REVIEW: Taco Bell Mountain Dew Baja Midnight Freeze

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Update: It appears, as of early September 2025, this is no longer on the menu. I had it mid-August, but didn’t get a chance to write a review until later, and didn’t realize it was gone. I’ll post this review anyway, in case it comes back.

Here we are in Autumn 2025, and there’s no sign of my beloved Mountain Dew Pitch Black. Instead, the only dark purple Dew available during this Halloween season is Taco Bell’s Mountain Dew Baja Midnight. Boo! Not ghost “boo.” Disapproval, “boo.”

Unfortunately, both times I went to Taco Bell to try the new exclusive Dew, there was no syrup available. The Baja Midnight soda spigot just spewed clear carbonated water, and I had to settle for Baja Blast to wash down a Crunchwrap Supreme and my sadness that was as dark as the Baja Midnight I was supposed to have in my cup. However, as a consolation prize, I ended up with Taco Bell’s Mountain Dew Baja Midnight Freeze.

Looking at the purple slush made me sad about not having Mountain Dew Pitch Black. Or maybe I’m experiencing some SAD (Slushie Affective Disorder) that’s caused by having to get the slush form of a Dew I wanted. Whatever I was feeling, this Freeze didn’t thaw my mood.

Baja Midnight is a Dew with passionfruit flavoring, which, if you’re keeping track at home, sounds precisely like Baja Passionfruit Punch that came out in 2023, which was also purple in color. Looking back at my review of it, I gave it a solid 7 rating. I can’t remember what it tasted like, which means it was either forgettable or I’m getting forgettable.

If Baja Midnight and Baja Passionfruit Punch are identical twins separated at birth, then maybe I didn’t care for Baja Passionfruit Punch as much as I thought I did. It had a decent tart passionfruit flavor with hints of citrus. But there was also a weird, floral-like aftertaste with the citrusy punch at the back end. But that floral flavor eventually went away the more I drank it. But whatever I was tasting didn’t wow me, and if given the choice between it and Baja Blast to wash down my Taco Bell meal and sadness, I’d prefer Baja Blast.

I guess it’s safe to say Taco Bell’s Mountain Dew Baja Midnight Freeze is not my cup of MounTEAn Dew. Oh, it’s not safe because I shoved “tea” in Mountain Dew, and you’re not impressed with that wordplay? Well then, you have now experienced the same disappointment I had with this Freeze.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: Large
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 200 calories, 0 grams of fat, 55 milligrams of sodium, 51 grams of carbohydrates, 51 grams of sugar, 0 grams of protein, and 60 milligrams of caffeine.

REVIEW: Little Caesars Cheesesteak Crazy Puffs

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I promise, Big Vegetable or Big Farma, is not making me or paying me to type the following: I wish Little Caesars’ Cheesesteak Crazy Puffs had green bell peppers in them.

Not having them with the seasoned steak, onions, and cheeses is surprising, especially since Little Caesars is also offering an Ultimate Cheesesteak Pizza for a limited time (and online only), which comes with a pick of pretty pint-sized peppers. Adding them might’ve given them a flavor that really hits home that the iconic sandwich inspired these Crazy Puffs.

If you’re not familiar with Little Caesars’ Crazy Puffs, think of them as being on the other side of the size spectrum from a cheesesteak in a long roll. They’re like mini pizzas, and there are four of them per order, which I find to be filling enough for lunch or dinner. I enjoyed the pepperoni and cheese versions that debuted last year.

These Cheesesteak ones are a bit meh. Also, the first one I bit into squirted at me, like it was an octopus shooting black ink at me, the predator, who wants to eat it. I was taken aback by the liquid and cheese that shot out from it, and then I instantly bit into the other three to see if any of them would do the same. Fortunately, for my dwindling napkin supply, which is 100 percent obtained from fast food visits, they did not.

