Oznei Haman Roladin 2013

אוזני המן רולדין

Roladin kind of surprised me this Purim in that they didn’t “go crazy”, as they normally do, in coming up with a bunch of ultra new and creative Oznei Haman.

Last year they did repeat some of the flavors they had come up with the year before, but together with a few new ones they became creative with the cookie dough and added things like coconut, coco bits, poppy seeds and cranberries to the cookie itself. 

This year all the cookies are the same butter cookie and have no added touches. I wonder if the Oznei Haman didn’t/don’t sell that well and therefore it’s not worth it to them to be as innovative as they are with their Chanukah Doughnuts or if they just could not be bothered this year, I don’t know.

Elite’s Kif-Kef Bar with Popping Candies

כיף כף סוכריות קופצות

Elite has 2 new products in their Kif-Kef line of products*. 

Kif-Kef wafer fingers are Elite’s takeoff on Nestlé’s popular Kit-Kat chocolate covered wafer bar. The new product from the Kif-Kef line that I will be writing about today is the Popping Candies Bar.

I’ve said many times in my blog posts that I really enjoy a good chocolate covered wafer. I recently wrote about the new Milka's Choco Wafers that were a real win for me. In my opinion Kif-Kef bars are not what I consider a good quality wafer or chocolate bar but I was curious to see if/how the addition of popping candies would affect the wafer finger bar.

Strauss's "Magnum Desire" Ice-Cream Bars

Don't be fooled by this drawing

Strauss has a habit of introducing their new summer-line of ice-creams mid-March, toward the end of winter. Considering the mild winters we have here, there are very few days that ice-cream is not appropriate. Maybe their timing is not so odd and they just want to get a jump start on their competition.

Today is not only Shushan Prium but it's also the first day of spring so lets have some ice-cream.

Among Strauss's new ice-creams there are 2 new Magnum Ice-Cream bars that they are calling the "Magnum Desire" line.

Praline and Orange; orange rippled chocolate ice-cream, with nougat flavored pralines & orange cubes, then coated in bittersweet chocolate & chopped hazelnuts.

I've mentioned before that I prefer bittersweet chocolate. Since I could not find the bittersweet chocolate one in my supermarket; I tried the second one, which is

Praline and Nuts; almonds and nuts flavored rippled vanilla ice-cream with cinnamon flavored pralines, then coated in milk-chocolate & chopped hazelnut.

To me, "on paper" they both sounded very elaborate and intriguing. That is until I took my first bite. The coating was fairly hard and if I let it sit for a few minutes the ice-cream inside would have been so soft and melted off the stick too fast. Maybe they need to make the coating a little thinner.

Another thing I did not like about the coating was how grainy the chocolate itself was. To me, it tasted like a very low quality chocolate. In many ways that sort of fit with the low quality of the ice-cream itself, which was more ICE than CREAM!

I saw so little almond and nut ripple that I could hardly taste it. There were only 2 pralines in the whole bar. Yes, it was a mini-bar, but for a 4 inch x 1 inch bar that seems like a ridiculously low amount to me. The 2 I did have were way to hard in comparison to the ice-cream. I did not taste any cinnamon in them. I didn’t really enjoy them; maybe it's not so bad that there were only 2 pralines to be found. 

Bottom line: In my opinion, there was nothing desirable about this Magnum ice-cream bar. If I want to indulge in ice-cream I'll stick to Chubby Hubby and leave Straus's "Magnum Desire Bars" in the store freezer.

Box of 5 mini bars - 30.99 NIS (Full Bar 9.40 NIS)

Kosher: Milk Mehadrin

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own

Kinley's Pear-Apple Soft-Drink

Kinley is a carbonated water that comes in a variety of flavors. They have now added a new flavor to their "Gentle" line, which is a more mild soda-water with a very subtle flavor added to it.

The new Kinley flavor, Pear-Apple, joins the already existing Pomegranate-Berries, Peach and Lemon-Nana (mint) gentle soft-drinks. All of which are low in sugar. The Pear-Apple Kinely is enriched with honey extract and vitamin C. It has no preservatives or artificial coloring added.  It's a clear drink so it didn't really need any coloring, still I'm glad they didn't add food coloring just to make it a light green pear-apple color.

