'Bos Knows Flava

There are so many new flavors of EVERYTHING rolling out these days that it's hard to keep up!  I don't know whether to credit the developers at Lay's for pioneering the new trend of creating bold, new flavored snack foods and distributing them to the masses, but it appears that everyone is jumping on board and the Fat is LOVING it.  Pringles has 29 flavors floating out there that need to be tried, cookie companies keep cranking out new work, and OF COURSE Lay's keeps busting out the "Do Us A Flavor" competition each year (keep checking Faturated Sats for a full breakdown of the 2015 entries).

In an unexpected twist, however, there is a new comer jumping on the "bold flavor" bandwagon. As I strolled through my local Duane Reade in NYC, I discovered that Combos are now joining the act.

We've all wandered into a gas station or service area over the years and seen the traditional flavors staring at us longingly from the shelves: cheddar cheese cracker/pretzel, pepperoni pizza cracker, pizzeria pretzel, and the delicious Buffalo Blue Cheese.  However, I'm happy to report that earlier this year some new, and (frankly) daring flavors were introduced:

I first encountered 7 Layer Dip tortilla Combos wandering past them during a scramble to grab a stash of snacks for a 3 hour meeting that I was about to attend.  It was pure happenstance that brought me to these, and just reading the flavor title made me curious enough to "impulse grab".  This was an ambitious undertaking because I know 7 layer dip well.  We be friends.  I scoop that nonsense down like nobodies business.  I was overwhelmingly interested in tasting whether Combos were able to capture that glorious taste.  I was worried that bringing to the meeting would hinder my ability to properly evaluate.  However, this bring elicited a strong reaction from the group I was meeting with. Everyone was curious about the flavor, and so I shared in order to able to gauge the group response and really get a chance to evaluate the Bos.

Unfortunately, I can't say that it was a rousing success.  The 7 Layer Dip claim came off more like the Pizza 'Bos without the spice, or the traditional cheese 'Bo with a hint of refried bean. It's a nice share, and the overall group response was positive, but just in an "okay" kind of way. What was missing was the crisp sour cream, or any kind of "fresh-lite" flavor.  I didn't expect miracles, but if you're gonna claim "7 layer dip" you can't just marry a tortilla 'Bo shell and stuff it with a variation on the spicy cheese.  If you come across them during a grab and go, indulge yourself.  Would I chase these down? Nah.  Good try, though.  Next...

Curious having found a new flavor of Combo, I did a little research and found that there were actually 3 new flavors out there.  Since the Internet is a GLORIOUS wealth of information I found that the Combos website has a "product locator" that can tell where any flavor of Combo your craving can be found within a 10m radius.  Awesome.  I did my due diligence, and found plenty of walking distance options to find the newbies.  That brought me to the Caramel Creme Pretzel Combos.

This was great! The perfect marriage of salty and sweet.  Fat Mike is a sucker for a good salted caramel and this one satisfies.  Because of the unevenly distributed filling of Combos, it's tough to get the right balance every time.  Nevertheless, the balance delivers when you get the good ones.  Most people are probably turned off by the idea of "dessert Combos", but this isn't a super savory thing. It's just a nice change to the snack.  If you want a 'Bo that's a little less "bitey" or "cheesy", then this is the way to go.

But the Caramel Creme is the ugly brother to the last of 'em.

WHAT a PLEASANT SURPRISE these turned out to be!! Sweet and Salty Vanilla Frosting Pretzel Combos. Not only do I recommend them, but I shared with some folks and received the exact same overwhelmingly positive response.  Even from some "pickier" folks. This is almost like eating a pretzel Oreo with that refreshing vanilla creme.  It's a brave flavor to put out there because some people can understand the salted caramel ones, but the two flavors just seem to juxtaposed to work out.  Aside from the fact that the amount of vanilla creme really needs to balance to pull this of..

 

Good stuff, Combos.  I'm hoping this one sticks around for a long time because I see PLENTY of circumstances in the future when I'll be actively seeking these out at a random gas station stop, or late night wander past a place that I know carries these.  I HIGHLY recommend that you folks out there check these out for yourselves.  The Fat tips his cap to the folks in the 'Bos offices.  Good thinking, and good execution.