Tag Archives: vegan

Smart Sweets Cola Gummies Review

2024-04-13 Ater Imber Leave a comment

I haven’t had cola gummies in a long time – last time I did, was probably way back around 2008/09. They were never really my favourite candies, I always enjoyed Twizzlers or chocolates better. That said, I do sometimes get in the mood for them, but unfortunately, like a lot of other candies, they use gelatin, which makes them not vegan-friendly. Or at least, the ones they sell at Bulk Barn aren’t.

That’s why I was excited to discover this brand Smart Sweets when I was on the hunt for vegan gummy candies for Valentine’s 2022. (I was planning on making a dessert charcuterie board, but that didn’t end up happening) I had already tried some Squish vegan gummies, but I was on the hunt for cola gummies, and at the time, Squish didn’t carry them. (Or if they did, they were sold out when I looked) Which is why I ended up choosing Smart Sweets.

Despite gummies not being my favourite candy, I was disappointed to learn that I didn’t like these cola gummies. For one, they didn’t actually taste like cola. They tasted like apples and some of them had a weird spicy (not hot) flavour. It was similar to cinnamon, but couldn’t have been that because I didn’t have an allergic reaction. (Yes, I’m unfortunately allergic to cinnamon)

Now, granted, I haven’t drank a Coke in… I don’t even know how long. Definitely not since the early 2000’s, maaaybe at the latest around the early 2010’s, so perhaps I’m not remembering the taste correctly, or maybe they’ve since changed the flavour, but apples and that weird spicy flavour did not equal ‘cola’ to my brain/taste buds.

Another thing I didn’t like about them was how empty 1 bag was. They were typical fruit-snack gummy sized pouches, but there was maybe five or six in the bag I got. I’m not expecting them to be filled to the top or anything, but it seemed a little too empty compared to other snack pouches.

Switching to things I did like about the gummies, they didn’t taste overtly sugary – which is great because they’re advertised as having only 3g of sugar per bag! Y’know that nauseous feeling you get if you indulge a little too much in things that are high in sugar? That doesn’t happen when you eat these, which is good, because it means you can eat more than one pack without worrying.

They also don’t use artificial flavours, and instead use ingredients you can actually pronounce! I’m assuming this is why they tasted like apples, and a quick check of the ingredients found that they do have apple extract in them. Though it says the apple extract is just supposed to be in there for colour purposes, you can definitely taste them.

Another good thing about the gummies, was that they were a decent price! They were only $3.47 when I got them back in 2022, so it won’t hurt your wallet all that much if you decide to try them.

I’m not sure if I just got a bad batch, cola gummies might not be my bag or what, but I wasn’t all that impressed with these gummies, unfortunately. The good news is, Smart Sweets makes a few other vegan flavoured gummies, so I’ll definitely try those before completely giving up on the company.

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Product Review, The Veg Life

Lindt Vegan Salted Caramel Chocolate Bar Review

2024-02-13 Ater Imber Leave a comment

I’m so glad that Lindt now has a few vegan chocolate options!

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At the moment, I believe they only have this Salted Caramel bar and a Hazelnut bar, but it’s still a win for vegans. Lindt is one of the biggest mainstream chocolate companies and it’s amazing to see them adding vegan options to their product line!

Salted Caramel is one of my absolute favourite flavours of chocolate, so I was over-the-moon when I was gifted this bar for 2023’s Christmas. This bar is nothing short of delicious, with just the right amount of salted caramel pieces in every square. If you let a piece melt on your tongue until the chocolate’s gone, the salt is in big enough pieces to crunch. And if you do that too many times in a row, you’ll risk cutting up the roof of your mouth and/or tongue. (Yes, I’m speaking from experience)

The chocolate is oat based and doesn’t taste too dark. By that I mean it doesn’t have that dry-out-your-mouth thing that I’ve come across in other dark chocolate. You know the feeling that you immediately need a drink of water after eating a piece? You don’t get that feeling at all – even if you wait and eat the salt bits last.

Another great thing about this bar is that it’s full sized! Yes, unlike many other vegan offerings by non-vegan companies, Lindt is doing it right with the vegan bars being the same size and width as their other bars! (100g)

Even though I was gifted this bar, it didn’t stop me from comparing the price for this article for you guys. According to the Lindt website, this vegan salted caramel bar is $6.79, whereas their non-vegan similar sized bars range between $4.79 and $5.49. (I couldn’t find a non-vegan salted caramel bar, specifically) So while the vegan one is still more money, it’s actually a pretty comparable price!

