REVIEW: Trolli Limited Edition Mountain Dew Sour Brite Crawlers

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If you’ve been waiting for your chance to “DO THE DEW” and “DO THE WORM” simultaneously (I wish I could take credit for this tagline, but alas, it’s ripped straight from the Mountain Dew website), you’d best slither on over to a package of the new limited edition Trolli x Mountain Dew Sour Brite Crawlers.

These candy critters aren’t the only option to fulfill all of your Dewy/wormy desires—this fruitful (ha) partnership also includes a Zero Sugar Cherry-Lemon soda—but I’m not opening that can of gummy worms today, so I’ll focus on this wriggly business.

As soon as I opened my pack, I was rewarded with a scent cloud that was certainly Mountain Dew-esque. The worms come in three flavors: the green Original Citrus, the red Original Citrus Cherry, and the blue Original Citrus Blue Raspberry.

You may, like me, be disappointed to note that there’s nary a “Code Red” or “Voltage” in sight—the savvy shopper suspects that this decision was made to broaden the pool of potential buyers to those who may be interested in gummies but unfamiliar with Mountain Dew’s intense yet vague naming conventions and while that is a bit of a bummer for Dewhards like Yours Dewly, fair enough. (What I can’t forgive as readily is the omission of Baja Blast, but maybe that’s another marketing thing—I concede that “Original Citrus Tropical Lime” does have a weird ring to it.)

Of course, I had to try the OG flavor first, and my verdict was… yeah, that tastes like what a Mountain Dew-flavored sour gummy worm should taste like! It starts with a burst of mild sourness that quickly recedes into sweetness, with a bright, refreshing throughline of fizzy citrus-ness. I usually don’t opt for snacks much sourer than a Sour Patch Kid, and fortunately for me, these fall on the lower side of the sour scale, such that even if you’re tentative towards tart treats, you shouldn’t have much of an issue. Because of the mellow flavor, if you told me these were Sprite gummies, I would have believed it, but they’re credible as Dew too. While I noticed an oddly artificial aftertaste (how dare my sugary snacks based on a radioactively-hued soda taste artificial!?), I found that to be minimized when I took smaller bites rather than gulping down a whole worm at once.

The red and blue variants had even more intense flavors, which I would say made me enjoy them more than the green, but the tradeoff was that they didn’t strike me as especially Dew-like. Rather, they tasted like pretty generic cherry and blue raspberry slushies. Appearance- and texture-wise, all of the worms are quite satisfying—they are thick, chewy but not too hard, and somewhat stretchy, with an appealing marbled pattern. (I tried to discern whether the lighter parts and the darker parts tasted different, but as best as I could tell, the difference was purely aesthetic.)

If you’re thinking about picking these up, I suggest you Mountain Dew it; they won’t be around forever, so make like an early bird and get that worm.

Purchased Price: $3.79
Size: 12.3 oz package
Purchased at: 7-Eleven
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (serving size of 5 pieces): 100 calories, 0 grams of fat, 45 milligrams of sodium, 23 grams of carbohydrates, 14 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Pizza Hut Crafted Flatzz

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If you want a personal pizza from Pizza Hut, you could get its Personal Pan Pizza, or you could go up to any of the chain’s other pizzas, spend quality time with it, learn about each other through long, deep conversations, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll build a platonic or romantic relationship with it. But now there’s a third way — Pizza Hut’s new Crafted Flatzz.

The pizza-for-one comes in several varieties: Nashville Hot Chicken, Chicken Bacon Ranch, Pepperoni Duo, Three Cheese, and Ultimate. So that I can tell my doctor I ate vegetables, I picked up the Ultimate, which comes topped with fire-roasted peppers, caramelized onions, diced tomatoes, pepperoni, and Italian sausage.

The Crafted Flatzz is oval-shaped and is about 11 inchezz long and about six inchezz wide. It’s the perfect size ratio to cram into a vertical TikTok video or Instagram Reel. Its length is almost as long as two Personal Pan Pizzas, and if you fold it in half, it’s about as thick. However, I thought that there’s enough with this oblong menu item for two meals. Well, at least for me.

Its edges were quite crispy, but not quite as satisfying as the buttery crispiness from Pizza Hut’s original pizza-for-one. As I ate my order, I noticed there wasn’t a lot of sauce, although I could taste its sweet, tomato flavor with almost every bite.

As for the rest of the toppings, they were typical Pizza Hut fare, although I was glad to see diced tomatoes included. (Gotta get that lycopene!) They added occasional bursts of acidic goodness that give this a slight taste difference from a supreme pizza.