For the most part, the steak was tender, but there were a couple of sinewy pieces. There seemed to be a decent amount of meat, but I didn’t find it to be very meaty tasting. I also didn’t really get too many onion pieces. But whatever there was, also didn’t have much taste. There was a sprinkle of parmesan on the crispy edges, which I thought added a cheesy sharpness. However, the other cheeses were flat tasting. Without any strong flavors from the main ingredients, these Crazy Puffs taste unexciting, and I don’t think they’re worth another go around, unless, perhaps, the powers that be decide to add green peppers to them.

Little Caesars Cheesesteak Crazy Puffs are not, as anthropomorphic Pop-Tarts like to say, crazy good. I believe they are a serviceable option for those wanting something different from the usual Crazy Puffs varieties. I also believe that raw celery sticks are as satisfying as a bag of potato chips.

Now that’s a line I’d gladly add to any review for the right price. Did you read that, Big Farma?

Purchased Price: $4.99*
Size: 4 pieces
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 690 calories. No other nutritional numbers are available on Little Caesars’ website.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did. The advertised price is $3.99.

REVIEW: Dunkin’ Sabrina’s Mixed Berry Daydream Refreshers

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Earlier this summer, I not so boldly predicted that Sabrina Carpenter’s Strawberry Daydream Refresher – her first flirtation with Dunkin’s Refreshers line – was only the beginning.

The Fall menu at Dunkin’ features two new Daydream Refreshers that don’t scream “Fall” in terms of what we’ve grown accustomed to in the pumpkin spice age, but the flavors aren’t totally out of place for September, and they definitely look the part. Mixed Berry and Mango Daydream Refreshers are here in all of their purple and orange glory, attempting to bridge the gap from fruity summer fantasies to convincing yourself it isn’t too early to buy Halloween candy.

Banking on my enjoyment of the Strawberry Daydream, I opted to try the Mixed Berry version. This Refresher blends the strawberry dragonfruit concentrate and blueberry breeze concentrate with oat milk and is served iced, topped with sweet cold foam. Was I just talking about Halloween?

As soon as I was handed my drink, a very different holiday scene came to mind. I couldn’t help but think of the movie Elf, where Buddy goes to work with his father and greets a coworker with “That’s a nice purple dress. Very purply.” This mixed berry drink is decidedly purply, and somehow just holding it and looking at it is enjoyable. Is this why Grimace is always smiling?

Getting beyond looks and into taste, I always enjoy the cold foam at Dunkin’, and this was no different, a thick and sweet layer on top that initially hides anything underneath but quickly dissipates into the drink. I couldn’t detect any strong berry notes until I got past the foam, and I was pleased to find the underlying bulk of the drink to be not too artificially blueberry-ish.

Not surprisingly, the flavor of this Refresher reminded me a lot of a mixed berry yogurt, and the creaminess of the oat milk only made it more reminiscent. You know it’s berry flavored, but no one berry really stands out. We can probably attribute this to the fact that the strawberry flavoring also includes dragonfruit and the blueberry includes juniper, making this a bit of a monster mash of berries. I’ve heard some people found the taste of this and the original Strawberry Daydream to be medicinal, but it never hit my taste buds in that way.

It’s sweet without being overly so, and the berry flavor is inoffensive but also about as exciting as mixed berry yogurt, which is to say, not very.

In addition to not being particularly exciting, I also don’t find this necessarily refreshing. It’s pleasant enough, but when I open the refrigerator searching for refreshment, I’m never going to reach for the mixed berry yogurt first. They say you eat (drink?) with your eyes first, and if you subscribe to that, you might be pleased with this purple concoction, but I don’t think it will warrant a repeat purchase.

Purchased Price: $5.49
Size: Medium
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 290 calories, 5 grams of total fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 57 grams of total carbs, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 42 grams of total sugar, and 3 grams of protein

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Caramel Toffee Cookie Blizzard

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Have you ever been excited to see a new movie, and as you are leaving the theater, or more likely getting up off your couch, all you can think is, “Well, that was disappointing?” Let me introduce you to the rare Dairy Queen Blizzard that I might turn down if offered it for free. The new Caramel Toffee Cookie Blizzard is a classic case of over-promising and under-delivering.