I definitely recommend you try this bar out for yourself, if you’re able to find it. From what I’ve seen, some major grocery stores carry it – like Loblaws and Metro – but it’s also unfortunately often sold out. If you do manage to get your hands on it though, I doubt you’ll be disappointed!

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Product Review, The Veg Life

Black Fly Sour Cherry Vodka Review

2023-12-13 Ater Imber Leave a comment

Important: This is the last post of 2023. I’ll be taking the last half of December and first half of January off from posting.

I’ll be back January 12th, 2024 with the first short story of the new year! (The first article will go up the following Monday)

One of my absolute favourite things about Black Fly is not only the fact that all their products are vegan, but they’re also a Canadian company! Do you need more of a reason to love a company?

Like coffee, I drink alcohol because I like the taste, not because I ‘need’ it. (I actually have a very low tolerance for alcohol, like caffeine. Half a Smirnoff Ice and that might be too much) So when I tell you that Black Fly’s Sour Cherry is a good product, know I’m talking taste-wise and not get-you-hammered-wise.

Blackfly Sour Cherry is my absolute favourite flavour of alcohol I’ve tried. While it has the typical fizzy “this is alcohol”-ness, the cherry flavour does a great job of balancing it out. It doesn’t burn your throat after so many sips like other alcohol, and is low enough in alcohol content I can usually finish 1 can without feeling like it’s too much.

The cherry flavour itself is reminiscent of Maynard’s Sour Cherry Blasters in the fakeness of it, but it’s not nearly as sweet and has a hint more realness to the flavour than the candy. It actually reminds me of those Chubby drinks, if you’ve ever had them. (Yes that was the last time I had a cherry flavoured pop)

You can also usually buy them as single tall can, in packs of four, or twelve. Which is great if you’re someone like me and only need a little bit of a drink to enjoy, instead of being forced to buy a four pack like some other companies make you. I wasn’t able to find a bigger pack than twelve though, so if you’re having a party, you’ll need to double up.

Unfortunately, the Sour Cherry flavour has been extremely hard to find the last couple years, so I finally reached out to the company on Instagram, to figure out why.

They told me this:

Hi, Thanks for reaching out! We’re happy to hear you’re writing a product review about Black Fly! We hope you’re loving our drinks so far! Our Sour Cherry is not currently available in any provinces. The variety of Black Fly flavours varies from province to province depending on what the various liquor boards choose to carry, and on the success of products! Cheers

I was obviously very saddened to to hear that their Sour Cherry flavour is no longer available in Canada. As said above, it’s my favourite flavour, but I guess most other people didn’t agree. (This unfortunately happens with a lot of products I like)

I usually like to end reviews telling you to go out and try the product for yourself, but if you live in Canada, that won’t be possible. They do have other flavours that should still be available, though. Their Grape and Orange were my second and third choices when the Sour Cherry wasn’t around.

Though as they say in their response, the available flavours will change depending on the demand of your location, so keep that in mind while you’re on the hunt!

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Product Review, The Veg Life

King’s Vegan Shrimp Review

2023-08-13 Ater Imber 1 Comment

I first tried the King’s Vegan Shrimp way back in September of 2021. It was a new product at Good Rebel, and though I don’t enjoy the taste of seafood – and I didn’t like their Simulated Chicken Leg – I figured venturing outside my comfort zone is good (once in a while) and decided to dip my toes into their shrimp. (Pun intended?)

The package came with a lot of shrimp in them – probably over 20 pieces, which was great! Finally a vegan product that comes with more than a “single serving” amount of food! I’d recommend King’s on that alone, but we both know that’s not the only thing to consider before buying a product.

Not only did the bag come with a lot of pieces, but the shrimp themselves were also bigger than I thought they’d be. I’d say they were about the same length as my palm (which is 6 inches – I only know this because I measured it for a previous article) which I believe are bigger than actual shrimp? I ended up cutting them in half (or smaller) when I cooked with them.

Maybe if you were going to use them for breaded shrimp the size would work better, but if you want to use them in a dish (and not make them the star) you’ll probably want to cut them into smaller pieces.

(This is them cut)

Once the shrimp were cooked, they had almost a rubbery texture. I’m not sure if it’s the way that I cooked them, the product itself, or if that’s what actual shrimp’s texture is (I’ve been vegan 7 years and hadn’t had shrimp for easily a few years before that), but I thought that could’ve been better. I think they were going for chewy and not that classic soft tofu texture, but it just missed the mark for me.

