Review of Cuties Juice- Clementine + Mandarin Blend

When I first stumbled upon a small 8 ounce container of Cuties Juice- Clementine + Mandarin Blend, I found myself smiling at the way they advertised the drink. It comes in a small bulbous plastic container, colored a bright orange, and it features a little cartoon smiling face on it. Then I looked over at the price, $1.89 for this micro tiny container!? There had to be a reason.

Well, naturally there was, this little orange Cutie, contains 2 servings of fruit in every bottle. That is not all though, its gluten free, sugar free, all natural, no preservatives, has a total of 6 cuties tangerines in it and contains 150% vitamin C. Basically it's a itty bitty bottle of healthy goodness, and with anything healthy on today's market, you pay, and you pay big.

The curious consumer I am though led me right to plopping it into my cart, and waiting to get home to try it out.

Flavor:
Now the sense before drinking it tell you that you're about to taste some ultra ripped vitamin packed orange juice. However, this is tangerine juice.

Cuties Juice- Clementine + Mandarin Blend is a strange hit to the tastebuds at first, it definitely has a blast of tangerine flavor and I tasted that right away.

It's sweet, but not sugary, and it has a sort of vitamin-y aftertaste that is very subtle, but obvious enough.

I liked it a lot, but the packaging leans more towards getting kids to like it. To me though, this juice is something that an adult would prefer over a child, and should be marketed as such.

No the thing about the juice is that even though the container is so tiny, I actually could not stomach drinking the entire 8 ounces due to this vitamin like aftertaste that sort of sticks to your tongue.

I like that I can save half the container for another day though. However it's designed to give you 2 servings of fruit, and if you can only get through half the container, getting in those daily requirements of fruit intake makes it tough.

Overall:

It is good, has a nice flavor I have never seen come from juice before, but at the same time has this aftertaste that you get sick of very quickly.

All in all, I would till recommend it to others, but the price needs to come down. You can get an entire boxed container of 100% orange juice for just a few cents more.

Review of Limited Edition Archer Farms, Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee

About a month ago, I picked up a bag of pumpkin spice coffee, and sadly I was not able to find this particular brand again. It sold out, and for good reasoning; it tasted simply divine.

While out searching for a new bag of coffee, I came across Limited Edition Archer Farms, Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee. I was able to smell the aroma of the coffee through the bag, and it had a much darker roast scent to it than the first bag of pumpkin flavored coffee, and it's pumpkin scent was a lot more realistic than the other brand as well. Archer Farms coffee smelled more realistic to a pumpkin pie as well, it has that warm pumpkin fragrance to it, with a tint of cinnamon. Only it seemed perhaps a little too strong in regards to flavor. Even with the darker aroma, I wanted to try it out, especially considering the fact that this too would be on shelves for a short period of time.

Brew:

I went straight ahead and brewed up a pot of the coffee once I got home. I noticed quickly that the scent was al little overpowering once it started brewing. The pumpkin scent smelled more like pumpkin puree, with a hint of cinnamon. It smells like pumpkin pie alright, but at the same time it smells like pumpkin pie that is missing a few ingredients.

With Milk and Sugar:

It was pretty horrible with just milk and sugar. That pumpkin puree flavor was overwhelming, and the sugar I added was not enough to boost the flavoring and make it somewhat good.

I would not give up though, I knew I could mix this brew up with something more to possibly make it more tolerable, and less pumpkin puree like.

With Half and Half and Flavored Creamer (coconut):

Yes, coconut is an odd mix to add to pumpkin flavored coffee, however it actually transformed the cup into a really good one. The pumpkin flavor was less overbearing, and the coconut mix added a sweetness and smoothness that it was lacking before.

Overall:

Limited Edition Archer Farms, Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee is not a very good flavored coffee on its own. In order for it to be tolerable I would suggest a very small dash of flavored creamer. Coconut worked very well in mine, as well as a french vanilla or cinnamon bun creamer.

Alone with milk, all you taste is a whole lot of pumpkin puree flavoring, which really kills the actual essence of the coffee.

This one gets 2 stars out of 5 from me.
4 stars out of 5 when you add a flavored creamer.



 

Review of Yankee Candle, Pumpkin Patch

Over the past 2 years or so, I have completely skipped out on buying Yankee Candles. There came a point where I was buying them regularly, only to come home and find that as soon as they were lit up, the scent vanished. Yankee was known for high quality candles, and suddenly (at least for me), the quality was no longer found, and cheaper candles were delivering a higher potency in fragrance.

