Wunderground Brainwash mushroom vanilla latte: This weekend, cafe Wunderground opened in Capitol Hill with a menu featuring mushroom-based beverages using ingredients such as lion's mane and cordecyps. They offered free beverages and pastries during their opening, and while I usually don't drink coffee, I had to give their signature Brainwash mushroom latte a try. Normally costing $6, the latte has a fantastic balance that's impressively both familiar and adventurous, with a warming vanilla flavor and earthy undertones. There's enough... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional drinks seattle wunderground brainwash mushroom vanilla latte 4.5
Luna Vanilla Yogurt with Summer Hyuganatsu Citrus: This brand of yogurt comes in 3-packs, all with a different primary-colored label. Unfortunately, my inability to read Japanese made it impossible to know what those colored labels meant, but this particular yellow one shows a bear hugging a large yellow-colored fruit resembling a pomelo, which I assumed to be the flavor. Only after doing some research after I got home did I find that the fruit is a Hyuganatsu, which is a type of Japanese citrus hybrid between a yuzu and pomelo. I was sur... (read more) 3.0/5.0
yogurt japanese inegaya luna vanilla summer hyuganatsu citrus 3.0
Dydo Grandtime Vanilla Drink: I found this in a Dydo-branded vending machine at the Tameiko-Sanno Subway Station in Tokyo and decided to give it a try. I couldn't read the Japanese, but I guessed that it was flavored like vanilla ice cream from the graphic on the can. It has a milky, slightly-yellow semi-opaque color and tastes really strongly of Breyer's Vanilla Ice Cream, or something that I had growing up at kid's birthday parties. It was way too sweet and honestly pretty gross. I didn't want to finish the whole c... (read more) 1.0/5.0
drinks avoid vendingmachines japanese dydo grandtime vanilla drink 1.0
Lotte Coolish Vanilla Ice Cream: I bought this ice cream out of the novelty of the packaging, a foil pouch where you squeeze soft service ice cream through a small nozzle. It makes it very easy to eat ice cream on the go and eat just as much as you want, though to be honest I ate it at home and in a single serving. The ice cream flavor is really familiar and nostalgic, like soft serve you might get at McDonald's. It's so sweet that you can feel the texture of the ice crystals as you consume it. You have to wait a few mi... (read more) 3.0/5.0
icecream japanese Daiei lotte coolish vanilla ice cream 3.0
Trader Joe's Neapolitan Puffs Cereal: I like beans a lot, but I didn't expect to have them in my cereal. I unknowing purchased this bean-based cereal from Trader Joe's (I bought them because I was intrigued by the idea of Neapolitan cereal). It's made with a combination of chickpea, navy bean, and pinto bean powder along with brown rice. The crunch is heartier than normal corn and rice-based cereal (such as Kix, though the puffs are similar in size) and I can definitely taste that the cereal has "something" extra underneath t... (read more) 2.5/5.0
strawberry chocolate vanilla breakfast traderjoes neapolitan puffs cereal 2.5
Annie's Organic cocoa, honey, and vanilla friends bunnies: A new cereal from Annie's consisting of bunny-shaped puffed grains. The cocoa, honey, and vanilla flavors are in good balance such that a regular portion size leaves a bowl of milk tasting of mild chocolate milk, less sugary and deep in color than full-on chocolate cereals. An organic take on kids cereal that's still enjoyable as an adult, though it is very sweet (though not using high fructose corn syrup). 3.0/5.0
recommended annies organic cocoa honey vanilla friends bunnies 3.0