I’m kind of on the fence with this product. On the one hand, I’ve definitely had worse products (cough Amy’s Curry cough), but I’ve also had products I enjoyed more. I might get them again once in a blue moon, but truthfully, it was a struggle for me to finish the whole bag. Ironically, this is one product I think could benefit from having a smaller size bag.

Bottom line, I won’t tell you to rush out and buy it, but if you’re curious (or someone who enjoys the taste of seafood) I’m not going to stop you.

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I post new product reviews on the 13th of every month!

Product Review, The Veg Life

Babybel Plant-Based Cheese Review

2023-03-13 Ater Imber Leave a comment

That’s right, everyone!

The vegan movement has gained enough traction that even Babybel is getting on board! They’re one of the biggest snack cheese brands so this is a huge win.

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Whether you think they’re doing it just for clout, or you believe they’re genuinely turning over a new leaf, there is no denying that this new vegan Babybel cheese is great. Not only is it a win for the vegan movement, but it also tastes pretty good!

Babybel says the vegan wheels are supposed to be mozzarella, and I’d say it’s true. Or at least, they taste like the other vegan brands mozzarella. Didn’t have that overpowering cheddar flavour, but you could also tell it wasn’t as ‘plain’ as Monterey Jack.

The cheese also had a good consistency – it wasn’t too hard or too soft – the texture actually reminded me of firm, uncooked tofu. I think it was a little weird the cheese itself had dimples in it. But I’m not sure if that’s something the non-vegan Babybels have as well.

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I don’t think the dimples affected the taste, mostly just the look. I wasn’t expecting the wheel to be dimpled, so it threw me for a minute. They were deep enough you could feel them with your finger, but not super deep.

The vegan Babybels also come in a paper bag that isn’t resealable. I didn’t have a problem with not being able to reseal the bag, I just folded the top over like a chip bag and left it in my fridge. Each wheel was also wrapped in plastic, and the iconic Babybel wax. Though since these ones are vegan, instead of the classic red, the wax was green!

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The Babybel website’s FAQ section unfortunately couldn’t tell me what type of wax the cheese was wrapped in – just that it was food safe. (Though they don’t recommend eating it)

Them calling the product Plant-Based even though they’re certified vegan set off a little alarm bell in my head, so I ended up reaching out to the company directly. Lucky the company got back to me (23.01.27) and told me “the green wax that wraps Babybel Plant-Based is the same as the one used on our other Babybel products and is certified vegan. The wax is made from a blend of paraffin and microcrystalline waxes and colouring, which specifically contains no Bisphenol A.”

So there’s no need to worry – the cheese and wax is certified vegan! (Though I do think it’s a little weird the wax on the non-vegan cheese is also vegan)

Another good thing about the vegan pack is they’re comparable in price! A non-vegan pack of 6 Babybels are $4.77. By comparison, the vegan one came with 5 wheels and was $4.47.

It sucks we get one less, but since they’re still pretty new, who knows? If there’s enough demand for them, Babybel might decide to eventually add a bigger pack to their line up!

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Product Review, The Veg Life

Go Max Go Chocolate Review (Again)

2023-02-13 Ater Imber Leave a comment

Go Max Go’s chocolates are closer to replicas of those famous big box, non-vegan bars. Mars, Snickers, Twix, etc. While Go Max Go doesn’t have too much variety – they only sell 9 different products – the ones that they do sell are great.

If you were around in 2018, you would know I’ve already done a Go Max Go review, so you may be confused.

That first review I did was only for 4 of their products, and I thought it was finally time to finish the line.

Truthfully, I’d been putting off trying their other chocolates, because, well… I’m not great at trying new things, especially if it’s something I don’t think I’ll like. But after receiving a free box of goodies after e-mailing their customer service, I knew the time had come to bite the bullet (pun intended) and finish the review.

While some of these new ones I liked about as much as I expected, there were also a few I was pleasantly surprised by!

Mahalo

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This bar was a coconut flaked mash topped with whole almonds and wrapped in chocolate. Based on the description, I didn’t think I was going to like this one, but it was actually pretty good!

It had a nice light flavour, and though the entire inside was coconut flakes, strangely didn’t have an overly strong coconut flavour. The almonds were good, they tasted just as you’d expect an almond would. I don’t think they were roasted or anything, just a plain raw almond.