Before I took my first sip I noticed a sweet pear-apple aroma. That actually enhanced this drink for me, it was not overpowering like with the Wissotzky Exotic Love Leaves Tea. The Pear-Apple taste of this soft-drink was very gentle as promised.

One friend thought it was a little too sweet, I found it appropriately sweet but it wouldn't bother me if they used even less sugar.

Our resident "bar-tender" was really excited when she tasted the this Pear-Apple Kinley. She thinks it would work very well in many creative cocktails she has up her sleeve. She plans to try some of them at her Purim celebration todayJ  

Bottom Line: Although I don’t normally enjoy carbonated soft-drinks, I did find this Pear-Apple Kinely to be refreshing and enjoyable. Some may say the flavor is too subtle but for me that was a plus.

1.5 liter bottle -5.50-7.50 NIS

Kosher: Chief Rabbinate (לנדא)

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.

This week's Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival is now up on

To Kiss A Mezuzah

Bulletin: Same Product New Packaging

Oftentimes when a product gets a new packaging the company writes

 חדש -NEW

 In big huge letters and "Packaging" in smaller, little letters, trying to get consumers to buy it thinking it's something new or different and only later realizing it’s the same old product. I find it odd (desperate on their part) that sometimes they even do a press release as though it's a new product!

So from time to time I will let you know when it's not a new product just new packaging.

This week I saw (and read about), what was being presented as, a new taffy from Elite for Purim a

JFunny-Face TaffyJ 

I thought it would be fun to taste them and review them before Purim. They reminded me of a face decorated hard-candy that was popular, Purim-time, years ago where I lived, in the USA.

When I read the "finer print" I saw it said "New Packaging" but I could not understand why in the press release it said the taffy itself was new and it made it sound like the funny face was on the taffy too. I opened the package to find that only the wrappers have a funny-face, the taffy inside, was in-fact the same old taffy. Major disappointment!

Maybe next Purim they will actually make funny-face taffies. For this year we have the "sour taffies" from Carmit to enjoyJ.

Chag Purim Sameach

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this post. All opinions are my own.

Elite's Big Shush & Big Cheetos

It seems that so many new items I review are released as "limited editions" from the Dark-Chocolate Egozi bar to the Prigat Shakes and now this "BIG" line of Baked Shush and Cheetos. I'm guessing companies are afraid the product will not "work" therefore they release it as a "limited edition" so we will not be surprised when it's no longer available.

Elite has 2 new Limited Edition BIG snacks; Big Shush and Big Cheetos.

Big Shush and Big Cheetos are both baked not fried snacks. The Big Shush have 7 vitamins added, as well, to make them a little "healthier".

Actually neither of these are really all that new. Baked Shush and baked Cheetos have been on the shelf for quite a while. What's new is the size of the snack.

Big Shush is a longer puffed-corn peanut-butter flavored snack. Shush is basically Elite's answer to Osem's extremely popular Bamba snack.

Although Bamba is far from my favorite snack, Osem's Bamba wins hands down over Elites Shush in both taste and texture, regardless of the size or shape. In my opinion this new longer BIG version is just a gimmick. It tastes exactly like the shorter baked Shush. For kids who prefer Shush over Bamba it might be easier for them to grip this bigger version.

Big Cheetos are a large, round, puffed-corn, cheese-flavored snack. (not made with real cheese) Each one is roughly the size of a golf ball, like a half Shekel coin in diameter. As with the Big Shush all that is different between the Big Cheetos and the regular baked, round, cheese-Cheetos is the size.

It was not very easy to eat the large Cheetos and it was surly less fun than popping the smaller Cheetos in your mouth. I think kids may really struggle with the size of this snack. If I were to buy Cheetos it will surely not be this Big version.

Bottom line: In my opinion Big Shush and Big Cheetos are just a gimmick. Regardless, I don’t like Shush but the big size didn’t bother me. Regarding the Cheetos I think the big size is a failure, so in this case I don’t really care if it's just a limited edition.

Big Shush -55 gram bag- 2.50 NIS

Big Cheetos – 40 gram bag- 2.50 NIS

Kosher: Parve - Badatz

  

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own

Roladin's Oznei Haman

I actually look forward every Purim (and Chanukah) to see what new and creative flavors Roladin will come up with for their Oznei Haman (and doughnuts). They sell the "traditional flavored Oznei Haman" like poppy seeds filling (including a sugar free poppy-seed version), as well as chocolate, upping the game by using Belgian chocolate. The fun begins with the limited edition flavors created just for that year.

