The Sedalia Snack Squad Takes On: The UK

We're uniting the cultures of the world, one snack at a time.  This is culturally important, people. 

 Every month, I get a new box of snacks from Universal Yums.  They randomly choose a country and assemble some of their best snacks for tasting and consumption.  It's fun to try stuff from all around the world!  This month's box is from The United Kingdom, so that means England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Anyway, let's get down to it. Less yackin, more snackin!

Mackie's Sea Salt and Cider Vinegar Chips. 

Behka: Very bright packaging. It's pretty! It says "gently cooked to perfection".  Here's hopin'.  This doesn't smell like the salt and vinegar chips we have here.  It's less of a strong smell. It smells more like potatoes. Oh, there it is.  It's a pretty strong, but not too strong vinegar taste at the beginning.  It eases up on you as you go.  I like that.  That's nice.  Crispy but not too far.

Husbando:  You know I'm gonna love these.  *turns head quizzically*  Well, I love sea salt and vinegar chips.  These are more potatoey than American chips.  These taste like real potatoes.  How can you hate anything from Scotland? Take it away from me or I'll eat the whole thing.

Ryan: These weren't bad. I give them 3 out of 5 stars.

Dean's Of Huntly Shortbread. 

Behka: This is very pretty looking.  It says it's "melt in your mouth."  Oh, this is very dry.  That's shortbread for ya.  I don't get much chocolate. Not too sweet. That's okay, I imagine it would be better with a warm cup of tea. I wouldn't say it melted in my mouth, though.

Husbando:  It's good.  Tastes like good shortbread.  Not sure there's much else to say than that.

Ryan:  Easily my favorite! Shortbread and chocolate chips is always a good combo. They were kind of flaky and a great snack.

Walker's Nonsuch Dreamy Creamy Toffee

Behka:  This feels so hard. Oh, it says "wack then unwrap."  I'll do that. WOAH. A piece just flew out! How novel!  Oh, that's nice!  Just like a nice, creamy caramel. I like that! It'll stick in your teeth, though.  I'm willing to accept that responsibility. WAIT. What if candies like this are the reason the British have a stereotype of bad dental work? THEY KEEP GETTING IT STUCK IN THEIR TEETH! No wonder!

Husbando:  Whack then unwrap?  *whacks* It shot all the way across the room!  *chews* I mean, it's caramel.  It's not what I think of when I think of toffee.  It's good, it's just caramel.

Ryan: Honestly this was the last thing in the box and I was already stuffed from the other food. I didn't actually get around to tasting this. But it looks delicious.

Johnny's Pickled Onion Rings. 

Behka: "Crying out with flavour", huh. I've been burned with that before, over-promising on spiciness and flavor.  OH WOAH. That's a strong smell of pickling. They seem a little strong at first. It's sour.  But it's nice! I like those. It's definitely pickly, oniony, nice and crispy.  That's pretty darn good. But I can imagine some people might not like that.

Husbando:  WOAH. That smells like vinegary FunYuns.  Omigod, these are amazing.  These are vinegary FunYuns! I want to eat these all the time!  Yum.  Only twenty pence for that bag?  We should just have them shipped in. Seriously. Can we get these? Can we order them online? We should check and see.

Ryan: Made the mistake of eating these early in the morning. Probably not the best time to try these because they had a kick to them. The good news is that it woke me up more efficiently than 3 cups of coffee. The taste wasn't to my liking but once again, they might be good as a snack with a couple beers in the evening. I just ate them at the wrong time of day. :)

Mackie's Haggis and Black Pepper Chips.

Behka: I am skeptical of Haggis flavored chips. Let's just start there. I... can't describe that smell. Oh.  Oh, god.  It tastes like meat.  The chip itself is very crispy, almost a little stale.  I don't like that. No, no sir.  No thank you.  Not today, satan.

Husbando:  I do like haggis, I do like pepper. *confused look* Those are really good.  You can definitely taste the black pepper.  It's got a bit of that haggis taste to it.  I like those.

Ryan: These were a pleasant surprise. Soft chips with a mild pepper taste. No complaints.

Wagon Wheels Jammie. 

Behka: Chocolate, cookie, wafer and jam.  You'd think that many different aspects would make this more interesting.  It does not.  This is bland. It's not bad, it's just.... boring.  Sweet and boring.  Like that girl you knew in Pre-Algebra that would grade your quiz for you.  You're not staying up all night at a sleep over with this one.  You're going to bed at ten.

Husbando:  I don't care for it.  It's not bad, it's just not my thing.  Like a stale cookie with jelly. Nothing much to it.

Ryan: Like a really bizarre flavored Moon Pie. I love the American version but this counterpart should be avoided. 0/5 stars.

Bristow's of Devon Rhubarb and Custard Bonbons. 

Behka: I don't know how I feel about rhubarb and candy.  But really, it's that I'm unfamiliar with rhubarb. Very sassy packaging, though. I wonder if he's crazy because of them, or crazy for them. No smell to those at all.  Chewy.  Oh, I like that! It's a little tart, a little tangy, and a little sweet.  It's going to get stuck in your teeth again but it's worth it.

