Coca Cola X Rosalia "Motion" Coke Zero

i hate to say this, but i think coca cola found a way to get me excited about their products... i usually pass on sodas for everyday consumption and keep them only for special occasions and sunday lunches, but man... i love a limited edition flavor. i love a weird little concoction. that's who i am, that's what i'm about. first sip... wow!! what even is this... at first it's kind of cotton candy, or maybe like cherry candy, but closer to cotton candy, it has that artificial sugary flavor. Then it has a creamy flavor, kinda like super artificial chocolate, or maybe coconut cream... and i swear i can feel a kind of ginger aftertaste, kinda like chinese ginger candy drops. that kind of tangy bitterness. the fake chocolate flavor lingers though. it reminds me of this super cheap candy i used to get as a kid, a sort of chocolate paste that didnt actually have real chocolate, just a bunch of flavorings. this isn't a bad thing flavor-wise! weird artificial things can end up being tasty. the version of this soda we have here in chile is supposed to taste like "motion", whatever that may mean... i don't like the vagueness, specially because it makes it harder to fully review this. if the can said "chocolate and coconut" then i'd be able to judge how close or far they got to that, but in this case... it remains a mystery. not sure if i like the mystery aspect, but flavor-wise, pretty good! i'm sipping as i'm writing this, and now im getting some kind of marshmallow flavor too? man, so weird... i think i would absolutely enjoy this more if the flavor was clearly marked on the can though. it'd be fun to pull it appart and see how all the notes play with eachother, but as it stands, it's too mysterious for me. tasty! but too mysterious. OH also, as a funny note, i liked Motomami a lot but i listened to it so much i now don't like it as much. bought it on vinyl but i had to trade it to a friend cuz i grew slightly tired of it. still a fantastic album! i'll just have to wait to listen to it again. back to the soda. good, but too mysterious.

6/10

La Croix, cherry blosom

As is the case with most people, my first La Croix experience years ago had immediate ups and downs. at first i loved the idea of a healthy, tasty beverage with beautiful packaging, then i tasted it and was severely underwhelmed, then i took some more time with it and liked it enough, then i gave it some more time and ended up reeeally liking it. Honestly, a great beverage! and it's made even better when lightly sweetened. i like to mix half a tablespoon of sugar with half a tablespoon of boiling water, and use that to sweeten a can. you can use more or less if you want. half a tablespoon gives it just enough sweetness to amp the flavor up a good bit without it feeling too unhealthy. You can use splenda, or go fancy with some agave or a similar natural sweetner, though i think a simple syrup is the best way to go, if you'll go the sweetened route. it's great to know exactly how much sugar goes into your soda!
now, for this specific flavor i drank a small bit unsweetened, and the rest sweetened, for review purposes. On its own, it's very very nice! feels healthy, you feel good about drinking it, and while drinking it as well. the main reason i don't drink soda too often is because of all the sugar. yes, i know i could get sugarfree soda, but then i'd have to worry both about the weird aftertaste and the cancer risks that come with most sweetners. You gotta pick your poison there. With la croix though, you can have a tasty treat without feeling bad about it; even better, you get to feel fancy. It's a fancy looking (and tasting) drink!
once i added the sugar-and-water syrup, it was a whole different thing. I can see myself enjoying lacroix both sweetened and unsweetened, in different occasions. When sweetened, it is indeed closer to a regular soda experience, which is good considering i know exactly how much sugar is in there! though it's much fancier. it feels gourmet, and that's because it is! all natural sweetners, and it shows! you can feel it!
all of this can be applied to all la croix beverages though, so now we're gonna talk about the flavor i chose today. you can definitely feel the cherry flavor! it is mild, this is la croix after all, but it's definitely present and it's not as bad as most people make it seem. there's a lot of jokes about la croix tasting like someone Describing a fruit, or like a blurry image of a fruit printed on an inkjet printer. I think those jokes come mostly from people who crack open a can thinking it'll be a soda as intense as, say, Fanta. this is not what you'll get, but dare i say, you'll get something better! not as immediately rewarding as a can full of sugar and artificial flavors, but it's something amazing nonetheless.
it tastes like sweet cherries, with some very present floral notes as well. an absolutely delightful flavor. i think it benefits from its mildness. I personally think a little bit of natural food dye would work, maybe a small bit of beet juice just to make the color a bit pink would be nice, though that's splitting hairs honestly. it's a gentle, relaxing soda experience. i really couldn't recommend la croix enough; though you must keep your mind open!

8/10

Limited edition "Marshmello" coca cola, watermelon and strawberry flavored, sugar free

I'm not sure who Marshmello is, i think he's either a streamer or a dubstep musician, those are the two vibes i get from the guy. I hope i'm not feeding into anything weird with my purchase of One can at the supermarket! fingers crossed! i only bought this because, as you all know already if you've read my reviews before, i'm a big fan of fun beverages, and fun snacks in general! and this seemed pretty fun indeed, watermelon and strawberry flavored... watermelon is an easy flavor since it's so "iconic", but i was still nervous since this would be the first time i have a watermelon flavored soda... after the first sip however, i'm dissapointed... it does not taste like watermelon at all... i do get a very "vaguely fruity" (my nickname in highschool) flavor from this, but it's definitely not enough to market this as a watermelon and strawberry soda. oddly enough, the regular coke flavor is also not there that much. i think the most pronounced flavor would be the strawberry one, but even that is not enough for this to be called a strawberry soda. i'd compare the flavor vaguely to those classic strawberry candies grandmothers have. my grandma was more of a Werther's girl herself though.
Will i be getting this again? probably not! it's not bad by any means, but it's not giving what it was supposed to be giving, at all. Enjoyable for sure, i like it, but if you advertise this as a watermelon flavored thing, i wanna be hit with that classic artificial watermelon that tastes like it was made in a lab by people in coats. And this is not it, sadly... OH also, they could've made this a marshmallow flavored soda! and they didn't! sad! bad! oh man!

6/10

Sno-caps

I got these at a dollar store i went to with one of my partners (shoutout to Flora!), and at that moment i didn't really question my decision. They told me to get them, so i did. I remember, however, how confused i was at my decision later when i was packing my suitcases and i had to make room for this little box. What was i thinking? these really are just chocolate chips with sprinkles on top, they can not be that good at all. I was wrong! these were actually surpsisingly good in pretty much all possible ways. First of all, the size. The box comes with a more than decent amount, i at least could not possibly eat an entire box in one sitting. This is the kind of candy i'd buy on a monday and they'd last me that entire week. These are great to just get a small handful each time you want a little something sweet. Price was great as well, i believe i paid a dollar for these, which is honestly a great deal for the amount of candy you're getting. Flavor wise, these are really nice too! of course it's not real chocolate, but that doesn't necesarely mean the flavor is bad. I'd say this is some of the best fake chocolate i've tasted! not overly sweet, not bitter either, not too waxy or oily. The sprinkles add a great crunch and a texturally interesting spin to things as well. I'm quite surprised. Never judge a book by its cover! well, on that note, i don't like this book's cover. What a boring logo and color palette. and design-wise, the candy itself isn't too appetizing either. They definitely could've used colored sprinkles... i guess that'd stop these from being snow themed though... But what i said still stands! don't judge a book by its cover!

8/10

Fischersund tea blend

I don't know much about plants, and i know even less about icelandic ones, but when i read that this tea, by fischersund (perfume and botanics brand by Sigur Ros' vocalist Jonsi and his family) contains not only birch leaves, but bark as well... I had to try it... Even if the price is, dare i say, ridiculous. 30 US dollars! for 20 grams of tea! this is officially the most expensive tea i've ever tasted, and i hate to say it, but it is absolutely worth every dollar... I really don't like when people who do food reviews say a flavor is too hard to pinpoint, compare or describe, i always think to myself "come on, there has to be Something!!", and yet, i was very close to just saying this is, indeed, indescribable. I tried my best though, and what i can come up with is: Very earthy and medicinal, grassy and green, mildly floral, very slightly spicy. Notes of liquorice, star anise and oregano, and a mouthfeel slightly astringent, similar to green tea but not as strong. This is definitely a tea for the people who have tried a lot of teas and are looking for something absolutely unique, because goddamn, this really is a one of a kind blend. Something slightly annoying yet beautiful about this tea is the size of the ingredients. there are full birch leaves here! some twigs with multiple leaves on them as well! it makes for a wonderful presentation that really makes you feel like you're drinking a tea made from the icelandic forest's ground, all the random little petals, seeds and twigs, bits of bark and dirt. It is slightly annoying having to purposefully take random bits of stuff out of the bag in order to make a cup that features all ingredients, but it still makes for an unique experience. The flavor man... it really is insane. Nothing quite like it. it really is something you must taste for yourself. It is definitely not for everyone though! i've given a small bit to my mom and younger brother, and both of them thought it was, to say the least, bad. But i really am a big fan. And believe me, i'm not saying that to make myself feel better over spending 30 bucks on a single tea blend, hell, i'm buying this again when i run out! Worth every penny!

