the difference. Coke ‘Classic’ really isn’t ‘classic’ at all; the original formula was based on sugar (and still is in other parts of the world). Pepsi’s story is the same. As well as Mountain Dew. I’ve tried the colas, and they’re okay, but the Dew is the one that really benefits from natural sugar.

Pepsi Throwback was smoother…. Mountain Dew Throwback is smoooooth. The stuff just glides down your throat, with none of the sticky residue that I’m used to from ‘regular’ Mountain Dew. The carbonation has been toned down a bit too, and while it takes a bit away from it’s ‘extreme’ image, it significantly adds to it’s drink-ability. You have to love the old school label as well; that’s just slick!

Mountain Dew Throwback is a must try for any soda connoisseur. Feel free to check around for more consumer reviews, you don’t have to take my word for it. But I feel that it’s a definite must try. ‘Yea!’

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–Jeremy Hobbs