This has been a LONG week. I got a new dog who is super adorable, and he hurt his eye so we had to take him to the vet on Monday. Once there, we found out that he has EXTREME vet-anxiety and needs to be sedated for future visits. For the time being, he needs 4 eye drops daily and he has to wear a cone around his little head. (;_; Poor fluffy baby.)

That, on top of my college classes, exams, teaching, AND observing at another school for my NJ certification…I am dead. So, I decided to review this coffee energy drink today for a little pick me up.

I really like the design, it’s so interesting! The faux-texture gives off a wooden “tiki” feel and there are tribal-like carvings around the top. All the colors are earthy browns and golds which makes me think of surf shops. (I could definitely see this being sold there.)

When I popped the top everything seemed fine…and then the foam happened! It was everywhere! I didn’t shake it and the can had been sitting in the fridge this whole time. I have no idea why it shot out like it did. That sucked. Since it got everywhere I could smell it right away. It smells just like those tall Starbucks coffee cans. It has that creamy bottled latte smell I associate with prepackaged coffee drinks.

When I took a sip, I was surprised by how creamy and smooth the drink was. At first it tastes like any other bottled/canned coffee but the after taste is like whipped cream. It’s kind of hard to describe, but after you swallow your first sip you are left with a really creamy, airy, flavor in your mouth that is really refreshing for the palette. It makes the overall flavor more like a coffee mousse, or creamy dessert topping. It was really interesting. After a few minutes you get the energy-drink after taste that I hate, but the coffee flavor makes it a bit more tolerable.

Overall I was really impressed with this drink, I felt a little perked up and it actually tasted good. If you need a REAL boost of energy, look elsewhere. Normally energy drinks are REALLY effective on me (I become hyper and obnoxious) but this just gave me the little boost I needed to make it through the day. However, if you just like coffee drinks, this is worth a try.

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

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Another coffee item I picked up for my boyfriend to try.

The bottle is a little old looking, and the labels were peeling off a bit, but the expiration date was July 2014, so I figured it was okay.

The design is simple and text heavy, but the color scheme reminds me more of India than Thailand. I can’t read most of the bottle, but there is some English. It says “this beverage is best enjoyed over ice.”

As I unscrewed the cap, I could smell strong black coffee. I figured it would taste similarly, but man is this sweet! I rarely drink coffee, when I do it’s heavily sweetened, and even I think this is way too sweet.

There is no hint of sweetener in the smell of this product, but the nutritional facts state that there are 126 g of sugar! That is 5 times the amount of sugar in the Fentiman’s Rose Lemonade I reviewed. My boyfriend was NOT a fan, and this may be the only coffee flavored item I have given him that he can’t stomach.

I can’t drink this straight up, I’ll have to dilute it with something else. Maybe I’ll use it as a sweetener in my coffee? Either way, I think this bottle is going to be sitting around for a while before I am able to finish it. I won’t be buying this again. 

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

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Beverage Haul - SunSeng Market : Pennsauken, NJ

There is a new Asian grocery near my town, so I decided to go and check it out. 

The Sunseng market was HUGE. The grocery selection was fantastic, but their sweets and snacks were lacking. I did find that they have a great selection of beverages. So I grabbed a bunch.

Here is a haul photo, reviews will go up later this month. I still have a decent stockpile of stuff to review in the meantime.

(Not pictured is a HUGE bucket of strawberry popping boba and instant strawberry milk tea.)

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

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Sumi-Yaki Coffee Candy - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

Since my boyfriend is a coffee addict, I am always looking for new coffee treats. Before this, I had bought him bags of United Coffee Candy. (Which was one of my first ever Tumblr posts!) This time, I wanted to get something new to mix in with his holiday gifts.

I really liked the design on this bag, and it was what made me pick this coffee candy over the others on the shelf. It is very bold, yet simple, with it’s limited color palette. I especially like the coffee cup at the bottom of the bag, It has light washes of color and obvious brushstrokes. Very lovely.

Inside the bag are individually wrapped hard candies. There aren’t as many candies in this bag as there were in the United version, but each one feels at least 2 times bigger.

This candy is pretty hefty! They look and feel like root-beer barrels, only they smell like a strong cup of coffee. At first I could taste strong black coffee, and it was really powerful, but it fades into a sweeter flavor. There weren’t any cream or milk notes, just sugar and coffee.

The United version had a more consistent flavor, but I did like these quite a bit. My boyfriend liked them too, but I think the United coffee candies are the better buy.

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

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Pumpkin Spice Coffee + Pumpkin Spiced Creamer- Aldi : Medford, NJ

We all knew it was only a matter of time until I got to pumpkin spiced coffee. We see it everywhere! Every single brand has it’s own version of this seasonal favorite. Previously, the only pumpkin beverage I would drink was Panera’s pumpkin spice latte, but that was because I worked there and I loved everything Panera made ever. Let’s see if this coffee can satisfy my craving.

The bag is resealable, which is always a plus, but that is pretty standard with all coffee bags these days.

The grounds smell like a dark roast mixed with a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. (That is all these companies seem to add. There is more to pumpkin spice than just cinnamon and nutmeg!)

As it brewed, the whole kitchen smelled like coffee, but not necessarily pumpkin spiced coffee. This is a bad sign for me, I was ready to be disappointed.

I drank a bit of the coffee black to see if it had any real pumpkin flavor…and it didn’t. There were nutmeg and cinnamon notes, but they were very weak and overpowered by the dark roasted brew. I am not a big coffee drinker, but I found this coffee to be extremely bitter. It needed creamer badly.