9/10

Tony's chocolonely, milk chocolate caramel and sea salt

Oh god... i was so happy when i bit into this. It was sooo much better than i expected, and my expectations were pretty high! First of all, the chocolate itself. Quality-wise, it's pretty good! i'm not the biggest fan of sweet milk chocolate, my go-to is a bittersweet or dark chocolate, but i can definitely tell this is a nice quality chocolate, not at all waxy or crumbly. On of the most interesting aspects of this bar is the caramel flavor. It somehow feels like a part of the chocolate itself, like a very intense note of the chocolate itself (perhaps even a flavoring added onto it) rather than it being just bits and chunks of caramel that burst flavor once bit into, even if it does also include said bits and chunks. It's a very interesting experience, definitely the first time i experience anything like it. The caramel chunks also give a more intense caramel flavor of course, and man, it's great quality caramel... Milky, buttery and sweet, it feels real and so, so good! great texture too, not overly crunchy or annoying to bite into. Very fine chunks. The last part of this chocolate bar i really want to take a minute to discuss is the sea salt. I love salt in sweet things, but when they're industrially-manufactured sweets, the salt can be very hit-or-miss. Sometimes they'll just add a buuunch of regular table salt, which is not pleasing in the slightest, sometimes they'll add almost no salt to "play it safe", it can really go wrong easily. But this bar really hits the nail right in the head with the amount of salt, and the type used as well. It is a crunchy sea salt, big chunky crystals which is exactly what i wanted. Not overly big either, it's the perfect size to bite into for a burst of unexpected flavor. And it's a very nice amount too! it's not overly intense, but it's definitely very present and forward. It's a great introduction to salt in sweet things. I got this bar at an airport so i paid a pretty penny for it, but man, even at that overly-inflated airport price... It is 100% worth every penny. This might be my favorite chocolate bar ever!

10/10

Sugarfina gummies (Peach Bellini, Bubbly Bears, But First Rose, and Peach Tea Bears)

I stumbled upon the Sugarfina store in a mall near the 9/11 memorial... bit of a weird place for a mall, but that's the USA for you, baby! I was pretty excited, the store had a lot of variety and all their gummy flavors sounded super interesting and tasty. Insanely expensive however. I don't remember the exact price, but i think i got 4 bags of gummies (with 9-12 gummies each) for 12 bucks total. Insane prices. That really set my expectations very high, if the price is That expensive, the ingredients used must be very good and the flavor and texture must be even better! but nope! these are probably some of the most boring gummies i've ever had. I'm grouping all gummies together in this review for a good reason: I can't feel any flavor in these at all! i tried letting them melt in my mouth, tried chewing on them, neither of these processes brought up any distinguishable flavor at all. I wish i could say they are "vaguely sweet" but even that would be generous, there's almost no sweetness to these whatsoever. Now, candy doesn't HAVE to be super sweet, in fact, i like a slightly more conservative amount of sugar, but these really feel like biting into a small pile of nothing. Texture-wise, these are actually bad! they feel like completely average gummies, but stale and tough. They didn't even go for something like pectin to make for a more interesting texture, it's just a gelatin-based gummy. But with cool branding and an insane price tag. I love cool branding, but the product must be half decent at least! and these are not!

3/10

Cookie dough bites

There is a very, very intense artificial flavor to these, i think it's the chocolate. It tastes like im biting into a cloud of chemicals. That flavor was very offputting at first, and i was tempted to give these away to my brother, but on a second taste, and after eating a bunch at once instead of just one, i think i like them somewhat. That chemical flavor is definitely one to get used to, but once you do, your mouth sort of becomes numb to it, and you get to feel the flavor of the cookie dough, which is pretty mild anyway! i think these are pretty pleasant though. I love, love, love the format and concept of these. Eating cookie dough is one of life's simplest pleasures and having it in such a portable format really is great. Texture-wise, these definitely read well as cookie dough bites indeed. Slightly crunchy from the undisolved sugar, soft to the touch... really nice! I wish they could improve on that chemical chocolate flavor though... if they used some decent chocolate, these might be an 8 out of 10 or more! but as of right now, i think these are decent. Wouldn't actively buy them, but if someone has them lying around, i might take a small handful.

6/10

Fruit roll-ups, strawberry flavor

I was under the impression that fruit roll-ups were fruit leathers, i actually got these pretty excitedly thinking they were a healthy snack... but nope! it's a thinly spread chewy candy; as far as i can tell, not healthy... Format-wise, i have no idea how to eat these either... I am slowly unwrapping and ripping pieces, but that doesn't feel right... there should be another way to eat these. I'm guessing there is, but none that i could find right as i was eating them. Now, flavor-wise, these aren't bad! sweet and slightly sour, nice artificial strawberry flavor... nothing to write home about though. Very mid. Wish there was more to these... at least it's a fun presentation! even if it's not for me.

6/10

instant choco kinako mochi kit

(This review has been brought to you thanks to Keoni. Thank you for sending me these snacks!!)



The japanese public seems to love these DIY snack kits that require mixing things, combining powders and adding liquids to make different little things, and i can see why now... it's really fun! i was prepared for that part of the process to be a bit frustrating, with measuring things, waiting for effects to happen when all i want is a little snack, but now i get it... it's really fun to see texture changing, colors and shapes forming... and to have a very good snack at the end! i was worried the flavour would be compromised but nope, these really are insanely tasty. i never thought instant mochi could be this good! it's a little slimy, but in a very fun way! a little bland on their own, but of course that's not how they're meant to be consumed. we have some kinako, which i believe is soy flour, and chocolate sauce. the kinako tastes EXACTLY the same as harina tostada, a chilean ingredient that consists of toasted wheat flour. the flavor really is the absolute same, and i love harina tostada, so i am definitely not complaining! the chocolate sauce tastes very similar to hershey's chocolate, that sort of waxy, artificial flavor. not good quality-wise, but flavor wise, pretty nice! something doesnt have to be good quality to be tasty, just ask the nuggets from McDonalds. the combination of slimy mochi with their classic sweet rice flavor, the toasty, nutty flavor of the kinako and the creamy, familiar flavor of the chocolate sauce makes for a little snack that is not only really fun to put together, but is also incredibly tasty. different textures, very good flavors, fun presentation, this snack has it all!

9/10

Ginbis Long Shimi Choco Corn Star Stick

(This review has been brought to you thanks to Keoni. Thank you for sending me these snacks!!)


these have a very light airy crunch that i love! i was expecting a texture more similar to a very dry cake, sort of the closest they could get to an actual churro, since that's what im guessing they were trying to emulate by the shape of the snack. but instead, these have a sort of cheese-puff airyness to them that i love, and perhaps a similar wheat flavor as well, but sweet and chocolatey, or rather cocoa-y. the inside of the snack feels covered in chocolate, which makes for a very interesting bite, very satisfying too! and flavor wise, the combination of the cheesepuff texture and the sweetness of the cocoa, it really makes for a very, very satisfying snack. Only downside would be the size, i wish it was a bit bigger, or maybe have two per bag! couldn't get enough of this one!

8/10

Kameda seika happy turn sweet rice crackers

(This review has been brought to you thanks to Keoni. Thank you for sending me these snacks!!)


