So here we are at the IFBC: International Food Blogger Conference in Seattle, speed blogging with Amazon.com Grocery. Pardon the rambling, I’m going to pound out these mini reviews in under 2 minutes, which is part of the fun of this event. Here we go!
First item up for perusal is Stretch Island Fruit Company fruit strip. Brings back memories of Aunt Louie’s “junk” fruit leather that she always dried in the back window of her Pontiac. Sweet, fresh, and fruity.
Lindt Chocolates!!!! Do I need to say more? This company is a world leader in chocolate, and never fails to satisfy. Creamy, decadent and luscious!
Annie’s Homegrown Bunny Fruit Snacks. “Doing well, by doing good”. They support school gardens, which is an awesome endeavor! Wow, those are some smooth and creamy gummy snacks. Organic, gluten free, and vegan.
Sahle Snacks: woohoo! I’m already a huge fan of Sahale. Their thai pineapple cashews are a staple for quick, paleo snacks. Today we have Maple Pecans with walnuts, cherries and cinnamon. Just sticking my nose deep into the bag makes me think of cool October Sunday mornings and hot french toast with fruit compote. We are also blessed with a little container of Yenbay cinnamon.
BumbleBar: organic, gluten free facility. The JunoBar peanut butter cookie is high in fiber, made with no GMOs, and reminds me of PowerBars of yesteryear. This is a high protein, slightly sweet bar that could be a small meal replacement. “These bars are dedicated to your kids” All iterations are date bars primarily with various other flavors. Nice.
Next, Brookside (owned by Hershey) Dark Chocolate Acai Blueberry bites. Oh. My. God. That’s all I have to say. They say it’s the “Eighth wonder of the candy world.” I would have to agree. So sweet, so chocolatey. I know I could come up with better descriptors, but honestly. These are just pure, pure, goodness, and the chocolate is rainforest sourced, so good for our planet.
Navitas Naturals is the “one-stop shop for super foods from around the world.” 100% organic, gluten free, vegan, no GMO. These terms are very popular today, and that’s all good with me! They’ve given us some dried Dragonfruit. Hmmm. Have to be honest, not my favorite. High in fiber, and probably shouldn’t follow the chocolate from before.
This one’s for my friend Vicki from New Zealand. Manuka Doctor Bio Active Manuka Honey originally used by the Maori people. This is like no honey I’ve ever tasted. It’s yeasty, balanced in sweetness, and has hints of vanilla and tea flavors. This could get really addictive! “Take a spoonful of honey a day.” Agreed!
Next is Happy Squeeze with their Fruit & Veggie Twist. Interesting, it’s like applesauce in a squeeze packet. I can see this being great for kids. The Apple Mango Pear & Kale is pretty tasty, but I was expecting more of a liquid, and it’s actually more of a pureé.
More fruit snacks, now from YumEarth Organics. Nothing artificial and sweetened with brown rice syrup, organic sugar and pectin and real fruit juice.
Ooooh, more organic chocolate! This is from Scharffen Berger (also owned by Hershey), containing Rainforest Alliance cerfified cocoa. Whoa! Dark chocolate overload! This is a spicy, bitter 78% cacoa bar. Notes of pineapple, papaya and banana with a tart cherry finish. A unique chocolate experience, I must say.
Yay, drinks! First we have ZICO coconut water. I have the Latte flavor. Coconut water has never been a favorite of mine. This one definitely has a coffee flavor. Tastes like a watery latte, with definite coconut after linger. Not sure. They say it’s a good base for smoothies, so I can definitely see using it as a blender mix. — ooooh, great hangover cure, you say? May be worth it just for that. 🙂
Wow! Fever Tree Ginger Beer. Burns your throat going down and you enjoy every minute of it! Wow. again. I’ve never had anything like it, but all I can say is, where’s the tequila?! That’s a match made in heaven, I’m sure.
We’ve been waiting 75 minutes for this one: Suja Juice! The Honey Cinnamon Nutmeg Vanilla Cloud drink. What a mouthful! Hmmm, reminds me of that Mexican almond milk drink… don’t remember the name of it… ah! Horchata, with fresh ground spices added. The Carrot Apple Celery Cucumber Beet Lemon Purify drink (whew!) tastes like it just came out of a juicer. Add a bit of ice or chill well before drinking, and it’s a winner.
Thanks so much to Amazon.com Grocery, Foodista.com and Zephyr Adventures for all of these offerings. What a great way to spend a couple of hours. Cheers!