While Yankee diminished off of my radar when shopping for candles, their prices still remained blown out of proportion. They would be prices that would be justified had their candles been any good.

About a week ago though, someone gave me one as a gift. I was excited because it had been a long time since I lit up a Yankee Candle, and I was curious as to whether or not the quality in their candles had been raised back to what it once was.

This candle was labeled Pumpkin Patch, and initially, like all candles, it smelled fantastic in the jar. Pumpkin Patch had a warm pumpkin pie note to it, with a creamy spiced cinnamon tint to the scent. I liked it, and I liked it a lot. I hoped though that when I lit it, the scent would stand strong.

Results:

Well I am a Yankee Candle fan again. It took a long time to get me back, but they managed to convince me that their candles are worth the splurge. Pumpkin Patch smelled delicious, and it took only 10 minutes of burn time for the fragrance to begin to swirl throughout the room and fill it up entirely.

The pumpkin scent is true to what I smelled before I lit the candle, and the warmth of the cinnamon spice remained as well.

All in all Yankee Candle, Pumpkin Patch was the perfect scent for my home to begin kicking off this fall season.

Review: The Dog Bakery, Gourmet Meal: Chicken Carrots, Green Beans and Rice Recipe

I came across a semi decent sized pouch of The Dog Bakery, Gourmet Meal: Chicken Carrots, Green Beans and Rice Recipe, at my local Walmart. Although it was a bit more pricey than what I normally would pay for dog food, I like to spoil my dogs every now and again, and there was more than enough in the pouch to satisfy both my large dog, and my toy sized dog.

Unfortunately though, I did not really know what I was getting, as the pouch is completely sealed with no viewing window to see exactly what this supposed gourmet meal looked like. By the looks of the photograph the company affixed to the package though, everything made it look like it would be a good solid, healthy meal for my dogs. However, any consumer knows, that looks can be deceiving.

Out of the Pouch:

The meal seriously did look good enough to eat, even for a human. I have had stews and pot pie fillings that looked almost the same, so I was happy with the overall appearance, and the aroma is fresh as well, and appealing to what I believed my dogs would like.

Did They Eat It?

That's the main question, no matter how good it looked to me, and how appealing the aroma was, everything would be pretty wasteful if they didn't touch it.

My larger dog scoffed his portion down in a record time, which was not unusual, this dog is a glutton and will usually eat everything. Now my little guy is the picky eater, and he simply gave his portion a sniff, and walked away.

All in all though, I feel that so long as your dog is not picky he will enjoy this one. Picky eaters may just give it a glance, so take this into consideration when purchasing the pouch.

Review of New Gain, Dreamy Desire Fabric Softener

Gain, Dreamy Desire Fabric Softener is truly something entirely brand new in the scent department when it comes to fabric softened fragrances. This one is so far outside of the box of what you would normally expect softener to smell like. It is so different, that it is simply desired. The name Gain gave this one was truly a perfect fit.

The Bottle:

This one sticks out like crazy compared to the other competitor softeners on the shelves. It has a joyful purple coloring to it that is both deep, and pastel in coloring. It sticks out, you find it easily, and like me, you will likely find yourself baffled by what Gain has done this time.

But the change is good, oh it is delicious.

The Scent:

I fell in love with the fragrance directly in the store. Dreamy Desire takes you there. I would call this scent a mood enhancer, and it gives off such a calm, soothing and relaxing fragrance, that your mood is instantly placed into a dreamy state. It'll make you yawn, but in a good way, not a bored one.

Dreamy Desire is a darker more alluring fragrance, it has a musky quality to it that is warm and makes you think of cuddling up in a fluffy blanket in front of a fireplace with your significant other.

Does the Scent Last:

The reason I turn to Gain 9 out of 10 times is due to the fact that I know how well their brand works. I know how long the scent lasts, and the company has never been one to dissapoint. I expected perfect results when it came to Gain, Dreamy Desire Fabric Softener.

As expected, the softener does not disappoint. It leaves clothes smelling like the delicious warm dark scent, a scent that will last and last. It does more than deliver long lasting addicting scent though, it also softens clothes better than any other brand I have tried. The soft feel of clothes transforms them into feeling brand new with each and every wash; where other brands will literally wipe away the threads of quality with each wash. Gain does the opposite.