These have a small bit of english text on them, that only reads "soft rice cracker (sweet)" so indeed, i imagined something pillowy soft and very sweet, and i got neither of those things! these are so, so crunchy... they got an airy crunch that reminds me of those shrimp chips that are brightly colored, almost like "fried plastic", which sounds bad but have you ever wanted to eat plastic? no? just me? okay... anyway, the texture is insane, in the best of ways. and the smell was, quite unexpected too, perhaps not in the best way though... i was imagining a sort of funnel-cake sweetness but instead it was, mushroom-y and soy sauce-y? it smelled just like the stir fry pork i make with oyster sauce and mushrooms... the flavor is insane too. they said these would be sweet, but they start out insanely salty! that kind of burn-your-tongue saltyness that you get when you eat a cheesepuff right after drinking a lot of water. it's only a feeling though, the salt level is actually quite balanced once you chew a bit more. i was then hit with a flavor note similar to cheese, like a very soft, yet tangy cheeto cheese. not a strong flavor though, very mild. then, when the gentle oyster-and-mushroom-and-soy notes calmed down, i was left with that very gentle "sweet" flavor they mentioned in the package. all of these flavors explote in your mouth in less than 3 seconds, and even though the flavors aren't mouth-numbingly strong, the fact that there are so many going on in just one snack... amazing. if you see these anywhere, get them!

8/10

Nissin cisco tomica biscuits:

(This review has been brought to you thanks to Keoni. Thank you for sending me these snacks!!)


I had "medium" hopes for these. Perhaps i should've kept my hopes down for these though... They're pretty bland. and bland doesnt usually mean bad, white bread is bland and i love it, but these are the boring, tedious kind of bland. They taste super, super vaguely sweet and that's it. the crunch is weird, sort of cardboard-y, and that's pretty much all i have to say on these. On a positive note, the box had a small cardboard cut-out truck you could build, and it was a fun way to spend 4 minutes. it's pretty, and it's a good way to reuse a packaging that would otherwise go to the trash. when the only good thing about a snack is the packaging though, that's when you have yourself a problem...

3/10

Takenoko no sato, "bamboo shoot" cookies:

(This review has been brought to you thanks to Keoni. Thank you for sending me these snacks!!)


As cool as international snacks can be, there are some things that are pretty universal, no matter where you live. Every country has some kind of chocolate wafer bar, a peanut and caramel candy bar, that kind of thing. So i didn't think these little cookies would be much other than a pretty tasty snack, i thought they'd be quite regular. But man... i was wrong. these are amazing! indeed they are a bit "regular" in the sense that it's a quite normal cookie-and-chocolate combo, but at the same time, it's so, so well done that it really makes me think these might be a new favorite... The cookie itself is quite lemony in flavor, and it somehow manages to have a certain floral note to it, slightly reminiscent of black tea, which was quite unexpected. I thought the cookie would be super plain, but nope! these really are fantastic on their own! and the chocolate adds a great texture as well, not as much flavor, but a well-needed creamyness that balances the zesty flavor of the cookie. the shape of these tiny little things is also so, so addictingly satisfying to just plop in your mouth... you can eat just two or three, or finish the whole box in one sitting and both would feel "right". I'll remember these!

9/10

Chocolate orange kitkat:

(This review has been brought to you thanks to Keoni. Thank you for sending me these snacks!!)


As i opened the package for these, i was hit by that intense orange smell, pretty much the exact same smell that jaffa cakes have, which i love... dark chocolate, strong citrus aroma... really good! and taste-wise, i was very surprised to find that these taste like candied orange peel, rather than orange juice, which was what i was expecting... This only brings forward how elegant this flavor feels. It's not a childish orange juice, it's a refined orange peel preserve. Not that i have anything against "childish" flavors! but it makes for an interesting experience i wasn't expecting... very good!

7/10

Milk tea kitkat:

(This review has been brought to you thanks to Keoni. Thank you for sending me these snacks!!)


With this kitkat, you really get the best parts of black tea and milk... the intense fragrance of black tea, slightly floral notes, very very gentle bitterness to it, and the creamyness of the milk that cuts through those harsher flavors, balancing them all out... It works perfectly on this format as well, with the classic crunch and flavor of the kitkat base. The one thing i do wish these had would be a bit of a more intense flavor, i think that would really take these to a whole different level. Another thing would be for the white chocolate to be more milk-forward, to really drive home the point that this is Milk Tea, and not a white chocolate tea mocha drink, as amazing as that does sound... As they are however, they're very interesting and i'd definitely recommend them to anyone who likes black tea!

7/10

Tohato seaweed salt fries

(This review has been brought to you thanks to Keoni. Thank you for sending me these snacks!!)


It's no secret, i love chips. All chips, in any shape or size, they're my go-to salty snack. So when i saw these on the package Keo sent me, i knew they'd be the first thing i'd try! after opening the surprisingly thick bag, i was met with the thin, crispy chips, with a look similar to french fries, but smaller and thinner. I knew, of course, the texture was not going to be similar, and indeed, i was met with a texture similar to croutons... very crunchy and slightly airy, but still packing quite a heavy bite to them. Big crunch! and as usual with japanese snacks, the flavor was quite mild, i'd describe it as vaguely oniony and, most importantly, very intensely potato-y. Have you ever stopped to think about the fact that most potato chips don't actually taste like potato? These chips really made me think about that... i'll be able to go back to regular chips, of course, but part of me does want to keep seeking this "real potato flavor"... very, very good! another thing that did cross my mind was how generous the portion was, i actually couldn't finish it all in one sitting, even though it was a single-serving bag! and that, i love... you could definitely get just one of these bags and share it with someone, or eat some of it and save the rest for later. and this is coming from someone who can eat a whole can of pringles in one sitting, so, believe me, this is generous! i do like them quite a decent bit! if anything, i do wish these were a bit more oniony, but other than that, very good!

7/10

"Save the ocean" white chocolate and sea salt kitkat

(This review has been brought to you thanks to Keoni. Thank you for sending me these snacks!!)


As i've come to expect from japanese snacks in general, the flavor in these is super gentle, mild and in a way, elegant in ways that snacks from other places in the world just don't seem to get. The sweetness from the white chocolate is definitely the most forward flavor. I'm not that big of a fan of white chocolate so, in that regard, they're not my favorite, however the gentle touch of sea salt makes these much more intense and interesting! salted chocolate treats are usually made with either quite dark chocolate, or a slightly bitter milk chocolate, so seeing them choose white chocolate was definitely quite interesting! it works very well together. As much as i'd prefer this salty touch on a dark chocolate kitkat, it works! personal taste makes me knock these down a bit score-wise, but if you're a fan of white chocolate and are looking for a different way to enjoy a classic flavor, give these a try!

6/10

Strawberry milk kitkat

(Review dedicated to, and brought to you by Keoni! thank you so much for sending me all these snacks... They were all a pleasure to try, and your beautiful gesture really has a special place in my heart, as well as your friendship and your presence in my life... again, thank you so much!!!)


I've always had a fascination for snacks that are One thing, but taste like Another thing. Like, soy sauce flavored chips, or birthday cake flavored chocolate. And because of this, japanese kitkats have always been something im super interested in... I sadly don't get to eat them a lot, since there are no stores here in chile that bring them, not even specialized japanese food stores! They're indeed a special treat, whenever i get my hands on them... And these are definitely amazing! they have a strawberry flavor that, not surprisingly, tastes very artificial and sweet, which is definitely to be expected and, i'm definitely not complaining! where these are different from, say, strawberry flavored pocky, is on the creamy, milky flavor that they manage to perfectly emulate. It is indeed, strawberry milk! i think flavor accuracy in this kind of snack can really make or break the whole thing, and in this case, they really hit the nail on the head... texture-wise, these are kitkats so, nothing outside of what's expected, which is crunchy wafer, delicious filling and chocolatey coating. yum!!

7/10

Reese's Nutrageous

The amount of different textures on this bar is, indeed, nutrageous... a soft, powdery filling similar to the one found in the classic reese's, a salted caramel, whole peanuts and all of this, covered in chocolate... truly an amazing experience. The flavors are very similar to a classic peanut butter cup, but with the addition of the whole peanuts and the sticky salted caramel, it all feels just... right! my only complain would be how sweet it is. i was expecting it in a way but at the same time, i was hoping for a more bitter chocolate, and a less sweet peanut filling. i think that would've taken this to perfection... but as it is, i think this is a great bar to eat one half of, and save the rest for later. That's if you don't get too excited about the amazing flavor, eat all of it, and then have that weird warm feeling on your throat that you get with overly sweet things... worth it though!