The chocolate coating wasn’t too thick, which was great because it didn’t overpower the rest of the flavours. This bar also wasn’t overtly sweet like the Twilight or Jokerz bar. While this bar isn’t my favourite out of the entire line (I’m partial to the Twilight, Jokerz and Cleo’s), it was pretty good! I’d definitely get it again if I wanted a nice, light chocolate.

A word of caution though: because of the flakes, this bar can get pretty messy, so if you choose to try it, make sure you have a napkin nearby!

Thumbs Up

This one I wouldn’t exactly call a ‘bar’ – it’s tube-shaped and consists of crunchy peanut butter wrapped in rice milk chocolate.

Even though the wrapper said it was crunchy, I was definitely not prepared for how crunchy it was! It was very hard to bite through – like the same amount of force it takes to bite through a raw carrot hard – and unfortunately, the flavour didn’t make up for that fact.

I’m not sure what type of peanut butter is used, but the middle of this thing did not taste like peanut butter to me. It tasted closer to a toffee or salted caramel or something than peanut butter. It was just sort of… crunchy sugar in chocolate.

This was one of the ones I thought I’d like, since I already enjoy their Cleo’s (which are peanut butter cups) I figured how bad could it be?

Turns out, worse than I was expecting.

I think using softer peanut butter would be better. Unless some people like working out their jaw when eating chocolate?

Major

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This bar is one I knew I wasn’t going to like after reading the wrapper. The Major has “crisp, English toffee in a chocolatey coating”. While I don’t think it helped I tried this one right after the Thumbs Up, I wasn’t surprised that I didn’t like this one.

The toffee in this tasted exactly the same as the peanut butter in the Thumbs Up, and while the chocolate was good, it couldn’t save it.

Luckily, this bar was pretty thin – thinner than the Twilight, Jokerz and Mahalo – so it wasn’t so bad having to finish it.

2*Fer

Don’t let the name fool you, there’s only one bar in the wrapper. The name refers to the fact that this bar is a cookie topped with caramel in a chocolatey coating.

Because what’s better than just a straight up chocolate bar? A chocolate bar with a cookie in it!

This bar was also thinner than their other products, but I think if it was thicker, this bar wouldn’t work.

The cookie is semi-crunchy – not nearly as crunchy as the toffee or peanut butter from the last two products – and though it’s pretty plain tasting, it works well with the rest of the bar!

The caramel tastes the same as the one they use in the Twilight bar, not overly sweet, but stretchy and just the right amount of stick-to-your-teeth, and the chocolate tastes the same as well.

This one, I had my non-vegan friend try, and they said to them, this bar tasted like a dark chocolate version of Twix. I can’t deny nor confirm that as the last time I had a Twix I was still in grade school (dairy allergy), so take from that what you will.

All in all, I liked this bar and would definitely recommend you try it. However, like the Mahalo, make sure you have a napkin handy. The cookie on this puppy isn’t overly crunchy, but it’s still crumbly!

Snap!

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The last of the Go Max Go chocolates I tried, the Snap! bar is a crisped rice in rice-milk chocolate bar. This bar surprisingly had a ‘light’ taste to it, and the rice was crispy, but not in a bad way.

It tasted like what I remember the Rice Krispies cereal tasting like, though I haven’t had that in over 8 years, so again, take from that what you will.

It also reminded me of these chocolate rabbits my mom used to get during Easter. I don’t know the brand, but I believe they were just called rice chocolate bunnies.

The rice in this bar is hard to explain, but I’m going to try. When you bit the rice, it would crunch, but then it would basically dissipate in your mouth, so it only took 1 bite to chew it.

The chocolate in this bar was definitely darker than the other ones in this list, but I think if they had used their not-dark chocolate it wouldn’t have worked as well as it does.

Because of the light, magically disappearing rice in this bar, it’s easy to eat it quickly. So if you want to savour the flavour, I’d recommend you consciously attempt to eat it slow, or just do yourself a favour and buy two of them.

I hope you enjoyed the second half of the Go Max Go chocolates review, and decide to try some this coming Valentine’s Day! (Or Halloween)

Have you tried any of the Go Max Go Food’s chocolates? Let me know your favourites below in the comments!

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Product Review, The Veg Life

Pizza Oggi’s Mini Calzones with Cauliflower Crust Review

2023-01-13 Ater Imber Leave a comment

Happy New Year, everyone!

