Season 2 Episode 16: Half Way There | (more) Edible Pumpkin Coffee??

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Season 2 Episode 16: Half Way There | (more) Edible Pumpkin Coffee??

So here we are.

We are officially at the halfway mark of this month, which means that I am starting on the back end of this challenge.

So in the spirit of celebrating this milestone, I am going to eschew my regular introduction and instead answer some common questions that I have been getting!

If you have any other questions, please feel free to put them in the comments!

1 - How did you get so obsessed with pumpkin spice?

First off, I don’t think I am completely obsessed obsessed, but I would say that I am a strong admirer of pumpkin spice.

This is probably the most common question that I have been asked over the past year, and I addressed it in my preamble. While I do enjoy the flavor, I am more amazed by how pumpkin spice came out of nowhere to become an iconic flavor of the Fall. Intellectually, it is fascinating to me and that is why I am so interested in it.

2 - How is this year different from the last?

It has been an interesting month so far, but not without new challenges. For me, the main issue has been free time. Unlike last year, I am a full-time student again, and it is sometimes tough to carve out an hour or so to write my daily review.

Second is that a lot of the new products that I have been finding are high on the sweetness scale, so my tastebuds are a little fried. I had actually been cutting down my sugar leading up to this month for general health reasons, so it’s been especially shocking. I’ll start again on November 1. I promise.

3 - Was pumpkin spice pizza really that good?

100% yes, and I think what made it better was that I went in with low expectations.

Fun fact: That one review had 200 more reads than any other last season. People were genuinely curious, and a few people actually went to try it after reading the review.

4 - Are you sponsored?

Again, no. I buy all of the products myself. I wish I were, though. A lot of these specialty products aren’t cheap.

5 - Are you going to do this next year?

We’ll see!

ON TO TODAY’S REVIEW!

Day 16: Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cold Brew Squares

Item: Wild Ophelia Cold Brew Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Coffee Bites
Purchase Location: Whole Foods
Cost: TBH I don’t remember. I lost my receipt.

Finally, the last of my Whole Foods items. These have been a little hit-or-miss, but after the success of the Lucy’s Cookies, I am quietly optimistic about these candy bites.

It looks like these are chocolate cubes filled with cold brew coffee cream. Unfortunately, there are no real pumpkin or spices in this, but they DID go for a chocolate that is only 41% milk. That means that the rest is dark! Will I finally find the unicorn product that I have been looking for??

In case you don’t get what I am talking about, I have been preaching for two weeks that pumpkin should only be paired with DARK chocolate because the warmth of the pumpkin flavor would be a foil to the bitterness of the chocolate. BUT everyone wants to use milk, which makes every pumpkin chocolate too fatty/greasy.

But I’ve got hope.

There is no pumpkin smell when you cut open the bag, but it’s because each square is individually wrapped! Opening one of THOSE gets me a clear whiff of pumpkin spices. The chocolate definitely looks like a mix of milk and dark, and has a much deeper/richer color than regular milk chocolate.

A surface sampling of the chocolate is encouraging.It’s not overly milky or bitter, and it could be the right balance for the pumpkin flavor.

Let’s take a bite!

Oh geez. This is not good.

The coffee filling is WAY too burnt, and I feel like I ate a pumpkin-flavored ashtray. I honestly can’t taste the pumpkin spice properly, that is how strong/offending it is.

The chocolate holds up! It is fine by itself, but the taste and ratio of sweetness/spice/coffee in the filling is all screwy. The flavors clash so hard that it is inedible. In case my tastebuds were off, I gave my sister a piece to try and she couldn’t even get through a single bite. Yikes.

While I admire the effort here, the implementation was just a total miss.

So between these, the popcorn, pecans, and mini cookies, only ONE whole foods product came out decent.

What a shame.

Final rating: 0/5 pumpkins.


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