8/10

Fanta Misterio (Mystery Fanta)

As weird as it may sound, black beverages aren't usually black, but rather just very dark shades of either brown, purple or green. Usually they achieve this effect by simply using way too much food coloring, but in this case, this soda was actually fully black. No grape-y undertones, no coke-reminiscent shade, simply black. That's instantly a great thing in my book. Imagine making a mixed drink with this! Now when it comes to the flavor, which is indeed the most important part, i gotta say i had a hard time writting notes... This soda really makes justice to its name, it IS a mystery i haven't been able to solve... It is definitely sweet, as opposed to a sour citrus kind of flavor, but it doesn't read like, well, anything really. My mind went to blackberry but i think that might be a placebo effect because of the color. I think it is slightly berry-adjacent but not enough to call it that. It has a slight tang that reminded me of raw honey and pineapple, but at the same time it feels hollow. But not hollow in a negative way like some other sodas i've tasted, rather, hollow in a way that makes you want to drink more and more until you find out what the hell it's supposed to taste like. Mysterious indeed... but is it good? yeah, i think so! i'd get it again for sure. Sadly i haven't seen this one in my city, since i tried it when i went to visit a dear friend of mine (shoutout to Magnolia!). I keep thinking about its potential for mixed drinks though... this with a shot of vodka and some crushed frozen berries, maybe some mint? or maybe a mojito but instead of regular soda, some of this? goth mojito?! that sounds just perfect... and while this soda on its own might not be perfect, it is definitely something to go back to every once in a while.

7/10

Cookies and cream pocky

I thought these were supposed to have a very intense cookies and cream flavor by the way they looked, but indeed these are more milky than anything else. It's actually a very pleasant sweet milk flavor, like condensed milk but perhaps not as sweet. These aren't much to write home about in the sense that they're not in any way amazing or surprising, but they're definitely a sweet little experience that i would definitely have again. That's it really!

7/10

Yanwee durian milk

All i knew about durian was that it's a very, very smelly fruit. However i was under the impression that what was smelly about it was the peel, the crust, while the inside was sweet and custardy, so i wasn't scared when i bought this cute little bottle. The moment i opened this i was already worried and slightly anxious... At first it smells creamy and milky, which is to be expected since this is milk, perhaps slightly strawberry-reminiscent, but then i was hit by The Smell... It's not as extreme as the actual fruit (not that i would know since i've never even seen one in real life) but it is absolutely offputting. It's onion-y, garlic-y, sulfur-y, slightly cheesy as well? it is not pleasant in the slightest. If it wasn't for my previous (limited) knowledge on the fruit i would've assumed this was a bottle of milk left out in the sun for a couple days. I almost didn't want to drink it, but i had to. I am firmly commited to trying every single kind of food i can, doesn't matter if i think i'll hate it. You gotta try stuff to find new stuff you like! this has brought me to trying insane stuff like raw beef (in the shape of beef tartare, with raw egg yolk mixed in), Pyura chilensis (the elusive "bleeding rock", raw), bull balls, tongue and stomach, a lot of things. I think this beverage will join that list of "things i have tried and thoroughly hated". This is absolutely disgusting, makes me want to vomit, i couldn't drink more than three sips, and believe me if i could've only had one i would've, but i wanted to have enough information to write this review. Now, nothing wrong with the brand, i'm sure they make wonderful products and i was actually very tempted to get this little bottle of peach milk, but i wanted to go for the "weird" option, and that came to bite me in the ass for sure. Let's talk flavor now: It is basically the same as the smell, but less milky, MUCH more intense and somehow salty. Disgusting in every way. I am writting this with an awful aftertaste in my mouth, like i've just eaten putrid butter on moldy bread or something. It is acidic, sulfur-y, very very reminiscent of raw garlic but with a hint of a lactic flavor profile that is of course brought by the milk itself. I try to find the positives on most foods, and i really can only think of two things:
1) I think the bottle is cute (sadly i can't re-use it since the lid is a peel-to-open lid and not an unscrew-to-open lid)
2) I am glad i tried it, now i know i don't have to do it again.

1/10

Calpis Water

I have acquired the elusive snow white beverage from Japan... And at long last i can say: It's pretty good! it took me a long time to pinpoint what the flavor was exactly, and before i came to the exact wording, i used words like pineapple-y, creamy, tangy, peachy, yogurty and smooth, that was until i read the wikipedia article that compared it to a japanese probiotic shot, and then it just clicked. We have our version of those probiotic shots here! they're tiny, tiny plastic bottles (i'd say about a shot, if not less) with a foil lid, filled with a beverage that's full of probiotics, usually kids love them. My sister has a ton of em and when the expiration date looms closer i like to shotgun em for breakfast. This tastes very similar! a bit more pineapple-y and not as milky, which is quite interesting. It feels more watered down, which makes sense considering the fact that usually this is sold as a concentrate that you dilute yourself, but i bought the pre-watered version. I think it's cool! way too expensive since it was an imported good i got from a small japanese store here in my city, but it's still pretty cool.

6/10

Calbee honey butter chips

OKAY!!!!!! these are so cool and weird! these really are just, so unique and good... The name doesn't lie, these really feel like honey butter chips. I'm clarifying that because for a second i thought that might be a translation error, but after further investigation and tasting them i discovered that indeed these are sweet potato chips. Not as in "chips made with sweet potato", but rather "potato chips that taste sweet", indeed sweet like honey and with a small creaminess to them that definitely feels buttery. Texture wise these are very thinly sliced chips which are not really my favorite, i prefer the wavy cut chips, but i am 100% here for these. A potato chip that tastes sweet... not a hint of salt in these, these may as well be used to scoop up ice cream and eat like nachos and salsa. I'm telling you, if you see them, buy them!

8/10

Orion Choco Pie

I think the best way to describe these would be as pillowy. These things are as soft as a freshly fluffed pillow and they feel just as comforting. The cake layer is soft and slightly crumbly, maybe on the dry side but not in a bad way, the marshmallow filling is super soft and not overly sweet which is something i'm thankful for, and the chocolate coating is definitely not just milk chocolate, it has that hint of very mild bitterness that is very reminiscent of the classic Pocky flavor, which is in my opinion the best non-gourmet chocolate flavor out there. I'm actually a big fan of these! They're very simple snacks, no pretentions or wow-factor to them, they don't try to be much more than what they are, and that humility brings with them an experience to be remembered. I'll definitely have these again if i find them, hopefully at a cheaper price because these were expensive, perhaps overly so. But they're worth it if you want a gentle, relaxing snack.

8/10

Meito melon cream soda taiyaki

I thought i knew what a taiyaki was, but these things took me by surprise. I was under the impression that taiyaki were small waffles in the shape of fish, with a sweet filling inside. and of course since this is a packaged snack, i thought maybe they'd change the waffle texture for somethin more similar to, say, a soft cookie or a thin layer of cake, but they went on a completely different route and went for a crispy wafer. not much flavor to the wafer itself but what left me scratching my head was the fillin. It's a kind of airy melon flavored white chocolate-type filling, but with the weirdest sort of fizzy feeling to it. Almost like it burns your tongue a bit, but that makes it sound too harsh. It's definitely a strong feeling, but it isn't uncomfortable or anything. I'm saying chocolate "type" because it has the same texture of those "aired" chocolates with tons of tiny little bubbles on them that add an interesting texture. This is like that, but times a million in regards to the bubbles. I swear they feel almost like soda bubbles! and the flavor is super intense and weird too... Very strong melon flavor and a weird sort of hint of acidity that makes your throat feel similarly to those banana chewy candies, like it sorta opens your throat up in a weird way? i hope i'm not alone there, hope someone gets that. And of course the aforementioned soda feel. Man, these are weird. They're definitely an experience i'm glad i had, but i'm not sure i'd get this again. That acidic flavor, along with the fruityness, make for a weird experience when combined with the creamy white chocolate. They're weird and worth it for the novelty of it all, but they're too weird to come back to.

6/10

Squirt Soda

I'm a big fan of unusual sodas, and while grapefruit usually dances in the limbo between common and uncommon, i knew i had to get this when i saw it. A good friend of mine (shoutout to Harun!) loves this stuff, so here we are. Here in chile we have a grapefruit soda, so i will have to draw some comparisons between these two. So, squirt. It's definitely not as sweet as i was expecting, and it's not too intensly grapefruit-y either. On a blind taste-test, i think i would've said this was an orange soda. It lacks that signature bitterness that grapefruit has, which can be good or bad. I personally do like a bit of bitterness in my grapefruit-flavored things, as long as it's not painful or too intense. This is really really mild! Which is a problem for me. The fizz on this soda is a very classic citrus-soda kind of fizz, big bubbles and a good amount of "fizz burn", for lack of a better word. I'd say this is very much a standard. I don't think i'll be buying it again, not cuz it's bad, but rather just cuz i think there are better options out there. I enjoyed my time with Squirt, but i think it's good to call it a one-time thing.