I have 2 different pumpkin spiced creamers, a liquid and a powder, I opted for the liquid one. The liquid creamer is VERY sweet, it’s almost like drinking ice cream mix! There are some pumpkin spice notes, but it reminds me a lot of the pumpkin spice bark I reviewed the other day.

With the creamer, the coffee was much more pumpkiny, but I think I might stick to my Panera obsession. Or maybe I’ll make my own pumpkin syrup to add to my coffee instead.Next time I’ll try out the powdered creamer and see if it’s any better.

On a pumpkin-y scale of 1-5 (5 being extremely pumpkin-y) I would rate this coffee on it’s own a 1. With the creamer, it’s a 2.

***SOMETIMES FOODIE BLOOPER! Check out the photo where I am adding the creamer. I made a mess and spilled it all over. >.<; I really stink at pouring objects while taking photos. Creamer was everywhere.

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

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Pumpkin Spice Beaumont Iced Coffee - Aldi : Medford, NJ

Time for a little pumpkin-pick-me-up! I have had this brand of iced coffee from Aldi before, and I really enjoyed the vanilla flavor. Would pumpkin be as good? 

The bottle is very similar to the bottled Starbucks frappuccinos, but not quite the same shape. I imagine these bottles, with their wide mouths, could work for a lot of craft projects.

The bottle’s wrapping is very basic shrink plastic, and I like that you can easily peel it all off to have a blank glass bottle.

Taking off the cap, the coffee smells weak. Weaker than the vanilla flavor I enjoyed before, and I don’t detect any hint of pumpkin pie spices. Just a weak coffee.

Sadly, the coffee itself is also very weak tasting. I can taste pumpkin pie spices, but this bottled frappuccino is more like an americano. (Which is water and espresso, not milk.)

On a pumpkin-y scale of 1-5 (5 being extremely pumpkin-y) I would rate this a 1 (The coffee part is really weak, but the pumpkin after taste is pretty decent.)

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

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Chelsea Assort (Yogurt, Butter and Coffee) - Asian Food Market

So far I have had Chelsea’s Patisserie mix, and the Salty mix. This bag seems to be a more traditional mix of flavors. Seems like it has butter, coffee and yogurt.

The bag is black with bright colored flowers. This time the color choices remind me of the 70’s. The trippy patterns are reminiscent of Sid and Marty Krofft. It’s gaudier than the other two bags of candy, but I do like the pattern a lot.

Inside are individually wrapped candies, this time the colors and flavors are…

• Green, yogurt flavor - Inside the wrapper the candy is translucent and smells like actual yogurt. At first the candy tasted like cream soda, but it slowly becomes more tangy. It starts to taste like a really good, tart, frozen yogurt. 

• Pink, butter flavor - This time the candy is a warm caramel color. It has the faint smell of burnt sugar. The translation I found said that is was “butter flavor” so I wasn’t sure what to expect…but it is a brilliant butterscotch. I honestly think it is the best butterscotch hard candy I have ever had. It has warm buttery notes with hints of burnt sugar.

• Brown, coffee flavor - A rich chocolatey color, it smells like dark roasted coffee beans. I was a bit shocked, when I first put it in my mouth it was like taking a sip of black coffee! After sitting on your tongue it starts to get sweeter and a little creamier. Almost like I just adding milk and sugar to a real mug of coffee! This was amazing I can’t read what is on the bag, but there is a picture of coffee and a number 1. I can only assume that this is a very popular flavor, and rightfully so! I think my coffee addicted boyfriend would really like this one.

I wasn’t a fan of the Salty mix, but this classic mix definitely gives the Patisserie blend a run for it’s money. I would buy this any day!

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

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French Cookies (Coffee) - the Asian Food Market, NJ

I already had the strawberry version of these cookies, and I liked them so much I wanted to try more flavors. I wanted to try the coffee version because my boyfriend likes coffee flavored things, and I am always looking for new little treats to get him.

The box art is practically the same with two minor differences. The flowers are now orange (not pink), and the strawberries have been replaced with a cup of coffee. Other than that, the packaging is the same. It looks like they forgot to change the picture of the cookie to a coffee one, the one pictured on the box is definitely Strawberry.

Opening the box the individual packets are orange, not pink like the strawberry ones. I like the overall design of this packaging, so it’s good that they kept it consistent.

This time when I smelled the cookies, they had an extremely mild coffee scent. You couldn’t really smell the coffee at all. The wafers were the same as the previous flavor, but this time the filling was white with brown specks. (Ground coffee beans?)

The cookie-wafers taste like ice cream cones, the classic cake-cone you can get at any grocery store. The filling was sweet and creamy, but I didn’t get any coffee notes until the very end when it had a coffee-ground aftertaste.

I was really disappointed in this flavor. The strawberry ones were much more flavorful. If you see these cookies around be sure to try the strawberry. They are much better.

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

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Ritter Sport Espresso - Target, NJ

The second bar I grabbed during a quick shopping trip. I am not a coffee drinker, I rarely ever drink the stuff…but I do enjoy espresso from time to time. I grabbed this bar more-so for my coffee-addicted boyfriend than myself. I wanted to give it a try to see if he’d like it… and I think he will.

The packaging is the same as the Marzipan bar (here), and I do really like how these packages open.

The bar seems to be milk chocolate with a very thick espresso flavored filling. It smells like freshly brewed coffee with a little bit of sweetness.

Now, this bar tastes like espresso. It has a strong -real- flavor. It is almost like I am eating chocolate covered espresso beans, but there is no horrible coffee grit in my teeth! I think it is really refreshing, strong and authentic. This is an amazing chocolate bar for the adult palette.

I am buying another one of these because I am SURE my boyfriend will enjoy this even more than I will. This is a great, maturely flavored, chocolate bar.

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

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