Coffee to Eat, Cappuccino - Aldi

My boyfriend is a big coffee drinker, so I like picking up little coffee flavored treats for him to try. This one came from Aldi. 

I would describe the design as “chunky.” The top is a big block of text, followed by a large image, and finished off with another rectangle block of text. The color palettes and images are quite nice on their own, but there is no real flow to the design.

The cardboard packaging is similar to a box of chocolates, with it’s removable lid and a protective plastic film, it’s just smaller. Everything is very functional.

The chocolates themselves are pretty damn cute. They are cup shaped and filled with a soft coffee and chocolate ganache.

Sadly, these taste more chocolate than coffee. Only the filling is coffee flavored, and that is easily overpowered by the cup-shaped chocolate shell. These are really sweet too, the chocolate is similar to Cadbury, which is not one of my favorites. (It’s just too sweet for me.)

My boyfriend tried these and he thought they were okay, but definitely not coffee flavored. So if you’re a coffee fan, you might not enjoy these, but chocolate lovers will.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Posted 2 days ago
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Tagged: coffee, chocolate, cappuccino, aldi, sometimes foodie, junk food, sweet, candy blog, candy porn, candy review, food blog, food review, food porn, candy, truffle, Poison and Antidote, .

Fit & Active Milk Chocolate Weight Loss Shake - Aldi

Over a year ago I reviewed these shakes, and I really liked them. (Check out my review here.) Why am I posting these again? Because the packaging has completely changed!

I usually drink these shakes instead of having breakfast because eating early in the morning tends to make me really nauseous, and these add a bit more protein to my diet. I can’t really speak to their weight loss effects, but I can vouch that they are filling and taste great.

The previous packaging was a sturdy metal can with a soda-tab top. While I did feel like the can slightly changed the flavor, I really liked the easy access and portability.
The new packaging uses white, opaque, plastic bottles. I like that both containers can be recycled, but this new bottle takes a lot more effort to open. Underneath that plastic cap there is a foil seal that looks like it should peel off easily, but I have been having a pretty difficulty time with them. It’s a thick foil that tends to shred instead of peeling off in one piece, so at times I worry about dropping part of it into the bottle. (Thankfully I haven’t so far.)
The only change in the product itself is that this new packaging has less of a metallic-y protein-y taste. It wasn’t a strong flavoring before, but I could tell it was some kind of protein drink. I thought that the flavoring was from the formula but it turns out it was all because of the canned packaging.
I really like the taste of these shakes, so I’ll continue to buy this product even though the foiled caps are a pain in the butt.

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Posted 2 weeks ago
Tagged: weight loss, chocolate, protein, yummy, aldi, packaging change, packaging, bottle, plastic, can, choco, milk chocolate, Poison and Antidote, sometimes foodie, drink, beverage, drink blog, drink porn, drink review, food blog, food porn, food review, .

Jet Puffed Mallow Bites - Target: Cherry Hill, NJ

This is just going to be a quick review, since I don’t feel there is much to comment on here.

I bought these Mallow Bites because I thought they would be similar to the freeze-dried marshmallows that Jet-Puffed sells in a shaker. (I LOVE those and I have already reviewed the regular and chocolate flavored versions.) I thought that this package contained those crunchy little marshmallows dipped in some milk chocolate, but I was wrong.

These are just normal, soft, mini-marshmallows that have been dipped in some sort of fake chocolatey coating. (Which is really my own fault, I assumed that these were the same as the Mallow bits.) That “chocolate” coating is really waxy and it takes a decent amount of time before it starts melting in your mouth. On top of that bad texture, it tastes more like a bottled chocolate syrup than a delicious milk chocolate.

The packaging is lackluster, but it really suits this lackluster product. I suggest avoiding these, you can easily make chocolate covered marshmallows at home with actual chocolate that will taste much better.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Posted 2 weeks ago
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Tagged: marshmallows, mallow bits, mallow bites, chocolate, jet puffed, jet-puffed, sometimes foodie, Poison and Antidote, food blog, food porn, food review, target, snacks, junk food, candy blog, candy porn, candy review, yummy, foodies on tumblr, quick reviews, bad, new, .

Wegman’s Chocolate Mousse - Wegman’s : Cherry Hill, NJ

It’s been a rough couple of months, so my mom decided to pick up some little treats for the family.

I am in love with this plastic angled container! The translucent, packing tape-like, label peels off cleanly so that the presentation becomes that much nicer. These are just so impressive looking, especially for a pre-made grocery store creation. I bet theses would look fantastic at a dessert table for a party.