6/10

Coffee Mate Creamer Pod

Now, you might be wondering why i'm making a review for such a common thing. Here in Chile at least, we don't use creamers as often as people from the US do, i'd say i've never used any sort of coffee creamer, instead opting for actual milk. In supermarkets, you'll only be able to find One brand of coffee creamer and One variety, so my guess is that these don't sell well enough. This local creamer comes in the shape of a powder you add to your coffee, so when i saw this available from my imported-goods guy, i knew i had to try it. I'm drinking it over a freshly roasted, freshly ground coffee from my local roaster. I chose a lungo cuz that's what i usually drink when having my coffee black. However, i had to give it a try on its own, and boy it tastes weird. Very oily, with a consistency similar to coconut milk but without the cool flavor, instead just opting with a weird, fatty, completely neutral flavor. Tastes like nothing, like a weird, sad nothing. But of course it's not meant to be had on its own, so i poured one "shot" on my lungo, and i gotta say it did do a good job at taking the edge off the coffee. It mellows it very effectively. Not nicely, effectively. Does not taste like a coffee + milk beverage at all though, so i deciced to throw in a second pod, and still, it doesn't taste like milk, it only tastes like a sad, fatty substitute. Credit where credit is due, this is very interesting as an experience, it basically feels like drinking coffee flavored palm oil with a shot of mild soap, and while that makes for a good story, it doesn't make for a good cup. I can't think of a scenario where you'd have this rather than actual milk. Maybe when you go camping? but at that point you may as well bring one of those instant capuccino powders and be done with it, instead of bringing these highly polluting pods full of milky oil. Oh, and now i'm being hit with the weird, weird aftertaste. Chemical, acidic, and still, so oily. Not good.

2/10

Hershey's Kisses, birthday cake flavored

I have finally figured it out: when people say "birthday cake flavored", they mean vanilla and sprinkles. These are exactly that! They taste like a very cheap white chocolate at first, with a crumbly texture. Not a cake kind of crumble, but a cheap, fatty white chocolate kind of crumble. It's not good quality but the flavor is nice. The vanilla is VERY intense, these definitely read as cake-flavored which is really interesting cuz it really is Only vanilla and sprinkles. The sprinkles add a nice crunch to these thingies. Man that vanilla is intense... I like intense experiences, so this is definitely a win in my book! i'd def get em again

7/10

Jumex, cocount-pineapple nectar

The first time i had this flavor of Jumex was when i was in the hospital visiting my cousin. It was the first and only time i saw it, and ever since, i've been trying to track it down, and yesterday i found it! only in a larger can but that's okay because i remember loving it, so more of it would be perfect. And indeed, this continues to be perfect! The coconut flavor is quite present but it's not overly intense or too forward, it adds a great creamy texture and flavor to this juice and it cuts the slightly acidic flavor the pineapple juice has. Coconut and pineapple is a timeless tropical classic, and i'm glad this juice is here to make that flavor easier to consume. Now i'm imagining making a quick piña colada with this, mhm... This still might be slightly on the overly-sweet side of things but it is not stopping me from enjoying this a lot. Another criticism i'd make is that the flavors could definitely be a bit more "natural" feeling, and i know Jumex is as natural as canned juices get, but a man can dream. Again, this is definitely a great juice, and i'll be getting it again!

8/10

Postobon Uva

Another soda with great colors! such a deep purple... Lovely! and the flavor... Simply amazing. Amazing artificial grape flavor, pretty intense! not overly sweet or violently fizzy, it really is great... Of course artificial grape flavor has absolutely no resemblance to actual grapes, but that's more than known already. It's been accepted and we're past that conversation at this point. This rocks. This soda was absolutely fantastic, still a little too expensive for what it is, but i know i'll get it again. Grape sodas are very rare to find here and, they're more of an USA thing so i wasn't expecting to see a colombian-made one, but here we are! i gotta say this might be top 3 material when it comes to soda. Insanely good!

10/10

Postobon Manzana

The color is STUNNING, i wish the flavor was as exciting though... It definitely reads apple, but i still wish it was more mindblowingly apple-y. I was expecting almost a novelty soda, but this is very mild in the sense that it's not too sweet or intense, even the fizz is very gentle, unlike most sodas i've had. Very similar to ramune, only slightly more intense in its strength. I don't think i'll have this one again, specially considering how expensive it was, but i'm glad i had it. You don't come across apple soda too often!

6/10

Swiss Miss hot cocoa

As standard as instant hot cocoa can get, Swiss Miss was pretty decent as a beverage. I don't feel like i must get into the quality of the ingredients used because, if you're having instant hot cocoa, you're not doing it because you want a gourmet experience, and that is okay! There's a misconception that all bad quality food tastes bad and that all good quality food tastes good, and that is simply not the case. Sometimes great quality chocolate can be too bitter for some, or that very well brewed, high quality imported tea is astringent or, too, bitter. And on the other hand, cheap chocolate is very sweet and "easy" on the mouth, and bad quality tea is fresh and herbal while not being overly botanical or medicinal. This is a distinction i wanted to make, just because something is poor quality, doesn't mean it has to be bad. Swiss Miss is not good quality hot cocoa, but it is pretty tasty! not mind blowingly so, nothing to write home about (as you probably noticed, i haven't written much about the drink itself, uh oh), but it's still something nice to have if it's on clearance, or if the only other option is chocolate milk, which is also very good but in a different way. Overall, it's good! not too sweet, and actually not too milky, which i'm thankful for. I prepared it with water like the instructions suggested, and indeed it was a bit watery, but i'm thankful for that since i don't like the flavor of powdered milk. The sweetness was oddly alright, considering this is from the USA i thought i'd be swimming in a sea of sugar, but it was perfect! i mean, not perfect, it's still just an alright drink, but like i said, if found on clearance, it's worth it!

7/10

Pokka's Melon Milk

Another hit from japan! This little can was so amazingly refreshing... I normally don't really like fruit in my milk, strawberry milk tends to make my stomach go Merzbow mode, but this little can... It is making me reconsider everything i knew about combining dairy with fruit. The melon flavor is definitely the most forward, refreshing, juicy melon, it feels very natural, and then you're hit with the milky texture, that classic richness and creamyness that coats your tongue, this really works amazingly. As i'm writting this, it's winter, but i still had this ice cold and i do not regret it. an absolute game changer. I don't know what else to say really! it's light, fresh and delicious, and it is 100% a new favorite. Definitely try it if you get the chance.

10/10

Pocky "Lion Banana Pudding"

This flavor caught my attention, japanese people really love their custards so i was really looking forward for this, and i really wasn't dissapointed! the custard flavor is the most prominent, a caramel-y, slightly egg-y flavor that is so classic of custard desserts, it really was a huge hit. However, i don't feel any of the banana flavor, not a trace of it actually. I can't say i care much though, because the custard flavor really is fantastic. These pocky sticks are also speckled, but similarly with my earlier experience, the specks don't add much flavor or texture. But again, i can't say i mind much, because the custard flavor really takes the cake! As with any other japanese snack, or at least the ones i've tried, this isn't too sweet, which makes it a very elegant feeling flavor. I still think they're a bit overpriced, but i think i'd be willing to pay the extra for such an interesting flavor!

7/10

Pocky "Bunny Strawberry Ichigo"

What keeps surprising me about japanese snacks is how gentle their flavors are. I'm yet to find a japanese snack that is overpowering in flavor, and these things are a great example. The strawberry flavor is quite incredibly soft, you almost have to look for it. A creamy flavor is most prominent, and it slowly fades into that strawberry flavor that is so classic of Pocky, but this time with the (mostly) aesthetic change of including little specks of a more intense pink color. I don't notice these specks having much of a flavor or texture to them, but they certainly make for a prettier stick. I don't think these are worth the price though, since these cost as much as a regular sized box of Pocky that contains almost double the amount. They're nice, but they'd be nicer with a discount.

