Snack Review: Twisted Grandma Buttery Garlic Goodness Pretzels

About a month ago, Caitlin, our lovely editor here at Snackerrific, asked if I’d be interested in reviewing Twisted Grandma Pretzels. Interested? How could I not want to review something with that name? Anything with the name “Twisted Grandma” had to be unique.

After confirming my interest, I ventured to the company website. I hoped it would whet my appetite with all manner of out-there flavors. I was disappointed to find that, at that point, the pretzels only came in one flavor - Buttery Garlic Goodness.

“Buttery Garlic Goodness are the original Twisted Grandma pretzels,” read the description. “We combine a rich, buttery flavor with roasted garlic and our secret blend of spices. The result is perfection!” Garlic fan that I am, the description set my mouth watering. Yet for a supposedly “twisted” Grandma, it seemed awfully limiting to offer one flavor, and no matter how fabulous it sounded, the garlic flavor wasn’t exactly cutting-edge.

Admittedly, the logo’s Grandma, with her spiky blond hair and siren-red lipstick, looked more extreme than most. According to the website’s info, T.G. is based on a real Grandma from Eveleth, MN. I wondered why she hadn’t yet cooked up a batch of five-alarm tabasco pretzels… or, better yet, a chocolate-espresso flavor!

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Snack Review: Bachman Pretzel Rods

Here’s what’s remarkable about pretzels: They basically have only, what, four ingredients? Flour, water, yeast, salt. There may be little bits of other things like fat and sweetener. But how can they be so different when that’s all there is to it?

I guess it’s not too surprising, because that’s all there is to bread, also, and bread can be very different with just those ingredients even before you start adding fancy stuff to it. Not surprising, but inconvenient, because in my house, there is only one kind of acceptable pretzel rod - and it’s a brand we can’t find where we live now.

Our favorite is Bachman’s. We bought a stash of them on a recent trip up north, and found that the bag now makes a big deal out of their difference: They’re Rolled! Um, WTF?

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Snack Review: Chex Mix Turtle Bar

I have to admit. I have a slight obsession with Chex Mix. I’ve tasted pretty much every product they’ve made, and continually stock my cupboards with Chex Mix brands. So when Chex Mix came out with these new snacks in bar form, I was actually excited.

I couldn’t wait to get my paws on this product because not only did it have Chex Mix, it had lots of other delicious-looking items mixed in as well. I was actually suspecting there would be a party in my mouth. But sometimes having high hopes is just a guarantee for a big let-down.

The Chex Mix Turtle bar has caramel-covered Corn Chex pieces, Wheat Chex pieces, chocolate, peanuts and pretzels. When I first pulled the bar out of the package, I noticed how sticky it was. This was due to the bottom layer of caramel that is on the bottom of this bar.

Now, I love my snacks, probably more than the next guy, but I don’t like snacks that leave residue on my fingers, which is just what this bar did. I like my snacks to be clean, not messy. Why? Because if it’s messy, I tend to shove the whole thing in my mouth before it gets all over me, thus ruining the perfect snacking experience.

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Snack Review: New Combos in Zesty Salsa and Jalapeño Cheddar Tortilla

In honor of their Ultimate ManCation Sweepstakes promotion, the good people at Combos decided to send me a few samples of their merchandise. Saturday morning, a FedEx man arrived with a decently large package which turned out to contain four bags of the beloved cheese and cracker/pretzel rolls. Three were family-sized (6.3-oz.) packs, with six (supposed) servings apiece, and the other was single-serve (1.5 oz.)

Two of the larger bags were reserved for the popular snack’s first and most beloved flavors, Cheddar and Nacho Cheese. The final large bag contained the newest variety of Combos to be released (Zesty Salsa-Tortilla). The single-serve bag held another new flavor, Cheddar-Jalapeno Tortilla. Until I searched for an image of the bag, and came up empty-handed, I had no idea how new. As it turns out, this variety of Combo hasn’t been released yet, so shhhh! Don’t tell anyone!

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Snack Review: Chex Mix Chocolate Peanut Butter

Everyone loves Chex Mix, right? It’s been around forever, what’s not to love about it? Especially that Chex Mix muddy buddies recipe you can make from the box… whoever invented that was a genius. Well, Chex Mix can only get better when you add chocolate and peanut butter to it.

I recently tried out Chex Mix Chocolate Peanut Butter. Well, I’ve tried it out more than once in the past few days. It’s found in grocery and convenience stores because I’ve always seen them around, but never picked one up.

When I first opened the bag, I spread out everything on my table. There was an assortment of chocolate- and peanut butter-covered Chex Mix, pretzels, candies, and nuts.

Now, I could have eaten each of these items separately, which I did at first, but I wanted to see how it tasted all mixed together in my mouth.

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