Once I removed the lid I could instantly smell the chocolate. The aroma is a bit sweeter than a dark chocolate, but richer than a baking chocolate.  

The dark chocolate shavings on top add texture but they quickly melt in your mouth and blend with the frothy chocolate mousse. The flavors are pretty rich for a grocery store product, and I liked this a lot, but it’s a little too sweet. (It took me two days to finish my portion because it was just too much for one sitting.)

I love the packaging and presentation. These gorgeous ready-made desserts from Wegman’s are definitely worth a try!

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Posted 3 weeks ago
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Tagged: wegman's, wegmans, chocolate, chocoholic, chocolate addict, choco, candy blog, candy porn, candy review, food blog, food porn, food review, sometimes foodie, food photography, food photos, yummy, dessert, sweet, junk food, treat yourself, treat yo self, Poison and Antidote, foodies on tumblr, foodie, .

Key Lime Coconut Patties - Dollar General : Cherry Hill, NJ

Put the lime in the coconut and dip it all in chocolate! I saw this at the dollar store check out and I thought it might be interesting because I love these flavors. (I just don’t know how successful they would be when combined into a candy.)

The plastic packaging features an overall lime-green color scheme with a hibiscus flower print in the background. Piled on top of that, are images of palm trees, limes, coconuts, chocolate, and the coconut-candy-bar product itself. The design is busy, but graphically I think it works. I feel like the fonts and typography are where things gets a little iffy. The text choices makes this product look cheap. (Then again I got this at a dollar store, so you get what you pay for.)

Inside, there are two sweetened coconut squares that have been dipped in dark chocolate. The lime flavored coconut is a beautiful bright spring-green, but it isn’t natural at all. I would love to buy clothing or nail polish this color, but I don’t know if my food should be this bright.

The candy has a very strong coconut aroma, and it easily over powers the lime and chocolate.

Taking a bite…I was instantly disappointed. The chocolate is not chocolate at all, It’s that fake, overly sweet, waxy, “mock-late” that you can find in a lot of cheaper drugstore treats. Once you get beyond that gross mock-late, the coconut itself has a great texture, and there is a tangy lime flavoring, but it is more artificial than realistic. This is like mixing sweetened coconut with concentrated limeade. Surprisingly the combination isn’t bad, but that mock-late just ruins everything. 

I actually liked the key lime flavored coconut patty quite a bit, but I hated that fake chocolate stuff. I bit around it, but that wasn’t enough to save this candy. I won’t be buying this again. When will I learn my lesson and stop buying dollar store sweets?

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Posted 4 weeks ago
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Tagged: dollar store, lime, coconut, chocolate, food porn, food blog, food review, sometimes foodie, Poison and Antidote, poison & antidote, foodies on tumblr, food photography, food photos, yummy, sweet, junk food, chocolates, desserts, candy blog, candy porn, candy review, .

Yoo-hoo -Target : Cherry Hill, NJ

Time for one of my childhood favorites, Yoo-hoo!

This beverage became popular in the 40’s and 50’s, so the packaging has changed over the years. (Check out some vintage bottles HERE.) The bottle pictured above is actually pretty close to the ones I remember in the 80’s and 90’s. The label is a bright, sunny, yellow with brown, red, and blue accents. It might be my nostalgic love of Yoo-hoo, but I think the packaging is charming. 

If you didn’t know already, Yoo-hoo is not a chocolate milk. It is marketed as a “chocolate drink.” (Pretty sneaky Yoo-hoo.) Quite a few people have though Yoo-hoo was a milk-based beverage, but there is little to no dairy in it!

Because of this, Yoo-hoo has a bit of an odd smell. It’s sweet and chocolatey, but there i something else to it. I can’t quite place the odor, but it reminds me of a chocolate lotion or candle. You can tell it is supposed to be chocolate, or that chocolate is in it, but it’s a little off. Thankfully, it tastes a lot better than it smells.

To me, Yoo-hoo tastes like an un-carbonated chocolate soda. There are sweet chocolatey notes, but there is a crisp finish. Similar to drinking a glass of water.

If you’ve been following me, you might remember THIS POST where I reviewed the Yoo-hoo singles. If you haven’t, it’s worth reading. I honestly have no idea what they put in those instant packets, but it tasted like a chemical burn.

Yoo-hoo may not be a chocolate milk, but I love it anyway. (Just not the instant packets. I will NEVER buy those again.)