6/10

Dr. Pepper

I haven't had a Dr. Pepper in a long time, i remember they were available in One supermarket when i was a kid, and only for a short period. I don't know who this doctor is or what their medical qualifications are, but i do hope they make a good soda.
Smell-wise, unsurprisingly, smells just like a very artificial cherry hard candy, and the flavor is quite similar as well, but not as Strong. i was hoping for this to basically be molten candy but it isn't as sweet as i was expecting, nor nearly as intense. It's very good! i can see how this would pair nicely with a nice dinner, as opposed to what i was expecting, which was a very sweet, very intense "novelty" soda. I'm not much of a soda drinker, i like them but as i've said before, i only drink sodas about once every couple weeks when we get one for sunday lunch, so i consider myself very picky with what i do drink. I think this might make it to the roaster of "cool sodas i should pick up when encountered". Is that a hard list to make it to? sorta! i'm not saying this will blow you away, but it won't bore you, that's for sure.

7/10

Butterfinger

I'm not sure what i was expecting with these, i guess maybe a soft peanut butter-y filling, airing more towards a nougat? but man, that first bite took me by suprise... what an incredible crunch! loud and very satisfying, with a sandy end that i really enjoyed; it dissolves in your mouth in a very interesting way. Flavor wise, it's indeed peanut butter as expected, a hint of saltyness but not nearly as much as in, say, a reese's cup. the coating of chocolate is not noticeable in the slightest, the peanut really is the only flavor here. I presume the chocolate coating is there to prevent the sugary peanut butter to melt into your fingers. This candy is quite similar to honeycomb candy, i wouldn't be surprised if these are made using a similar method. Very, very good! i'll be adding this to my "favorites" list for sure.

8/10

Brownie M&Ms

These are very interesting texture-wise. very chewy and fudgy brownie center, surrounded by the classic m&m chocolate and candy coating. I think that chew goes super well on an m&m! which i wasn't expecting. i thought the texture would be more akin to a cakey brownie, or even some sort of powder-y filling, but this is super chewy and i love that! flavor-wise, these taste almost exactly like McDonald's hot fudge, another pleasant surprise. I knew i wouldn't get an accurate brownie taste, but i wasn't expecting this specific flavor, so that was a pleasant surprise. I'm not sure if i'd have these again over regular M&Ms, mostly because there are less per-bag, but if they were on sale, i think i'd go for em!

7/10

Baby Ruth

Quite an average experience to be quite honest, some soft nougat-y filling, some caramel, some peanuts, all coated in milk chocolate. The works! it's a tried-and-true formula that doesn't bring much to the table when it comes to innovation, but you can't eat this and call it bad candy. I certainly couldn't! Now, considering i had to pay a premium price for these since they are imported from the US, i do have to say i'm dissapointed... When a perfectly good, much cheaper Snickers bar is available to me, i just don't see why i'd go for this. Not to call it bad though! it's just an oldschool standard.

6/10

Lucky Charms

After my very positive Captain Crunch experience, i was very excited to try these! when i think about cereal from the USA, i think of Lucky Charms, mostly because the idea of marshmallows in cereal is completely foreign to me. it makes no sense! but i was very excited to see what the experience would be. and i gotta say, i think this is the way to go! the marshmallows provide a weird crunch, which was very unexpected considering real marshmallows are soft and fluffy, while these have the texture of a dry meringue. they're very sweet and taste like vanilla, while the cereal has that classic wheat cereal flavor, which i love. nothing too awfully unique about the cereal itself, what really makes it shine is the combination of the classic, not so sweet wheat cereal with the overly sweet and crunchy marshmallows. very good! in milk, as suspected, it feels less sweet, perhaps not as good of an experience as Captain Crunch, but still pretty good! the marshmallows are definitely less crunchy, but not quite marshmallow-y. I think this cereal is best eaten dry. i will definitely be having this one again!

7/10

Pretzel M&Ms

The tagline was tempting, with the mentions of crunchy, salty and sweet... i love salt in sweet things, a small sprinkling of sea salt on top of chocolate chip cookies in my opinion is one of the most immediate things you can do to make regular cookies taste professional. I was excited about these! sadly they didn't live up to the hype i built around them in my head... these indeed had more of a crunch, when i was expecting a snap, like the one you'd get from those tiny little pretzels. there's definitely some coarse salt in there, you can feel some big crystals, but it's nothing that actually makes you salivate too much, which was what i wanted and expected from a snack that takes pride on its saltyness. And even the chocolate was a bit dissapointing! i LOVE m&m chocolate, but the ratio between pretzel and chocolate was a bit off for me... way too much pretzel! these defintiely need some work... now, i think i would get them again if given the chance, they're not bad! but they could've been so much better...

4/10

Captain Crunch

The flavor on these things is probably one of the hardest i've ever had to describe. notes of almond, strawberry, raspberry, cinnamon, caramel... i really don't know what these are about and i couldn't care less, these are amazing! these flavors are not a symphony, they're a happy hardcore rave. texturewise, these live up to their name, SO crunchy! the best way to describe the texture i believe would be an airy, sandy crunch. these have a ton of bite to them, but they crumble easily into a tasty powder. the sweetness is a little bit too much for my taste, but i am eating these dry so maybe that's why. NOW, i know that's controversial, eating cereal dry, but the reason why i chose to do that is because that's how i eat most of my cereal. to me, sugary cereals are not a breakfast, but rather something between a snack and candy. the sugar levels are way too high for these to have any relevant nutritional value, so i won't be consuming them under a breakfast context. But, for the sake of making this review a fuller one, i've gone and fixed myself a bowl with some whole milk and some captain crunch, and i have some interesting observations: first of all, the milk really mellows everything out, the cereal now feels less sweet, the sharp bite it used to have has severely diminished and now it has a slight give to it, while still maintaining a nice crunch and shatter, it's overall a nice experience! i think in my future cereal reviews, i'll continue to eat them both dry and wet. now, overall, i think captain crunch is a fine/great cereal! at first i was very excited and i really liked it, but now i am way too full and i think i might need to take a nap. so consume with caution, and keep away from children.

8/10

Jules Destrooper's Butter crisps

These are such a standard... And i don't mean it in a negative way, i mean that this is what all similar cookies should measure themselves to. Crispy, buttery, sweet but not overpoweringly so, they have an amazing caramel-y crunch to them that makes them just, so good... I honestly don't know what else to say! I often have a lot of thoughts rushing through my mind when i eat new things, but this time i'm just, blown away by how simple and delicious these are. You MUST give them a go if you're able to.

10/10

Whoppers

Review dedicated to Flora, who sent me a box of whoppers, (previously reviewed) junior mints and a lot of cassettes!

I wasn't too awfully excited about these before i first had them a couple of months ago, but now i can definitely say this is one of my fav candies! i first bought these from an instagram store that sells candy from the US, and i mostly got them because they were relatively cheap and i just thought, hey, why not. I was expecting a sort of cereal ball with a chocolate coating, and i bit into one of the little balls with that in mind, but the crunch took me by surprise! these are unbelievably crunchy... and it's a very weird and pleasant crunch! (unlike the crunch from the review under this one...)
It's a sort of sandy crunch, like a crystalized ball of sand that shatters and instantly dissolves in your mouth, releasing a milky, malted flavor... Absolutely fantastic! the amount of chocolate is very good, the sweetness is in my opinion just right, and the serving size is very generous! i'll definitely get my hand on these if i ever do find them in here again, and if you haven't had them yet, or havent had them in a long time, you should definitely pick them up! i now have my eyes on the strawberry milkshake flavored ones... one day... but for now, i can safely say these are one of my favs!

9/10

Pork rinds: La Victoria's "chicharron carnudo americano picante"

These were my first taste of the elusive pork rind... i've heard about them many times before but i've never been able to taste them in any way, until today when my mom came back from a small venezuelan market where she got these, along with some other goodies (like guava candy, some cheeses, hazelnut spreads, and some other things). In my head, these were super airy, with a very strong bacon fat flavor, but i really got something completely unexpected with these, and i'm not sure if i like them. But they posted quite an interesting point, which i'll bring up soon. These are SO HARD. SO INCREDIBLY HARD. It makes sense, pig skin is rather thick but i really wasn't expecting this kind of crunch. it's slightly airy around the edges, but more than anything this is just painful! like biting on a piece of dry clay. I'm not sure if that's the case with all pork rinds or just this specific brand, but these are just so hard... Incredibly unique. i thought they'd be like a slightly rubbery cheese puff but they are SO much harder than that. Flavor wise, they are alright... They do read meaty, but they have a slight funk that im not sure i enjoy. This particular flavor is spicy, but quite gently so. I'm not a huge fan of hot foods and even i found these to be on the mild side. I think they're good though! i can definitely feel the flavor of the pork, the spicyness is more than anything an end note. Now, i was quite grossed out when eating this because my mind immediately went to thinking about how this is just fried pork skin, but then i stopped to think, hey, meat is animal muscle, milk comes from a cow's udders, animal products definitely get weird when you stop to think about them. I won't become a vegan anytime soon, or ever for that matter, but this did make me put into perspective the animal products i do eat. I'll continue eating meat, but with a more open mind and more familiar with the process that goes behind it. Now back to the pork rinds. I don't really love them to be quite honest... I'll stick with cheetos and other similar puffed snacks.

