Sierra Mist 'Free'...Or So it Seems

This is the new Sierra Mist Free...shown on commercials as the ideal soda to steal. Obviously, there was some confusion with a person who thought that the 'free' at the bottom meant just that. The real reason for this 'free' is the lack of calories, carbohydrates, and sugar, which tend to always go together at the moment as shown in their slogan "Free yourself from sugar, calories, cars, and caffeine with Sierra Mist Free!". On to product testing: The flavor is full and not dull like other diet sodas such as Diet Coke; the lack of sugar IS noticable only because the fake sugar has that aftertaste but it's not as prominent as in Diet Pepsi; it does taste strongly of citrus flavors, but is sweeter than regular Sierra Mist (as it Free has more fake sugar than regular has real sugar). Overall, it's one of the best diet beverages I've tasted and I've seen many of my friends pop the tops off of these suckers trying to get a taste. And for those of you who have read my other postings...don't think this blog is turning into a product-testing journal, but new products do seem to be of high interest in this country and interest me.

Чебурашка

This little monkey character (about three inches by two inches at the arms/ears) is called Чебурашка (Chyeburashka). He is actually a popular cartoon character from Россия/СССР (Russia/USSR) originating during the Совет (Soviet) era. This was given to me by a German exchange student in our school named Millie. She was born in Russia and lived there for one year when her family moved to Germany. While she has been in America, which she doesn't much like, her sister went on a small visit to Russia and bough two Chyburashka keychains and sent them to her. I was chatting with Millie one day and I asked her if she knew what Cheyburashka was and she thought for a second, got very excited, and said she'd bring me one the next day. I was very happy since I thought I would need to travel to Russia myself to claim one, but, here it is.

Peppermint Swoops

Yet another great Christmas-themed product. I had tried Hershey's Swoops chcolate candy before and wasn't too crazy about them, but the small embeded beads of peppermint with the chocolate is refreshing enough to overtake the extreme sweetness of the white chocolate, which is the reason why I didn't like them in the first place. In each pack (shown is one pack) you get three individual cups each with six "swoops". Notice the "Limited Edition" flag in the upper left-hand corner...schade...