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Posted 1 month ago
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Tagged: drink, chocolate, yoohoo, yoo-hoo, 90's, chocolate drink, yummy, sweet, drink blog, drink porn, drink review, foodies on tumblr, foodies, foodie, sometimes foodie, Poison and Antidote, food blog, food porn, food review, delicious, nostalgia, 80's, target, childhood, 90's kid, junk food, snack, yum, food photography, .

Magnum Gold -Target : Cherry Hill, NJ

I’m sure most of you have seen the televisions ads for this gold ice cream bar. The packaging says that it is a new flavor, but this ad was made in 2010, so maybe this is a second release. Anyway, I had to give this bar a try. 

The packaging really plays up the ‘gold’ aspect. The font is gold, the bar is glowing with a gold aura, and the typical Magnum logo has been morphed into a vault. For a brand that tries to appear high end and sophisticated, this is pretty playful. I think the design works well and it definitely caught my eye. 

Each individual ice cream bar is wrapped with shiny gold-colored plastic, which creates a whimsical feeling. When I pulled it out of the box I actually felt like I had found a golden ticket, like Charlie from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, but only for a second.

I was pretty curious as to how the bars looked. Gold colored items can be tricky. Sometimes they look yellow, or goldenrod, but will this bar actually be shiny and metallic?

When I opened the wrapper, the bar looked just like gold acrylic paint. It isn’t metallic, or very shiny, but there is a glittery look to the caramel colored shell. I wouldn’t call this gold, it definitely looks more like caramel, but the shell does have a bit of sparkle. (The color was tricky to photograph, but it sparkles similarly to an eyeshadow.)

Taking a bite, I was surprised by how thick the chocolate shell was. As you can see in my last photo, it’s made of two layers, Chocolate and the ‘gold’ confection, which was very sweet. The ice cream inside was very rich, with bits of vanilla bean. Personally, I would have preferred a darker, less sweet, chocolate under the gold shell so the ice cream could really shine. Lastly, inside the ice cream, there were salty swirls of caramel. The caramel was my favorite part of the bar, it is very salty and had some nice buttery notes.

The golden ice cream gimmick is very fun, and these are worth a try once in your life, but I wouldn’t buy these again. The golden shell was my least favorite part, because I felt it was overly sweet and didn’t enhance the other flavors.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Posted 1 month ago
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Tagged: magnum, ice cream, gold, magnum gold, frozen, dessert, yummy, sweet, junk food, snack food, food blog, food porn, food review, caramel, salted caramel, chocolate, vanilla, vanilla ice cream, target, sometimes foodie, foodie, photography, still life, product photography, foodie on tumblr, foodies on tumblr, Poison and Antidote, .

Meiji Almond Oats Crunch -Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

This is the third flavor of Meiji Almonds I have tried. (I have already reviewed the Melty Kiss and Crispy Puff versions.) This candy is foolproof. Almonds AND chocolate? Toss anything into that mix and you have a winner. (Unless you’re allergic to nuts.)

The packaging is similar to the Melty Kiss version. It’s the same size, shape, and it opens the same way. Personally, I preferred the Crispy Puff box with a sliding tray, but both designs function as needed. The color scheme and design for this package both have an earthy feel that plays off the cereal/oats flavoring, and I think this is the most cohesive design of the bunch.

Most of Meiji’s snacks contain a foil pouch to keep the candy fresh, and this is no exception. Once I opened the plastic bag I got a whiff of delicious chocolate. The almonds themselves are pretty big, each one has a thick chocolate coating, so you don’t get too many of them. I would have liked more, but this is still a decent amount of chocolate.

Instead of my first impression being the taste, these wowed me with texture. These are crunchy! There are quite a few layers to these candies, it’s no wonder they are so thickly coated! First there is a layer of semi-sweet chocolate with rolled oat flakes mixed in, then a crispy cereal-like shell and finally a crunchy almond. Each layer blends nicely together and creates a wonderful texture. The chocolate tastes more like a semi-sweet dark than milk chocolate, and the cereal/oats add a really nice earthy flavor as well as texture.

I wasn’t sure if I would like these more than the Melty Kiss, but I do! The textures and flavors are fantastic and nothing is overly sweet. These would be AMAZING with a glass of milk.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Posted 2 months ago
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Tagged: meiji, meiji almond, crunchy, oats, cereal, Poison and Antidote, sometimes foodie, asian, japan, asian food market, food blog, food porn, food review, candy blog, candy porn, candy review, sweet, chocolate, nuts, junk food, snacks, made in japan, .