4/10

Swedish Fish

I was expecting a pretty normal gummy texture but i'm tempted to say this doesn't really count as a "gummy" at all! the texture is very very weird, chewy, not at all bouncy like a gummy would normally be. Reminds me of a Turkish Delight in regards of texture! very unique and unexpected. Flavorwise, these are ever so slightly waxy, which i actually kind of enjoy in this context, and they have a vaguely fruity flavor. What strikes me the most is the floral flavor these have, almost like rose water. I'm not sure if that's intentional or if the artificial flavorings they're using just sort of taste like rose water when combined, but i'm enjoying these! quite a bit actually!

8/10

Sour Patch Kids

I don't have a ton to say about these, they are pretty run-of-the-mill sour gummies! i do like the texture on them, not as bouncy as i'd expect these to be, which is nice for a change. I won't review each individual flavor, but i can tell you that overall they are kinda nice? nothing to write home about really. Nothing awful, nothing excellent. The level of sourness is pretty good, not challengingly sour or too bland, but other than that, eh! i won't be having these again. Not interesting enough for me to go back to them.

4/10

Coca Cola with coffee: espresso

Those who know me, know i'm not a huge fan of cola drinks. They remind me of being sick, it's a long story. So, i was ready to not enjoy this new coke flavor. Not only do i dislike coca cola (both as a drink and as a company) but i also don't consume a ton of sodas. I've heard people drink like, a can a day; i could never do that. I'll have a glass of soda MAYBE once every two weeks, give or take, with sunday's lunch, and that's not even always the case. I saw this can at the store and i thought i'd give it a try, since it was also pretty cheap.
I was completely blown away!!! The coke flavor is definitely there, that classic nutmeg-y, caramel-y flavor, but the coffee flavor is VERY present as well! it's strong, while not being overpowering, it really works fantastically with the coke, nothing "screams" too loudly, both flavors work together to create a symphony. It doesn't feel like a great quality coffee but that wasn't the expectation i had at all, so it wasn't a dissapointment in that regard. This does feel very artificial, like the kind of coffee you get from the machines in waiting rooms, but there's an odd comfort in that kind of coffee. And that comfort translates to this coke flavor! it feels creamy, even though there's no milk in this, nor any milk flavorings, since this is the espresso flavor (i haven't seen the other ones that do include milk). Coffee and coke... that combination really doesn't work in my head at all, but on the can... This is fantastic! i'm not kidding when i say this might be my favorite soda, with Inca-Cola being on second place. I really can't get over that creamy flavor, it's absolutely mesmerizing and almost hypnotically good. And the sweetness level is pretty good as well! here in Chile, if a food or drink is high on sugar, the goverment will add a little warning sign, and this can doesn't have that sign, so it can't be That bad for you! This keeps getting better and better... perfectly balanced, delicious, original, interesting, cheap... I hope they don't take this out of the market, cuz i really might keep buying these! absolutely amazing!!!

10/10

Pokka coffee's "Milk Coffee Gold"

Even though i do consider myself a sort of coffee snob-in-training, i do think instant coffee has a time and a place. i really think nothing beats a cup of bad, cheap instant coffee in a camping trip. i do love specialty coffee and prefer it BIG time over instant, but im not closed to trying interesting instant coffees, like some Dolce Gusto pods with funky flavors, or in this case, this mysterious japanese canned coffee my brother got for me. This is certainly instant coffee. it feels like it, tastes like it and smells like it. but i'm willing to say this is one of the best instant coffees i've tried! it has a surprisingly fruity aftertaste, peachy and fresh. A very surprising thing to notice from an instant blend. it's not bitter, yet it doesn't feel sweetened that heavily. the amount of milk is just right too, a great balance both for coffee lovers and milkier drink lovers. i think i'd buy this one again! right now i'm having it straight from the fridge, cold as it can be. really nice! not specialty at all, but still a nice experience i wouldn't mind having again, if i'm in the mood for instant coffee.

7/10

Franzzi "Cheese Chocolate" cookies

Usually when a sweet snack/food says it has cheese on it, i (and i'm assuming most people) assume it's going to be a cheesecake kind of deal. That's what weirded me out about these cookies, they had a block of cheese on the package, and not a cheesecake or a bar of cream cheese, it's just a straight up block of swiss. Of course i had to buy them. I was expecting the picture to be a translating error, like, maybe someone from the design team didn't know the diference between cream cheese and regular cheese, so they just went with that, but Nope! this is actually cheese. Straight up cheese. Not swis like it shows on the package, but rather a very stinky cheddar, orange and all. these are sandwich cookies, a vanilla (not chocolate as far as i can taste) bisquit, very very crumbly and sand-y, similar in texture to shortbread, with a creamy filling that, not joking here, tastes like a dorito. or a cheeto. for real these things are WEIRD. is that bad? not at all in my opinion, the flavor is actually oddly pleasant, but the shock is still there. this really smells and looks like a dorito filled vanilla cookie. But believe me, i wouldn't be giving these the score i'm giving them if they weren't worthy of your time.

7/10

Voortman Bakery's strawberry and banana wafers

Wafer cookies have always been a big weakness of mine. I love how you can eat a lot of them and not feel full or guilty. Sometimes that can also be a negative thing though, wafer cookies tend to be a little bit on the bland side when it comes to flavor, so you have to eat a lot of them in order to get a nice idea of their flavor. Now, these cookies? these are literally perfect in every way. The size is great, the texture is light, airy and crunchy, and the flavor... god, the flavor is just absolutely incredible. I wasn't expecting to like this flavor combination as much as i did, but it truly is amazing. You can feel how natural the flavors are (very similar to freeze-dried strawberry and banana), they really hit it out of the park here. The cream-to-wafer ratio is also quite unusual, there is A LOT of cream, one layer of strawberry and one layer of banana, both very thick, both incredibly well done. You bet i'll buy these again.

10/10

"Royal Family" tropical fruit mochi (lychee, mango and passionfruit)

I've always loved the idea of mochi, a soft and chewy dough made of rice, filled with something nice and sweet inside. In concept that is really good, but at least these mochis that i had were not the best... the rice dough lacked in sweetness (which is something that most japanese snacks do, i've noticed) and made them a bit "bleh" to eat. the texture is AMAZING though, so i'll give that a pass. it's more about the filling anyway. sadly, these fillings weren't the best either... the lychee one didn't have that much of a flavor to it, the passionfruit one was a bit more strong but still not enough to make it a great experience, and the mango was the best one, but even then, it didn't make them that tasty. i did like the textures on the fillings, they were pretty jam-y, they had a certain grittiness to them that made them quite enjoyable. that's the main problem with these mochis in my opinion, the textures are all GREAT, but the flavors are really lacking... i'm not gonna give up though, i still want to eat a great, sweet mochi, and i will if given the chance.

4/10

Ramune, classic flavor

Ramune... the famous hard to open soda... i do gotta admit, i was kind of nervous when opening this, because i did a bit of research and apparently you can get Very messy opening these. gladly, my soda didn't spray everywhere, but it did fizz over a little bit so i had to get a towel. now, when it comes to the flavor... it's definitely not what i thought it'd be! i was expecting lemon-lime, but what i got was, quite an interesting flavor... it does read lemon-lime, but it's mostly some kind of bubblegum-y flavor, which was definitely a nice surprise. perhaps a hint of toothpaste for kids, strawberry flavored? just a bit, definitely not unpleasant. in my opinion, it could use a bit more sugar. i'm a big fan of sugary sodas, since i don't really drink a lot of sodas, so when i do drink them, i like to go all out and get a very sugary one, you know, treat yo self. the amount of fizz was also very interesting, it's very light and effervescent, unlike regular sodas that tend to have "bigger", "harsher" bubbles. this is very subtle. overall, it's a nice experience! not incredible, but definitely enjoyable.