Overall:

This is a spectacular new release by Gain, and I patiently await their next fragrance. I couldn't recommend this scent enough. It is one in which I think everyone will love.

Review of Limited Edition Febreze Air Effects, Cinnamon Sugar & Home

The fall season has finally approached, even though the weather in New York at this time would suggest otherwise. Regardless of these 80 degree extended summer days, the fall season is already in play, and a quick browse through local stores say so too.

With changing seasons, a lot of companies release fall fragrances for homes for us consumers to eat up and enjoy. You have to be quick though, as these consumer goods only last for a limited time, especially when they are themed for certain times of the year.

This is basically how Febreze Air Effects, Cinnamon Sugar & Home came about. This is a limited time fragrance for the home, and you will only find it this fall season (hopefully next fall season as well).

The scent captivated me the moment I took in a quick tester sniff at the store. Cinnamon Sugar & Home smells just like a freshly baked cinnamon bun baking in the oven.

Now the problem I had with Febreze fragrances last fall season is that they had this aftermath fragrance that smelled too strong, and the clean airy scent would literally distract from the actual fragrance advertised on the bottle. Febreze cleaned up that issue, and this particular scent delivers nothing but a fall burst of ooey gooey deliciousness.

The Last:

A lot of Air Effects fragrances are short lived when it comes to fragrances. They provided a quick boost of fresh scent, and then quickly diminished. It has always been one of Febreze's main downfalls. However over the past year or so, they have really managed to whip it up quite a few notches, and the fragrances now have a lasting, and lingering quality to them.

When it comes to Cinnamon Sugar & Home you get a quick burst of potent warm and buttery cinnamon fragrance, that actually lasts for quite some time after spraying just one spritz into the air.

I find that the higher you spray it, the longer the scent lingers. It does not just fall to the ground, it literally mists slowly throughout the room, drifting about and filling its entirety with the scent.

Overall:

Febreze Air Effects, Cinnamon Sugar & Home is a gorgeous fall fragrance, one I hope makes a comeback next fall season. It has a nice lasting quality to it, and the scent is simply addicting. I'd suggest getting one before they're gone.

Review of New Cocoa Puffs, Brownie Crunch Cereal

Cocoa Puffs, Brownie Crunch Cereal caught my eye immediately this past weekend. I have never seen anything being branched out from the Cocoa Puff brand before, so I was definitely excited to give it a try. It reminded me of when I was a child, getting excited over candy, a feeling that does not come too often anymore. Who would of guessed, it would be a cereal to awaken a sleeping inner child?

The box is pretty impossible to miss in the store; that is, if you actually are lucky enough to find a store carrying it.

It is brown, and features that same chocolatey cocoa puff bird on the boxes front, however it is easy to distinguish between the original Cocoa Puff cereal due to the picture on the box of the cereal, and the huge, cannot miss it, NEW logo and Brownie Crunch logo written largely over the main area of the box.

I was wondering if Cocoa Puffs, Brownie Crunch cereal would actually taste like a brownie; being one of my favorite pastries of all time, I truly hoped they managed to capture the essence of the real thing.

Eaten Dry:

At home, I tasted the cereal dry before adding milk. It is shaped like a brownie as best they could manage, so the vibe of bite sized brownie bits is there. However the flavor is more cocoa puff chocolate than it actually is a brownie.

I was slightly disappointed, and hoped that maybe when I added milk, the cereals chocolate taste wouldn't be as dominating. The brownie flavor is there, but it is more like an aftertaste, that does not last long, especially if you were to shovel the cereal in your mouth one bite after another. It'd be easy to miss a taste of the aftertaste.

With Milk:

So the brownie flavoring is very very subtle and weak when milk is added. Yes it's slightly disappointing that they even called this one Brownie Crunch, but I can't lie and say the cereal is bad, because it is anything but bad.

It does taste more like a chocolate cookie sort of cereal, and it does turn your milk into chocolate milk, but all in all it's actually really good. It's like Cocoa Puffs with a more burnt flavoring and new thicker texture.

All in all, I like it, and I'd buy it again. I do however wish it would have captured the flavor of an actual brownie though. That would have been interesting. Truly though, I suppose they can only go so far when it comes to flavoring of cereal.