Text 1158, 68 rader
Skriven 2013-06-04 08:03:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: tastes 655
==================
Odd tastes from my travels.

Crane Lake Cabernet Sauvignon 11 - this is actually not bad,
despite its $4 to 5 price tag. True, it doesn't have any
particular varietal flavor, but it's not too sweet and has
a pleasant generic wine aroma and flavor. The manufacturer
claims "Napa and Sonoma" as its headquarters; investigation
shows that it's a Sebastiani-run company and is in the same
stable as whoever makes Two Buck Chuck. It is somewhat better
than Two Buck Chuck. B-

Domino agave syrup - moderate sweetness with a green touch.
I'm not sure I liked it. It was more cactusy than the rather
neutral stuff I had at a hotel buffet in London. If the aim
is to season your pancakes, I'd definitely go for the latter.
If something else, I don't know. In any case I'd not go out
of my way nor spend extra money for it. The stuff is supposed
to be low-glycemic (i.e. good for you) but also with a lot of
fructose (i.e. not so good for you). I haven't figured the
new sugary mythology out yet. C

Trader Joe's organic raw honey - pretty good, lots of flowers
in the aroma and palate, probably spared by the lack of
processing. B+

Trader Joe's mesquite honey - I tried in vain to detect any
of the supposed smokiness in this very neutral product. I'd
not be able to distinguish it from any faceless mass market
honey. Still, perfectly okay. B

Trader Joe's dark chocolate almond toffee - crunchy toffee and
roasted California almonds, covered with premium dark chocolate
- the chocolate part is advertised as 50% cocoa solids.
Disappointing, rather too sweet and not chocolaty enough;
the almonds tasteless and in small shards. Slight off tastes,
one of which reminded me oddly of cucumber, perhaps attributable
to the variety of gum used to formulate the coating. C

Laima dark chocolate truffle flavored with Riga Balzams -
the outside tasted like the outside of cherry cordials from
back in the day. The inside a smooth ganache only vaguely
reminiscent of the named product. This is a good thing.
Slightly grainy and off-textured. B-

Trader Joe's The Dark Chocolate Lover's Chocolate Bar (85)
- smooth & fruity from the Tumaco Region of Colombia:
nice and snappy but a fairly easy melt. Not very sweet
despite an overwhelming vanilla aroma. The vanilla actually
interfered with the fruitiness, which one could discern a
little behind. Not nearly so nice as the Lindt 85, which
had actual fruit and actual chocolate flavor. C+ and I am
being generous. Two or three years back it was a lot nicer.

Menraku tonkotsu flavor ramen - well, one doesn't really
expect a culinary high point from a ramen bowl even at $2
(free from Lufthansa, though). The noodles were fairly
standard, perhaps a little off because airline water is not
quite hot enough to properly reconstitute the starch. The
broth was appropriately cloudy (the formulation simulates
pork bone broth) and not bad tasting, though there was, as
is often the case, too much MSG. A liquid flavor packet,
which I used almost all of, had soy, sesame oil, scallions,
ginger, and some sesame seeds that immediately got stuck
in among my teeth, providing an authentic experience. I
really enjoyed this stuff, much more than normal ramen. B+
___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 Join Us: www.DocsPlace.org (1:123/140)