Hope you all had an amazing, relaxing holiday and are ready to get back into it. First article this year is this product review!

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I’ve never heard of this brand before, but decided to go out on a limb and try their product. After all, I like pizza, so how bad could a calzone be?

I first tried these mini calzones on 22.12.14, and I was immediately surprised by how big they were. Considering they were supposed to be ‘mini’ they were a lot bigger than I thought they’d be. One calzone was roughly the same length as my hand (tip of middle finger to palm).

The box itself was relatively small, and 1 box also only came with six. This surprised me, because they were listed under the Appetizers section, and I naively assumed it would come with more, since when I hear ‘appetizer’ I immediately think of a party.

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Don’t get me wrong, these would absolutely still work for a party, but you’d need more than one box. Or, you could cut the calzones into bite-sized pieces, but that might defeat the purpose of eating a calzone.

They also cooked a lot faster than the box recommended. Though my oven burns hotter than most, I was still surprised at just how fast these cooked. The boxes instructions say to cook them at 425 for 12-15min, or until golden. (And to flip halfway through)

I cooked them at 400 for 6min, then had to turn the oven down to 350 for the last 6min because the outsides were starting to look burnt. After the second 6min cooking time, I took them out and they were done! So if your oven tends to burn hotter like mine, I’d recommend doing 350 for the entire cooking time, unless you like calzones extra crispy.

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Once they were cool enough to bite without burning my tongue, I went ahead and divided them between me and my non-vegan friend. (He agreed to help me out with product reviews when he was able to)

My first impression of the calzones was that they didn’t smell very ‘deep’ like regular pizza. It’s hard to explain, but if you’ve ever had pizza, it’s almost like you can smell every layer: the dough, sauce, cheese (or lack thereof) and toppings. These smelled more like… nothing.

I’m not sure if it’s because the dough was made out of cauliflower, or if it was a lacking of spice in the sauce, but when I held it up to my nose, it was almost like there was nothing there.

Which is very weird considering how many things were in it!

These calzones had: cauliflower crust, Beyond Meat Italian crumbles, vegan cheese, potatoes, bell pepper, peas, mushrooms, onions and more! Which is great for a food to have that many veggies in it.

But not so great for the taste.

Not that the taste was bad, but I definitely wouldn’t have said they were calzones. Calzones are supposed to taste like pizza, right? Just in a not-quite-pocket shape. These… didn’t. These calzones tasted closer to samosas, Perogies, or even a veggie Jamaican Patty.

They tasted like veggie soup in a wrapper, essentially. And speaking of the wrapper, neither me nor my friend could tell it was cauliflower dough. Even though the box proudly exclaimed it was made with a cauliflower crust, we couldn’t tell at all. In fact, if the box didn’t tell us it was cauliflower, we wouldn’t of guessed. It was that close to ‘real’ dough.

Though it’s clearly listed in the ingredients, you also couldn’t really taste nor see the vegan cheese. There were maybe 3 dots of white mozzarella. The inside of the calzones even looked more dry and crumbly than a calzone is supposed to.

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And sure, you could argue that maybe that’s my oven’s fault for almost overcooking, but even if it did dry them out, the pizza flavour was still missing. My friend agreed. They were great! But neither of us would’ve labelled them as ‘calzones’.

So, the big question: should you try them?

If you like the taste of samosas, Perogies or veggie Jamaican patties, then yeah, absolutely!

But if you’re craving something pizza flavoured? I’d skip this one.

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Product Review, The Veg Life

Beyond Meat Hot Italian Sausages Review

2022-07-13 Ater Imber Leave a comment

If you’ve been around here before, you’ll know I can not handle spicy foods. I have a very low spicy tolerance, and very, very rarely eat spicy foods willingly.

That said, when the Beyond Meat Hot Italian Sausages came to Canada, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to review them.

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I first tried these sausages back in March of last year (2021), and I have to say, I was actually pleasantly surprised!

Similar to the Beyond Meat Burgers, these sausages had a very similar texture to meat sausages (or at least, from what I remember) and even seemed to have a ‘skin’ or casing on them.

These sausages are very meaty tasting, and smelling. Which is great, if that’s your thing! If you’re looking for a plant-based alternative to replace meat products without compromising on taste or texture, these are definitely the sausages for you!

As I’ve said in previous reviews, I’m a fan of plants that taste like plants. Give me a mushroom burger that tastes like mushrooms, and I won’t complain. These sausages, as well as the Beyond Meat burgers… honestly, I think it’s amazing that we can make plants taste that close to meat products, but it’s just not really my thing.