Husbando:  No smell. *odd look, chews, stops to think*  I'm trying to think of what it tastes like. It reminds me of a candy but I can't think of what it is. It's good. I'm just not a fan of that candy that sticks to your teeth. It's good, though.

Ryan: Wow! I was hesitant when I saw the Rhubarb flavor. Its not usually my go-to flavor. These are kind of sour at first but the aftertaste is surprisingly good. Probably the most unexpected of the snacks that I liked.

Mackie's Mature Cheddar and Onion Chips. 

Behka: This sounds promising. They do smell oniony.  It's a big flavor profile there, cheese and onion. I get more cheddar than onion.  It's the same kind of texture as the other kind, but its pretty good.  I can hang with this. This is the kind of maturity I can identify with.  The kind that still goes out every now and then, but always brings back the leftovers so they don't go to waste.

Husbando:  It smells like CHEESE.  It just tastes like cheese. I  like cheese. It's got an onion finish.  Really good. Can we just order Mackie's chips? I mean, really.

Ryan: It has the word 'Cheddar' in the title so I automatically loved it!

ToffyPops.

Behka:  Toffee filled biscuit. Oooooh. You know what this is like? This is like a round Twix bar.  This is awesome. That same kind of caramel, chocolate, shortbread.  Nice.  Little dry, but pretty good. Can't say it's blowing my mind with originality, but it's pretty darn good.

Husbando:  *Nods, chews* It's shortbread with caramel and chocolate. It's good but again it's that caramel in your teeth.  It DOES remind me of Twix.

Ryan: Pretty good! A nice soft texture with a mild cream in the middle. Approved!

Prosecco Fudge. 

Behka: This is usually where the snacks tend to  get dodgy. I'll go in this with an open heart, though. Oh, that's nice.  Chewy but not too chewy.  I'm not sure I know what prosecco tastes like, but if it's like this, I like it. It's almost a little nutty.  That's pleasant.  That's a candy your gramma would give you.

Husbando:  Mmm!  I don't taste prosecco, I taste anise. It tastes like black licorish to me. It's kinda like fudge.

Ryan: Quite good! 4/5 stars.

Walker's Nonsuch Treacle Toffee. 

Behka:  This is very melty. It looks like more caramel, and I love caramel. *Chews, skews face, spits out* NO.  What have you DONE.  This is a liar.  There's a weird bitterness to it that I don't like.  No.  No thank you.  I'm reporting you to the Toffee Police. You betrayed me.

Husbando: This is more of the same, isn't it.  More stuck in the teeth.  It tastes like a dark caramel candies my gramma used to get.  It's almost like a coffee flavor.  I like it.

Ryan: Another one towards the end of the taste test and unfortunately I didn't get around to tasting this one. I was way too full by then. They smell good though haha.

Stockley's Chocolate Limes. 

Behka:  Sticky again. Feels like hard candy with a layer of soft.  Very citrusy at first. Oh, there's an odd texture in the middle. This is so sour.  So sour. Oh, I want to spit this out. I'll power through it though. Whyyyyy. I don't get any chocolate what so ever. I might as well have just eaten a candy made out of super sour Seven Up.

Husbando:  *Sour pucker face* That's lime! It's like soft on the outside but hard on the inside.  It's good, though. Just... super lime. I didn't get any chocolate at all.

Ryan: This combination should never come into existence. Possibly the worst of the lot.

Kir Royale Chews. 

Behka: Very sticky. Oh, no.  No no no no no no no no no. No. I can't even describe this.  This is just yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeckkkk.  What have you DONE.

Husbando:  Oh, I love blackcurrant.  Mmmm.  It's kinda fizzy.  Like a champagne fizz, it's kinda neat.  I really like blackcurrant.  That's good.

Ryan: Almost too chewy. But they may taste good frozen. Just an idea....might have to try that as there are couple left over.

Final Thoughts:

Behka:  As always with these boxes, the highs were high, and the lows were low.  I had quite a few of these that I really liked.  I liked the salt and vinegar chips, I liked the rhubarb, I liked the chewy toffee you had to break.  I did not like the majority of the little candies at the end.  When I was sophomore in college, I attended a year at the University of Central Lancashire (think north, between Manchester and Liverpool).  This definitely reminded me of that time. My favorite might be kind of hard to choose.  I guess if push came to shove, it's the pickled onion chips.  Worst is definitely that toffee that was a LIAR.  I have no idea what next month's box is. Strangest was the Haggis Chips.

Husbando: The chips are amazing, and I want to order all four bags of those chips and have them on hand at all times. My favorite is the Pickled Onion Rings. I'm going to have one more of those, but I'd better steer clear of them so other people can eat them.  My least favorite was the jammy.  The wierdest one was also the jammy. My first thought for next month was Thailand, but we've done that.  Southeast Asia somewhere.  It could be Malaysia, maybe they're doing Thailand again.

Ryan: Overall my favorite was the Huntly Shortbread and cheddar & onion chips. The worst for my pallet were Johnny's Pickled Onion Rings and the chocolate limes. This month's Snack Squad ranks among the most surprising of the last few months. It was a good mix of odd and amazing flavors.

Snackily yours,
Behka