Larabar Cashew Cooki Bar: Containing two ingredients (dates and cashews) this minimalist bar had a soft texture somewhere between a cookie and an energy bar. I found the flavor to be off, not because it was either too sweet or savory, since the flavors together simply did not taste particularly good. This is the first time I’ve had a Larabar, and given the experience, probably the last. 2.0/5.0
dates nuts larabar cashew cooki bar 2.0
Purple Kow Lychee slushie: I usually opt for milk tea or fruit teas when I go to bubble tea shops, but this time I went for the lychee slush at Purple Kow, a Bay-Area-based chain. Their drinks are served in a single-size short, fat bucket with substantially more than your typical cup. Their generosity was unfortunate in this case because even at 25% sugar, the drink was far too sweet, reminding me of the lychee mini jello cups you get at asian grocery stores. If you don’t like sweet, artificial flavors, don’t order th... (read more) 2.0/5.0
drinks berkeley purplekow lychee slushie 2.0
La Croix Cran-raspberry sparkling water : Generally, I think La Croix is pretty good. But this cran-raspberry flavor has a medicinal quality to it, reminding me of children’s medicine masked with candy-like flavors. Would not drink again. 2.0/5.0
drinks avoid lacroix cran-raspberry sparkling water 2.0
M&M Peanut Butter Chocolate Candies: According to Wikipedia, Peanut Butter M&Ms have been around since the 1990s, but I've never encountered them until recently. This particular "FUN SIZE" bag came from the office candy jar, and as I missed any Halloween fodder due to a flu last fall, I felt that my consumption was at least permissible. Inside your standard colored candy shell is a solidified peanut butter paste, not too unlike Reese's Pieces in its slight creamy yielding texture (in contrast to the classic chocolate filling ... (read more) 2.0/5.0
candy peanutbutter mm peanut butter chocolate candies 2.0
Golden Gate Bakery Sesame Ball: A dim sum classic, fried glutinous rice balls filled with red bean and tossed in toasted sesame seeds are a rare treat often worth the calories. Instead of choosing the default eggtart at San Francisco Chinatown’s Golden Gate Bakery, I selected their take on the sesame ball, seemingly transmogrified to twice its normal size. Barely fitting in my palm, the ball still had the same thin glutinous rice shell you expect but with double the amount of red bean paste inside. As the red bean paste is... (read more) 2.0/5.0
redbean glutinous chinese sanfrancisco goldengatebakery sesame ball 2.0
Bickford’s Creamy soda: In hindsight, there were a few warning signs: 1) the label has “with artificial flavors” in fine print, 2) the flavor is creamy soda and not cream soda (I thought maybe it was an Australian thing), and 3) when was the last time you saw a red-colored cream soda? Turns out it’s red because of Red 40, which of course impart no actual taste to the drink (also ironically the packaging states “a century of purity”). What I got instead was an overly sweet, mediocre cream soda. It just goes to show... (read more) 2.0/5.0
drinks avoid galcos australian bickfords creamy soda 2.0