Day 210 - Fireworks Chocolate Bar

I picked this wacky chocolate bar up a while back, then we kept putting off eating it.  Other treats jumped in line in front of it.  But yesterday was the day.  And boy what a day it was.  J

The drawing on the package is old fashioned, but ain't nuttin' old fashioned about THIS chocolate bar.

First, let’s examine what the wrapper of this bar says:  “Rich dark chocolate with a touch of heat and a popping sensation that will ignite your senses.”

HUH?  Better check the ingredients…  Ahhh, here are the ones that “don’t belong” in a chocolate bar:  “popping candy” (aka POP ROCKS!), chipotle chili, pasilla chile, and cayenne pepper!! 

A CHOCOLATE BAR WITH POP ROCKS AND HOT STUFF?  Mamma mia! 

As you can see, David, a lover of chocolate, was nervous when we bought this one...

Instead of reviewing this myself, I decided to invite David (as I often do) and also our nephew Chris to share the experience with me.  So the 3 of us arrived early to see Cirque Italia, settled into our seats, and busted open this Fireworks Chocolate Bar.

Reviewers Chris and David pre-Circus and pre-chocolate.  David looks nervous, Chris is psyched.

Here is what we thought:

Chris (teenager):  (Before tasting) - Smells good.  Fruity.  (Took a bite) – WOAH!!  I was chewing it and it was fine, then I swallowed and it started FIZZING (points at throat)!!!  What an odd sensation.  It’s good though.  Kind of kinky.  Weird.  Would be good in a s’more.  Don’t tell your friends what kind of chocolate it is and they would eat it and go, “What IS THIS??”.  

Rating:  3.5

David:  (Before tasting) – smells very dark, almost like cooking chocolate.  (Took a bite) – I thought it was all over after the Pop Rocks and it was a little disappointing.  Then the HOT STUFF HIT.  That was a surprise!  And I was worried.  But in the end I think it was a good balance.  I like the chipotles.  I don’t really need the cayenne.  It would be good with espresso and a bowl of vanilla ice cream. 

Rating:  3.5

Susan:  On first bite, the Pop Rocks feel more like Rice Krispy bits than Pop Rocks.  Then bam – the hot hits your throat hard!!  The Pop Rocks stick in your teeth and linger on – popping after the chocolate is gone.  Kinky!  I think this would be a fun treat for a first date.  Impress your date by sharing one of these with them.  This is not a chocolate bar I would ever really want to sit down and enjoy, but it would be very fun to break it into the tiny little pieces and serve it on a pretty plate at a dinner party. 

Rating:  3.5

None of us really wanted to FINISH the chocolate bar, so I packed it up and brought it with us to our next event for the day – seeing “Brouhaha” at the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington DC.  Karen Beriss, a friend and reader of this blog, was seated in the row in front of us.  So I asked her and the woman seated next to her to join in on the tasting and reviewing!  Here is their take:

More reviewers!  Karen and Denise.  THANKS for helping!

Karen:  Note – Karen was well aware of this chocolate bar as she had bought and eaten it before and reallllly liked it. 

(After tasting) – I LOVE IT!  Suck on it!  I love everything about it.  I prefer it when it has been refrigerated (this was the first time she had one not cold), but it POPS more when it is not refrigerated.  Rating:  4

Denise:  Note – I had never met Denise.  It was fun to have a stranger review a product! 

It has Pop Rocks in it…  I just won’t stop…  My teeth are vibrating!  It’s in between my teeth, it is almost like it is going up to my gums.  Now it is dissipating.  I am scared to eat another piece.  (At this point I thought she hated it, but she was game and took another square.)  I LIKE IT!  I would buy it as a GIFT for someone.  It is a fun food. 

Rating:  3

Go ahead - splurge.  Spend $1.99 on a novelty chocolate.  

There you have it!  I will average all of the ratings together for the final score.  I still have a few squares left – wish I could give it to one of you out there in blog land to try.

Price – $1.99

Rating - 3.5

Day 184 - 21 Seasoning Salute

Not gonna lie, I bought this seasoning blend only because of its NAME.  21 Seasoning Salute – could there BE a cuter name for a spice??? 

SUPER CHEAP AND REALLY TASTY!  You should totally get some.

We do not usually buy herb/spice BLENDS.  The only blend we ever use is a Montreal Steak Blend that my parents gave us approximately a dozen years ago – a huge tub of it that has slowly been used and has taken up prime real estate in our cupboard since it was purchased at Costco or Sam’s or whatever big box store they got it at. 

Years ago David made me an amazing spice rack.  It is wooden and there are slots to hold glass test tubes, each one filled with a spice.  I would show you a photo here but we are not home right now to snap one, so you will have to imagine it.  Anyway, that spice rack has never had 21 Seasoning Salute in it, but when we get back home it will!!

So far we have tried this spice blend on zucchini (good!) and chicken (also very good!).  I think it would be a safe bet to shake onto most anything (well, not, like, coconut cupcakes, cuz that would just be gross, but most SAVORY items would be happy to be sprinkled with it!).  The label tells us “It’s hard to believe that this much flavor comes from a salt-free blend” and I would have to agree!  In fact, I didn’t know it was missing salt until I read that.

This is what it looked like on our cooking chicken bits.

Here is what is has:  onion, spices (black pepper, celery seed, cayenne pepper, parsley, basil, marjoram, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, savory, rosemary, cumin, mustard, coriander), garlic, carrot, orange peel, tomato granules, lemon juice powder, oil of lemon, citric acid.  Hey – now that I count that up that are 22!  But it is called 21 Seasoning Salute…  Are they perhaps not counting the citric acid?  Or maybe counting the two lemon bits as one entry?  

However they count it, this is a good product.  I am guessing we will go through it much faster than the steak seasoning J.  And this is CHEAP, cheap, cheap compared to any spice/seasoning at any other grocery store.  Get a bottle and try it.  

Price – $1.99

Rating – 5