Besides its flavor, what I also liked about this was its price, which is comparable to the chain’s Personal Pan Pizza. However, the locations near me were only promoting the five-dollar price for orders placed before 5 pm. Weird.

While I enjoyed chomping my Crafted Flatzz, it’s not as satisfying as a Personal Pan Pizza. It’s also not something I would consider completely new. It’s essentially a thin-crust pizza for one, with a name that makes me roll my eyes due to the use of double Zs.

I mean, I understand it because pizza has two Zs, and it would be weird if it were just one. And calling it Flatzza would’ve been worse, because that’s a horrible name. And giving it the name Flatizza would’ve been the worst because it would’ve violated Subway’s trademark.

I’m sure Pizza Hut’s lawyers do not want to get personal with Subway’s lawyers.

Purchased Price: $5.00
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: No nutrition info was available on the Pizza Hut website at publication time.

6 Other Things I Consumed (August 2025 Edition)

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Here are six other things I consumed last month that I felt like writing about:

Nescafe Ice Roast

Nescafe Ice Roast.

I’m sure coffee fanatics would roll their eyes at the thought of cheap instant iced coffee, like this Nescafé Ice Roast, but like raccoons and cockroaches, I don’t discriminate against how it tastes. As long as its flavor is fine with lots of creamer and non-dairy milk, and carries caffeine into my system, I’m as cheerful as a morning show personality.

Unfortunately, the bottle doesn’t indicate the amount of caffeine in each serving. Fortunately, someone on the internet inquired about its caffeine content and learned it’s approximately 60 milligrams per teaspoon. There are a gazillion teaspoon servings per bottle, which will last us a month.

I love how quickly and easily I can make my morning iced coffee now. Will be repurchasing for the rest of my life. Or until Nescafé discontinues it.

7-Eleven Hawaii Banana Bread Slurpee

7-Eleven Hawaii Banana Bread Slurpee.

Another Slurpee flavor you can only get here on this rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean! I wrote about a couple of others in a previous post, but this flavor appeared in August, and it’s not as sweet as the standard Banana Slurpee.

It has that artificial banana flavor that I love (Go Banana Runts!), but with a little something something that I’m not sure what it’s trying to emulate. Walnuts? Baked goodness? Banana overripeness? Speaking of overripe bananas, the Slurpee’s color reminds me of them. I’ve slurped this multiple times in August.

Baskin-Robbins Oreo ’n Cold Brew Ice Cream

Baskin-Robbins Oreo ’n Cold Brew Ice Cream.

Not a new flavor, but it’s one I’ve never had before until this past month. It features cold brew coffee flavored ice cream made with cold brew concentrate, Oreo cookie pieces, and chocolate cookie swirls. I was a bit disappointed with it.

Cold brew coffee is supposed to have a smoother flavor than regular coffee, and I guess you could say that this ice cream’s flavor was smoother than coffee-flavored ice creams I’ve had. However, perhaps it was too smooth because I didn’t taste a noticeable coffee flavor.

It’s not awful, and I would eat it if offered some, because the Oreo pieces and swirls complement the ice cream base’s mild coffee flavor. Also, it’s been a long minute since I’ve had Jamoca Ice Cream, and I can’t remember what it tastes like, so I’m unable to compare.

Monster Ultra Violet Energy Drink

Monster Ultra Violet Energy Drink.

I’m 100 percent certain I’ve never had this Monster Ultra flavor before this past month, despite it being available since 2017. I’m 100 percent sure because how can I forget something so delicious?

There are so many Monster Ultra flavors that it’s easy to miss one, but I usually opt for the standard one in the white can or any of the other flavors that have been released within the past five years or so.

But on a whim, I decided to pick the purple canned one, and I’m glad I did. I drank this three times in August. I guess I’m making up for lost time with this excellent grape-flavored energy drink.

Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon

Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon.

Another new-to-me product. If you’re not familiar, these rangoons are fried wonton wrappers filled with cream cheese and served with sweet and sour sauce.

I have skipped over these for years and years because I didn’t think I would like them. But it turns out, they’re okay. However, they’re so mid that I would be fine if I never had another for the rest of my life. People must like them, though, because they’ve been on the menu for a very long time.

Doritos Twisted Queso

Doritos Twisted Queso Other.

Our reviewer, Sean, has already written a full review of this chip flavor, and he loved it. So, when I saw it at 7-Eleven, I decided to pick up a bag. And I have to second what he wrote. These are delightful chips that perfectly capture the cheesy and peppery flavors, evoking thoughts of queso.

Now that I think about it, I should’ve heated them in the microwave for a few seconds to feel the warmth of the queso. It was a seasonal flavor, but it’s so great that I expect it to come back next year.