This Purim's special flavors are;

 1)Chalva Cream with Belgian Chocolate Bits

 2)Hazelnuts,Chocolate Bits & Peanut-Butter

3)Caramelized-Walnuts with a touch of Vanilla & Orange

 4)Almond Amaretto Mix

 5)Dates & Spices

 I love their creativity!

The "cookie" part of Roladin's Ozen Haman is a buttery, crispy, crummy cookie. Kind of, like a thinner shortbread cookie. All 4 of the Oznei Haman I'm reviewing here are made of the same cookie. Crispy crummy cookies are not my favorite kinds of cookies.

The first Ozen Haman I had was fresh out of the oven, literally minutes after it was baked. You can't get much fresher than that!

The Chalva Cream with Belgian Chocolate Bits Ozen Haman, cookie part, was crisp and crummy, but not grainy and actually a little too buttery. I didn’t love the cookie but the chalva and chocolate bits center was warm, soft and gooey. The chocolate bits melted as I bit into it, YUM!  The chalva to chocolate ratio was perfect. Both flavors were clearly present but the chalva definitely had the lead. When I tasted it again later in the day I actually liked the cookie better, it was not as crummy, the cookie kind of "came together" but I missed the oozing goodness of the center. Not that the filling was bad, it just wasn’t as special as fresh out of the oven.

Next, I tasted the Hazelnuts, Chocolate Bits & Peanut-Butter one. You may have gathered, by my positive review of Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby that I like a peanut-butter chocolate combination, but I felt there was not enough chocolate in this Ozen Haman filling. The peanut-butter was slightly overpowering the other flavors.  Another thing I didn’t like was that the chopped hazelnuts were a little too hard in comparison to the softness of the peanut-butter and chocolate, the contrast bothered me a bit. If you like "crunchy peanut-butter" as opposed to the smooth one, this might be a winner for you. All in all I think this flavor is a good idea that needs a little bit of improvement.

The Caramelized-Walnut, Vanilla & Orange was OK but, it was really just a touch of vanilla and orange, so much so, that I had a hard time even tasting them. Had I not known they were there I might have missed them. The caramelized walnut was tasty but I just wish the vanilla and orange would have been a little more obvious.     

I really enjoyed the texture and taste of the Almond Amaretto Mix filling. The flavors worked well together. Neither was overpowering and the amaretto was not too strong. For my friend, who had no idea which one had the liquor in it, she got it right, but it was not off the bat. I actually think that overall I liked this Ozen Haman the best out of these 4 I tasted.

Roladin's Oznei Haman are rolled, filled and folded by hand.

Bottom Line: I did not love the "shortbread" butter cookie part but it was fun tasting the unique flavors, some were better than others.

I think 4 NIS for one Ozen Haman is WAY over priced, even if they are "hand-made". I know Purim is just once a year but I don’t think I can justify spending that much money on an, average sized, Ozen Haman.

Kosher: Milky - Rabbanut Yerushalayim

1 Ozen Haman – 4 NIS

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me.  No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.

Klik's Orange & Bubblegum Chocolate Cereal Snack

With Purim fast approaching Klik made sure to add a few new special treats to their ever expanding line of chocolate-covered snack packs.

Here's part of the ad that's running on TV showing the Klik's white chocolate-covered cereal snack "dressed up" for Purim.

This limited edition gives us 3 new temporary flavors; Orange, Lemon (yellow) and Bubblegum (pink). The round cereal is coated with a white-chocolate, that has one of the 3 flavors mixed in.

I tasted the orange and bubblegum ones.

The orange flavor was not overpowering it was just a slight hint of orange combined with white-chocolate. The taste reminded me of an orange creamsicle.

The bubblegum chocolate snack is a marbleized pink and white color, I'm not sure if the marble effect was done on purpose or if maybe it just didn't come together as smoothly as the orange .

When I opened the bag the first thing to hit me was the sweet bubblegum aroma. The chocolate had a definite bubblegum flavor but again it was not overwhelming.