6/10

Kinder Bueno

Kinder bueno... one of my favorite snack reviewers (shoutout to Sir Sebastian) said it's one of the best candy bars ever... wish i could say the same. i found this a bit weak... the texture is quite interesting, the wafer adds a nice crunch and the texture of the filling was super creamy, almost liquid-y but not messy at all to eat. in that regard, this is very good! but flavorwise, they could've done so much more with it... the hazelnut flavor is EXCELLENT, better than nutella in every way. but it falls flat cuz it relies on itself a bit too much. it would've been great to see this flavor work with other elements, and sadly we only got what feels like eating nutella out of the jar, and then munching on a cracker. I'll definitely keep my eyes open for other Kinder hazelnut candies, because that flavor really is something. but otherwise, it's a bit boring sadly... (insert a joke about Nadia Oh's song "No Bueno" here)

6/10

"Two Squirrels" chips

Alright, let's write about these things. EVERYTHING about these chips is weird. literally everything. i tried looking up some information on these online, but i couldn't find anything. that's why i had to take a pic of these myself to add to this page, so that's why it might not look as sharp as the rest. the packaging is oddly long and made from a very weird plastic-y paper, the brand mascot selection is quite odd, two squirrels? why? i'm not complaining though, they are cute. they made me want the snack. my brother offered to buy me some chips from the asian market when we went together, and i picked these from all the others, just because i thought the characters were cute. plus, i can't read japanese so i didn't know much about any chips, so i went for what i thought was cute. now back to the weird, the shape is not what it shows on the package, the shapes of these chips are actually very thin cilinders, and rectangles with waves on them. the texture is VERY weird too, it's like an airy, crunchy cardboard. and the flavor, god, the flavor is the weirdest part. these are ALL possible flavors at the same time. it starts off sweet, grassy, and then, for some reason very reminiscent of Cheerios cereal. Then it hits you with a lot of spice, like a white pepper kind of spice. Then it starts getting sweet, like a BBQ sauce with honey, then it passes to a slightly fishy flavor, and ends on a very pronounced garlic note. It's like they couldn't decide what flavor to do, so they did all of them. is that a bad thing? not at all. these are VERY good, and they are for sure a conversation piece, since EVERY part of this snack is weird.

7/10

"Seven & I" white chocolate baumkuchen

Believe me, you're in for a treat if you pick this thing up! it's a very simple vanilla cake with a white chocolate covering, but it is very, very well made. The cake itself is very moist, it has a very fine crumb, which makes it feel dense, but still light somehow, it's a very odd combination! the vanilla is definitely there, but it's not overpowering, it works perfectly with the white chocolate covering. i do have to say, it didn't really taste like white chocolate, but more like some sort of white frosting or glaze. It's still very, very good though! i'd pick this one up again, definitely. it's great on its simplicity.

8/10

Kit Kat "strawberry cheesecake"

Now this is way better than that last kit kat experience... The strawberry flavor is definitely the most forward, it doesn't feel like "pure" strawberry though, there's definitely a certain creamy-ness, fat-y-ness to the flavor that i'm assuming is supposed to be the cheesecake factor kicking in. It doesn't really feel cheesy though, which i was slightly dissapointed by. however, it's still a very nice, interesting flavor that i would not otherwise expect from a kit kat bar! so points to them for that!

6/10

Kit Kat "Yuzu Sake"

Oh boy... i've never had sake before, but if this is at all how it tastes then i'm Not interested! this thing was incredibly bitter! beyond belief! i was expecting a little bit of a bitter flavor, since Yuzu is a kind of lemon that's not supposed to be eaten, but rather used to flavor things, such as sake. but this is straight up painfully bitter! in a scale from 1 to 10, these are an 8, if not a 9. it starts off incredibly bitter, like eating a whole lemon with skin and all (and thanks to Rink, i've done that already, so i know what i'm talking about). then, it ever so slightly mellows out to make the citrus flavor more pronounced, but it's still mostly just bitterness. the little Actual flavor i got was pleasant though, a very floral lemon, similar to bergamot. but gosh, the bitterness was just way too much for it to be worth the small, nuanced floral note you get at the very, very end.

2/10

Tortazo

Review dedicated to "keyboard", who kindly signed my guestbook asking for more food reviews!

Ah, Fruna... everyone hates/loves Fruna... if you're not familiar with Fruna (basically if you're not chilean like me), it's a food company that has very, very low quality standards, which allows them to have INSANELY cheap prices, which is why their products can be found pretty much anywhere, but specially in schools. Fruna takes people back to their childhood, and it sure brings me back as well. I used to eat their ice creams a lot as a kid, they were insanely cheap and since growing up we didn't have a lot of money, it was the perfect treat. I kinda became addicted to Tortazos when i started college! the vending machines we have in college always had tortazos, and i just loved them because not only were they cheap (0,39 US dollars, as i'm writting this in 2019), but they also filled me up quite a bit, which was super useful when i didn't have time to have a hearty breakfast or lunch. A Tortazo consists of a small chocolate cake, with one layer of dulce de leche (or "manjar" as we call it in Chile) and a layer of cream, all covered in chocolate. Now, imagine i just wrote all of those ingredients between quotation marks. the quality of the ingredients used is VERY, very bad and cheap. needless to say it's not real chocolate, real manjar, or real cream. it's all fake. is that a bad thing? sometimes. in this case, i dont think it's the end of the world. you get what you paid for, and i would pay for it again.

7/10

Reese's Minis

Another snack i was not expecting to love as much as i did! the chocolate is sweet, the peanut butter is slightly salty, the combination truly works in the best of ways. I'd say this is my candy of choice! if only we had them here in Chile...

10/10

Junior Mints

These were a very pleasant surprise! i do enjoy mint+chocolate, but i was still expecting these to be Just okay. i'm very glad i was wrong! the chocolate is very dark and it feels like a high quality chocolate, and the mint is quite strong, but not strong enough for it to hurt, or make it hard to eat a whole box of these. very, very good!

9/10

Jelly Bellies

Jelly Bellies are incredible, the flavors get INCREDIBLY close to their real life counterparts, so they're not only delicious, but also fun to eat! i've always liked food that's flavored like Other food, like japanese kitkats, or weird chip flavors, so these are definitely fun in a bag.

9/10

Flamin' Hot Cheetos

I was not expecting what i got when i had these for the first time! i really thought they were gonna be cheesy-er. but nope! these have NO cheese on em whatsoever. It's pure HOT, and not an enjoyable hot like what you get with good hot sauces. It's hot for the sake of being hot, to the point of it being unpleasant. wouldn't have these again!

3/10

Snack Mix

A classic! as a kid, these were my go-to snack whenever my parents gave me some money. they got a bit of everything! Lays chips, Cheetos (and not the flamin' hot kind, luckily) and "Ramitas", a chilean snack i'm yet to review here, but bitch let it be known: those rock my ass off everytime i have them. what's not to love? it's a great selection of snacks, and it's just such a good idea to mix them all up. you don't have to buy 3 diferent bags of snacks to enjoy these! lovely!

7/10

Gansito

Now THIS is how you do a snack right! for the people who are not In The Know, a Gansito is a vanilla cake, with a strawberry jam filling AND a cream on top of it, all coated in chocolate, with extra chocolate sprinkles on top. the textures are fantastic, one bite melts instantly in your mouth. These are great as they are, but a pretty popular Life Hack is to put these in the freezer overnight and enjoy them frozen. that works too! one of the best snacks ever.

9/10

Twizzlers

These are pretty weird... i was expecting these to have a LOT of flavor, almost too much. but i got the absolute opposite! very very little strawberry flavor. i'd argue it had more smell than it did flavor. However, i liked them Just because it gave me something to chew on. it's less of a snack and more of a thing to do, like using a fidget spinner or chewing on the back of a pencil. but this is a "food" review, not a "thing" review. so, for what it is, it's not that good.

3/10

Kryzpos, original flavor

These are pretty much chilean pringles, perhaps not as salty. i actually really like the level of saltyness these have! the only bad thing is that That makes them pretty addictive. with pringles, you feel kinda Bad if you eat a lot of them, but you can just keep going with these. not good for your health but Damn it it sure is a good time.

8/10