Meiji Almond Collage

I’ll be reviewing a new flavor of Meiji’s Almond tomorrow, so here is a collage of the flavors I have tried so far
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Posted 2 months ago
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Tagged: meiji, papanese, almond, meiji almond, nuts, chocolate, cereal, crispy puff, melty kiss, asian food market, Poison and Antidote, sometimes foodie, asian food, candy, candy blog, candy porn, made in japan, candy review, food blog, food porn, food review, .
MEGA STUF Oreo - ???
This was another Easter gift from my boyfriend. Although I am not sure exactly where he purchased this, I know you can buy these at Target or Walmart in both the original-chocolate and golden-vanilla varieties.
These Oreos came out about a month ago, so there are plenty of reviews out there already. (Plus I am pretty sure most of you have seen them in stores.) Just in case you haven’t seen them or heard of them, these are basically normal Oreos filled with an INSANE amount of creme.
The design, color, and package are typical for the Oreo brand. The only new addition is the small “cookie vs creme” logo in the corner that asks you to vote for your favorite component of the classic cookie. So really, there isn’t much design to talk about. Instead, I’ll focus on the cookie. 
This cookie is tall, maybe about twice the height of a normal Oreo. It’s height is only due to the excessive creme filling, because the biscuit/cookie parts are the same size and thickness as the classic cookie. Now for me, the biscuit/cookie is my favorite part. I  hate the creme because it coats my tongue in a way that reminds me of Crisco or shortening, so this product doesn’t really appeal to me. 
As far as taste, these are just like normal Oreos but with about 3x the filling. The cookie easily separates and the creme can be lifted off like a little puck leaving two perfect chocolate cookies behind. That disc of creme is just as tall/thick as the two cookies stacked on top of each other.
Personally, I think that Oreo should have made another item that was simply all cookies for this voting campaign. Then customers could “vote” just by buying one product over another. The simply cookies version would be a must buy for me, but I’d pass on any more Mega Stuf Oreos. They are simply too much filling for me to handle. 
© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Posted 2 months ago
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Tagged: oreos, icining, frosting, creme, filling, cookie, chocolate, junk food, snacks, mega stuf, cookie blog, cookie review, food blog, food porn, food review, candy blog, candy porn, candy review, sometimes foodie, Poison and Antidote, .

Meiji Kinoko No Yama Macadamia - Asian Food Market, NJ

Even MORE Chocorooms!

My other Chocoroom flavor reviews:

This box has a blue color scheme and a winter theme. (Similar to the purple sweet potato version and it’s fall theme.) There is a little village covered in snow with scatter snowflakes all over the box. While I do like the overall look and design of this package, I hate that I need to tear the front cover to open it. I mean, you really could open it any way you wanted, but the suggested way of opening it is to lift up a perforated flap on the front of the box. It always seems like a shame to rip a pretty design, but that is just my opinion.

Just like the strawberry and sweet potato flavors, these are individually wrapped, but the biscuit “stump” for this flavor is actually chocolate! All of the other flavors I have tried so far used plain/vanilla biscuits, so it’s nice to try a chocolate variety.

Opening the wrapper, I noticed that the chocolate aroma is much stronger than the macadamia.

I took a bite…and I was surprised. There were no actual macadamia nuts inside. It’s just macadamia flavored milk chocolate with a chocolate biscuit. Even without the actual macadamias, these are really yummy! The texture and taste of the chocolate “top” and biscuit “bottom” remind me of Nutella to Go, but with the hazelnuts swapped out for macademias. Overall the flavors and textures work really well together.

I really like these a lot, and these are my favorite out of all the flavors of Chocorooms I have tried so far.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Posted 2 months ago
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Tagged: chocorooms, chocolate, nutella, macadamia, nuts, sweet, asian, kawaii, winter, meiji, asian food market, food blog, food porn, food review, candy blog, candy porn, candy review, sometimes foodie, Poison and Antidote, snacks, choco, .

Chocoroom Collage

Sorry for the lack of update yesterday. Tumblr was down and I wasn’t able to get a post up.
Today I bought 2 NEW flavors of Chocorooms, and I’ll be reviewing one later today. In the meantime, here is a collage of the flavors I have reviewed already.
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Posted 2 months ago
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Tagged: chocorooms, kawaii, cute, mushroom, mushrooms, candy, snacks, yam, sweet potato, purple sweet potato, chocolate, caramel, strawberry, asian, japanese, asian food market, shrooms, pastels, cute food, food blog, food porn, food review, candy blog, candy porn, candy review, sometimes foodie, Poison and Antidote, collage, sweet, sugary, .