REVIEW: Starbucks Pecan Oatmilk Cortado

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Ask any of my colleagues, they can vouch for me: While the official first day of fall is the day Starbucks releases its PSL and other fall menu items, I definitely bragged about a new beverage around the water cooler.

After introducing the Cortado at the start of the year, Starbucks has a new variation just in time for sweater weather. It’s the Pecan Oatmilk Cortado, and it features three shots of ristretto blonde espresso, oatmilk, pecan syrup, and pecan crunch topping.

Let’s cut to the chase. This thing is delicious. For starters—and for something that has nothing to do with the flavor—the 8-ounce size remains absolutely adorable. The original Cortado had whole milk as its standard, but now that I’ve had it with oatmilk, I am not going back.

The flavor here is smooth, creamy, and definitely nutty. The Pecan Syrup has a very authentic flavor, and when paired with the oatmilk, it’s the perfect combination. I find the syrup to be the perfect amount of sweet, and would recommend sticking with the two pumps included rather than customizing and adding more. The flavor held up over time (I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… I’m a notoriously slow coffee drinker, but it really helps when evaluating things such as how flavor holds up!). And the short size is truly perfect here. It packs just enough of a punch to kickstart your day and get you ready for those cooler temperatures on the horizon.

I’m knocking it down a point due to the lack of visible pecan crunch topping. It might have sunk into the drink, but you couldn’t see anything with the naked eye.

Despite the lack of topping, this is an amazing drink here. I’ve been super pleased with the Starbucks Cortados, and I’m crossing my fingers for more options in the future!

Purchased Price: $4.95
Size: Short
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 120 calories, 3.5 grams of total fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 13 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of protein, and 230 milligrams of caffeine.

REVIEW: Tombstone Chili Cheese French Fry Style Crust Pizza

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Tombstone’s Chili Cheese French Fry Style Crust Pizza box describes this as hamburger, chili cheese sauce, mozzarella, cheddar, red onion, & parsley on a potato crust. Hmmmm…

French fries are awesome! Pizza is awesome! Chili cheese-flavored things are awesome! So it would stand to reason that this chili cheese french fry crust pizza would also be, you know, awesome, right?

Well, let’s start with the positives. For a lower cost frozen pizza, there are actually a good number of toppings on this thing, especially cheese. Usually, lack of cheese is my number one complaint with frozen pizzas, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this one decently cheesy. There is a good amount of meaty bits, onions, and sauce as well, although the entire time I was eating it, I couldn’t help but wish sliced hot dogs were used instead of the meatball things. Compare me to Sonic the Hedgehog, but nothing beats a good chili cheese dog!

I really like the flavor of the chili cheese sauce, too. It has a nice bite without being overwhelming or detracting from the other flavors, which is really impressive. The consistency is great, too. Thick enough not to leak or squish out when you cut it.

This pizza also smells AMAZING while it cooks. It reminded me of a Sonic chili cheese coney and tots, that perfect blend of chili, cheese, and potato was spot on.

Sadly, that’s where the pros run out, and we turn to the things I didn’t appreciate.

The French fry crust in THEORY sounds great: Innovative, unique, and like the best part of a crispy French fry. Turns out, that only applies to the very edge of the crust, unfortunately. The crispy, crunchy outer edge of the crust is PERFECT, and what I ultimately wanted from the rest of the pie: crunchy, well done fries transformed into a saucy cheese conveyance vehicle. Something about that so-called “crunchy outside, soft inside” crust is where it all fell apart for me.

The taste is aight. Not exactly French fry, per se, but definitely in the “processed potato product” ballpark. More like hash browns if I had to pick something specific. I didn’t really mind that. What I minded was the texture, which is SO. FREAKING. WRONG. It’s floppy, despite baking the pizza on the bottom rack (as instructed) for an additional 5 minutes. It’s also somehow chewy and squishy. It almost reminds me of mochi or gnocchi, and neither of those has a texture I’m excited about sharing with a pizza. My heart stopped being in it after the first bite, and I forced myself to finish my 1/4 pie serving. It took too long to chew, and it was neither pleasant nor appetizing.

If you could get past that, the “hamburger” meatball things were dry and bland and also had a bit of a weird texture to them, although not as weird as the crust.

I say this one is interesting enough to try for the novelty, but make sure you have a backup plan if the crust texture proves to be too much for you.

Purchased Price: $5.87
Size: 18.8 oz
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/4 pizza) 330 calories, 15 grams of total fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol, 630 milligrams of sodium, 39 grams of total carbs, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 3 grams of total sugar, and 9 grams of protein.

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