Aside from the touch of orange or bubblegum flavor and soft orange or pink color, in every other way they were exactly like Klik's white chocolate covered, round puffed cereal snack.

I personally did not care that much for either one of these treats. I got mixed reviews from the kids I offered them to, the 8, 4 and 3 year old girls, were thrilled and excited. They naturally gravitated toward the bubblegum chocolates. Not that it surprised me considering the fun pink color and definite bubblegum aroma.They liked the orange one as-well but they definitely preferred the bubblegum flavor. Whereas the 5 Year-old girl did not like the orange one at all and after one taste asked if she can exchange them for the pink bubblegum ones, which she really enjoyed.

Both are made with real white chocolate but, I tasted the artificial flavors Klik added in. That didn’t seem to bother the girls at all.

Maybe Kilk would sell more of these "dressed up" chocolates if the bags were clear and the kids could see the fun colors through the package but instead ,Kilk opted for yellow, orange or pink mask decorated bags 

Bottom Line: I think the children, these Klik's chocolates are geared toward, will be delighted to see them in their Mishloach Manot packages this Purim.

Kosher: Milk Badatz

75 gram bag - 6.05 NIS

I also noticed what I think is a new "party mix" package of Kliks. Its a combination of  4 of the classic and much loved chocolate coated snacks they sell. This can be a great option for anyone who wants a little taste of each.
I do not think it’s a limited edition but rather one that will stick around.

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.

Carmit's Sour Marshmallows & Taffy

Carmit recently developed a line of sour candies including marshmallows, taffies, lolly-pops, and gummy bears.

I wonder if their decision to put them on the self now, Purim time, was simply because they are new candy for Mishloach Manot or maybe because of the ונהפוך הוא ( "VeNahafoch Hu" ) aspect to them. You don’t expect a marshmallow to be sour. Then again I may be reading way too deep into when a company decides to débuted a product and maybe it has nothing to do with things getting turned around and upside down in the story of Purim. Most likely its simply that sour sweets is a huge craze in general at the moment.

I tried the sour marshmallows and sour taffies.

Sour Marshmallow

I was a little skeptical about trying the sour marshmallows but after looking at them they reminded me of sour belts with the sour-sugar coating on them. Since I kind of like sour belts I thought it wouldn't be so odd and my hesitation was gone. After the first bite I already knew that I actually preferred them over sour belts. Yes they do have the same sour-sugar coating but the perfectly soft, fluffy pink and white marshmallows are sweeter than the sour belt gummy part, making this sour marshmallow a real combination of sweet and sour. I enjoyed the contrast.
I also liked that the marshmallow melts in your mouth to some degree.  

When I roasted the marshmallows on an open fire (because we all know marshmallows were created, in part, to be roasted) they seemed to roast quicker than a regular marshmallow. I guess the sour-sugar coating helped it caramelize faster. I enjoyed the roasted marshmallow as well, although it tasted less sour once roasted.

Bottom Line: I was really glad I tasted them they were fun to eat, just as I think marshmallows are intended to be! So if you like sour-sugar coated sweets you might think these are a nice new treat.

150 gram /5.29 oz bag 7.99 NIS

Kosher: Badazt and OU

Sour Taffies

Although I don't think sour taffies are all that new, in that, I'm sure other companies make sour taffies, they are new for Carmit.

The sour taffies package was a mix of 2 flavors, strawberry-lemon and apple-lemon. The apple-lemon seemed slightly more sour to me but they were both somewhat sweet and somewhat sour with neither taste overpowering the other. In that way they reminded me, to some degree, of Jelly-Belly sour jelly beans. In every other way, shape, texture and packaging they look and feel like a regular, individually wrapped, taffy candy. The strawberry one is pink with a yellow center and the apple one is green with a yellow center.

I'd say they are exactly what they claim to be: a sour taffy. I liked them because usually taffies are too sweet for me.
An 8 and a 4 year old girl who tasted them said they would prefer a sweet taffy. Still, a 5 year old who enjoys sour-belts, and the like, really loved the sour taffies and she was so excited that it had two different colors in one taffy. Carmit's sour taffy was a "win win" for her. 

Bottom Line: They seem to totally live up to their name. I think they are a successful sour taffy.

 180 gram/6.3 oz. bag -6.99 NIS

Kosher: Badazt and OU

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.