I don’t know quite what it is, but even just smelling the ‘meat’ smell makes me mildly nauseous. Like my body is screaming no, don’t eat that! at me, even though I know it’s made out of plants, and is not a dead body.

For me personally, it’s too close to meat for me to be a big fan of them, or to add them to my regular shopping list. Once in a while is fine, but I really can’t handle them more than that. I just don’t crave that meaty taste – even back before I went vegan, I stayed away from pretty much every meat that wasn’t chicken/turkey, because I just didn’t like the taste – so it’s actually not surprising that I still don’t really dig that flavour.

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Beyond Sausage close up

Not only were these sausages super meaty, but they also definitely lived up to their Hot name. They were spicy. Like, take three bites and burn the back of my throat spicy. Now, as said above, I have a very low spice tolerance, so you may not find them that spicy, but honestly, these messed up my digestion I imagine the same way eating hot wings messes with other people. It was not pretty, nor fun.

Even just thinking back to eating them is making me want to chug a bunch of water. I definitely am a bigger fan of the Mild sausages, though I also found those spicy. Not as bad, but they definitely still had a kick.

I did notice however, that if I chopped up the sausages and mixed them into something else, it did significantly reduce the spicy effects. So, that’s also an option, if you’re worried about how spicy they are.

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Beyond Sausage cut up in a Mr. Noodle stir fry

One thing I definitely don’t like about these sausages, is the packaging. They come in a cardboard container, that’s wrapped in plastic. Also, they only come 4 to a package. I’ve complained about this in other reviews, but seriously, if you want to offer that little in a package, at least have a bigger packaging option. Why not make them available in an 8, or hell, even a 6 pack would be better.

Beyond Meat now makes Breakfast Sausages that come in an 8 pack, so I don’t understand why these big ones can’t also. I’m not for sure on this, but the breakfast links also appear to come in a cardboard box, instead of plastic, which again begs the question: why can’t the big sausages come the same?

I know this review may seem like it’s negative, so I want to be clear: I’m in no way trying to trash this product. I think it’s amazing and crazy that Beyond Meat has figured out a way to make plants taste that close to meat products. It’s truly an incredible achievement, and said above, if you’re someone who’s looking to quell your meat cravings without eating the real thing, you would be hard pressed to find a better sausage than these.

These sausages aren’t something I personally will be buying very often, but I’m still definitely recommending them!

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Product Review, The Veg Life

Kelly’s Triple Fudge Brownie Review

2022-06-13 Ater Imber Leave a comment

I’ve been very excited to try other products from Kelly’s ever since I tried their Salted Caramel Pretzel Cupcake during one of the Vegandale Festivals. I thought for sure I’d be out of luck after learning they were located in Burlington, but fortunately, they deliver to Toronto!

Wanting to try something new last year (2021) for Valentine’s Day, I decided to go ahead and place an order. Now, I’m not sure if it was just me, or the way their shop operates, but their website didn’t have too many offerings at the time I placed my order. Wanting to not go crazy, as well as remain practical (as I was planning on sharing some of the baked goods with friends and family), I decided to go with their Triple Fudge Brownie. Since it was flat, I figured it would be the safest to carry for travel.

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Small brownie tray

I ended up choosing the Small Tray size of their brownie to share, as well as two loose brownies to try beforehand – this way, I could test them myself before giving out possibly bad-tasting baked goods.

Luckily though, their brownie was amazing, and even my non-vegan friend enjoyed it!

Kelly’s Triple Fudge Brownies were firstly a lot bigger in size than I thought they’d be. The ones I got loose were roughly the size of my palm, and were also very sturdy.

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The loose brownies came in this cute pink box!

I don’t know if I’ve just had suck-y brownies before, but other brownies I’ve tried were closer in consistency to a cupcake than this was. This one felt a lot denser than ones I’ve previously tried – but not in a bad way!

I was also surprised that it was very soft to bite into, and reminded me of eating ice cream. Soft, yet firm. That said, the brownie was also not overly sweet like some other desserts. You know how sometimes you eat a cupcake and the second it goes into your mouth, your tongue almost recoils because it’s so sweet? That didn’t happen with this brownie.

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Brownie cut in half – like this, you can clearly see where the ganache ends and the brownie begins.

