November 15, 2009

DUPED, YET AGAIN!

I really like trying out new things so it should come as no shock that I'm sucker for trying out new things that I read about on the internet. Sometimes these things turn out to be cosmetics or bath and body products or sometimes even foodstuffs I read about on various bloggers' blogs.

Sometimes the bloggers have steered me wrong. Case in point: Kombucha fermented tea drinks, Clif bars, Popchips and so on. Follow me as I decide to take on three more blogger foodstuffs:

First up: Oikos. At $2.99 a pop for the "snack size" (150g) version, I figured this stuff better taste like heaven. I figured it better taste better than Liberte Mediterrean or at least quite similar. While also confronted between $2.99 for a plain or flavoured version, I decided to go with the flavoured version. As you can see, I chose honey. I figured it would be the least offending to my palate since I'm not a big fan of flavoured yogurt in the first place.
Verdict: Blech!
As you can see, I decided to add some raspberries and cacao nibs into the mix to drown out the taste. I almost used an entire pint of raspberries just to get this stuff down. It was not a fun Sunday morning while trying to finish off this small-ish 150g container of crapola. I probably should have just stuck with the plain version.
Second on the bill: Lesley Stowe's Raincoast Crisps. These crisps come in a variety of flavours and being a fan of both olives and figs, I chose the fig and olive crackers. I've been drooling over these crackers for months. I first saw them in Whole Foods months ago (when Sean and I used to frequent Bloor Cinema on an-almost weekly basis), but just couldn't get myself to shell out $7 for crackers. I mean, really, how awesome could these crackers be?But finally, when on a shopping trip with another friend, I left my rationale outside the door of the upscale McEwan market and dropped the box of $7 crackers into my cart. Hey look, they sponsor the Canadian ski jumping team--yay! and there's "recipes" on the bottom of the package. My favourite features the rosemary raisin pecans crips--obviously because of my obsession with proscuitto. Here's a close-up of all the fig, olive and other seed and grain goodness:
Verdict: Meh.
Are they worth $7? Not this flavour. The texture is nice but the taste of the olives that hits you right after the sweet, subtle taste of the fig isn't particularly pleasant. It's almost a bit "off." I'll probably try another flavour combo to see if it's just this particular combo I don't like but this fig + olive one is definitely not a re-purchase. Oh well. So far, 0 for 2.

Lastly, Ayala's Herbal Water. I can't remember where I first saw this but I immediately went to their website where I saw that I could purchase this stuff online but only in 12-pack cases and only if I was located in the States (if I remember correctly). Immediately following this depressing discovering, I tried to see if Whole Foods carried this brand of hyped-up herbal water but could not find it at the time (I'm still not sure if they carry it now) but did find it at the fancy McEwan for $2.09 a bottle. They only had 2 out of 3 flavours in stock so I picked up a bottle of Lemongrass Mint Vanilla (pictured below) and Lavender Mint Lemongrass Thyme (unpictured).
Okay, first off, what the hell is with the ridiculous flavour combinations? Can we please just stick to one or two herbal combos when it comes to water? I'm all for "lots of things all at once" but when it comes to herbs and water, one or two will REALLY do. And all of all things to add this lemongrass and mint, vanilla?! VANILLA?! UGH! Nevermind the fact that "vanilla" is listed in font way smaller than "lemongrass" that I completed overlooked it in the first place!
Verdict: OBVIOUSLY DISGUSTING!
It takes like a really gross mix of Listerine and something else I can't quite put my finger on. It might be Listerine and flouride from the dentist. The first sip I had almost made me want to gag. I had to hold my breath halfway through drinking my first sip so I wouldn't fully taste it. It really is that bad. I am obviously not looking forward to tasting the second bottle which contains four (count 'em FOUR!) different herbs. *shudder*

In other news, raisin scones are currently baking in the oven. I cannot wait for them to come out; they smell fantastic!!

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