The website also said that the brownie had a chocolate ganache on top, which you can tell by looking at the brownie – the top of it is more of a lighter brown than the rest of it. The ganache also kind of flaked off the top when eating it. This worked out though, because the brownie was the type of dark chocolate that makes you thirsty, so picking up the ganache piece after eating it and letting it melt in your mouth helped with the dryness.

It was actually quite weird, now that I think about it. The brownie was dry, but not dry. I thought at first this may have been because the loose brownies were most likely made during the morning, but I didn’t receive the order until later in the day. You know that sort of dryness baked goods get if you leave them out on the counter? It was similar to that. (Though of course, I can’t say for sure whether or not the brownies were sitting around, and I’m in no way accusing Kelly’s of doing this)

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How the two loose brownies looked in the pink box.

My non-vegan friend said they liked the brownie as well. They said they weren’t sure if they would call it ‘fudge’ per se, but that it ‘definitely was a good chocolate brownie, was nice and flaky and surprisingly not crumbly’. (They ‘only made 4 crumbs’ when eating it)

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Another thing I liked about this brownie, and the Kelly’s company in general, is the fact the order came in a paper bag, instead of a plastic one. Granted, the containers that the actual brownies were in were plastic, but I liked that they at least didn’t have unnecessary plastic.

One thing I didn’t like about this order, was the price. Now, I know Kelly’s is a small, family owned bakeshop, and I did make them deliver from Burlington to Toronto (around Victoria Park and Danforth), however, my order total was $48.39, not including the tip. Considering I only got 2 items, this just seemed like a lot to me.

Another thing I didn’t like was the way the website would time out if you were taking too long to complete the order. I understand this is probably for inventory purposes, but it was annoying when I had to keep restarting my order, even though I stayed on the website. (I was trying to find ingredient information)

That said, Kelly’s had amazing customer service, and was overall very pleasant to do business with, aside from those two things. I definitely recommend you check them out and place an order with them, if you’re within the delivery zone (or can go and do a pick-up), and I look forward to placing more orders with them in future!

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So Delicious Vanilla Bean Coconutmilk Frozen Dessert Review

2022-05-13 Ater Imber Leave a comment

Vanilla gets a bad wrap as being a ‘boring’ flavour, but, without a solid foundation, you can’t build ice creams that are more complex. Also, sometimes you just want a ‘boring’ flavour, or maybe someone doesn’t like a weird combo of flavours – whatever your reasoning, vanilla is a great basic flavour to keep stocked in the freezer.

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That said, this means the review of a plain-er flavour won’t be as long, because there’s not as much to talk about flavour-wise. But again, I don’t think that should influence someone’s decision to buy it!

Okay, that’s enough defending, let’s get down to the review.

I’m going to be honest, this ice cream didn’t actually taste like vanilla. It tasted like coconut, which is fine, since it’s a coconut-based ice cream. And it wasn’t an overpowering coconut flavour like some other things I’ve tried. It was actually a much more subtle flavour than I thought it’d be. I don’t know if they added vanilla, and that’s what muted the coconut, or if that’s just what plain coconut ice cream tastes like, but it was nice, even though it’s not the flavour that’s advertised on the label.

The ice cream was also very ‘light’ and refreshing, unlike some more complex flavours which feel ‘heavier’ when eating them. This ice cream was a perfect, light snack. It actually kind of reminded me of summer, in the same way that eating watermelon does.

It was also pretty soft. I don’t know if it’s because it was coconut based or not, but I actually loved how soft it was! I could take it right out of the freezer and eat it, unlike with (as an example) Ben and Jerry’s, where you have to leave it on the counter for 5-10 minutes just to get a spoon in it.

A downside to this, and so far all vegan ice cream, is unfortunately it still came in the small pint containers, like the Ben and Jerry’s ice creams. I don’t know why there’s no family sized vegan ice cream out there, but I wish someone would start making it! Sure, for one person, this size would last maybe a week (if you ate a little every day), but what should you do if you have a celebration, like a birthday? You could buy multiple pints, but the amount you’d need to feed everyone, coupled with the high price, makes it not worth the effort.

I’m going to try to restrain myself from launching into a whole rant about the sizing thing – if you’ve read any of my other reviews, you know how much the smaller size thing irks me.

That’s really everything I had to cover for this ice cream: nice, light, coconut-y flavour, and a small container. Not much else I can say about it, except tell you to buy it if you like mellow flavoured ice creams.

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Writer – Vegan – Aspiring Buslifer