The DQ website describes this one as having “chewy cookie pieces, buttery toffee and golden caramel,” which is all technically accurate. Then things go off the rails a bit with this sentence, which apparently someone got paid to write: “Picture your favorite autumn moments—the crunch of leaves underfoot, the warmth of a bonfire and family outings filled with laughter—all brought to life in this Dairy Queen Blizzard Treat.”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a bonfire nearby; otherwise, I might have tossed a mostly full cup into the flames. This one made me rethink my belief that you cannot really have a “bad” Blizzard, because anything with ice cream and various other sweets will at least be palatable.

This one barely clears that bar. For starters, the cookie pieces (which, according to the ingredient list on the DQ website, are blondie cookies) are immense. They certainly are chewy, as promised, but not much else. The flavor of the cookie pieces is nondescript, but their size overpowers the other parts of the Blizzard, and they were so chewy that it distracts from the other parts.

I really wanted to like this Blizzard, and I’m a big fan of toffee. OK, I’m not enough of a fan to have ever purchased a Heath or Skor bar, but I always snatched a few in the process of “checking” my kids’ Halloween candy. And I’ve enjoyed other toffee Blizzard variations. This one just missed the target. The toffee pieces did bring a bit of crunch, but there didn’t seem to be enough of them in my Blizzard, and the caramel flavor was barely there.

Maybe this would be a bit better with more toffee and without the Godzilla-sized cookie pieces, but I can’t imagine it would make a big difference. The overall taste combination of the cookies, toffee, and caramel was inexplicably almost a little bitter. So, this one gets the rare Do Not Recommend classification in my book.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: Small
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 680 calories, 22 grams of fat, 14 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 430 milligrams of sodium, 106 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 81 grams of sugar, and 13 grams of protein.

REVIEW: McDonald’s Special Edition Gold Sauce

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Honey mustard has been a McNugget option for years at McDonald’s. On very rare occasions, I’ve gotten it with a nugget order. But it’s so rare that I can’t even remember the last time I had it. It might’ve been during the original Snack Wrap years.

My usual choice has been Hot Mustard, and if it ever goes away, I will use whatever power I have to make sure that McDonald’s Corporate will regret that decision, which the folks there will totally ignore while they swim in money like Scrooge McDuck.

Like Scrooge McDuck, McDonald’s is also into gold, more specifically, it has a new Special Edition Gold Sauce. According to the chain, “it’s a harmonious blend of vinegary North Carolina BBQ sauce, infused with notes of honey, smoke and mustard.”

It’s available in a dipping cup for McCrispy Strips and Chicken McNuggets, as well as with McCrispy Chicken Sandwiches and the Snack Wrap. Since I’m just a regular guy rolling in credit card debt and not Scrooge McDuck rolling in gold, I skipped the chicken sandwiches and went with the Snack Wrap and McCrispy Strips.

In my McCrispy Strips review, I wrote that I thought the Creamy Chili Sauce that debuted with them was as good as my beloved Hot Mustard. But I’m going to kick that Creamy Chili Sauce to the curb because this Gold Sauce tantalizes my taste buds more and I think it should be permanent.

The sweet, smoky, and mustard-y flavors pair much better with the seasoning in the McCrispy Strips’ breading. I like it so much that while devouring and dipping the chicken strips, some sauce landed on the back of my hand, and without pausing, I licked it off. So I guess it’s back of the hand lickin’ good.

While I highly recommend it as a dipping sauce, I can’t say the same about it in a Snack Wrap. I felt there’s not enough of it within the flour tortilla to showcase its delicious flavor. Instead, the tortilla muzzled it.

To get a satisfactory level of taste, I dug out some Gold Sauce from one of the containers that came with my chicken strips and added it to the wrap. But the default amount does not cut it. Fortunately, you can order a dipping cup of it for a quarter, which I highly recommend if you get the Snack Wrap.

I’ve been really into Carolina BBQ sauce recently, so that might’ve come into play into how much I love McDonald’s Gold Sauce. My taste buds don’t want it to ever leave. If you want suggestions, McDonald’s, as I mentioned before, the Creamy Chili Sauce can go. Or kick Honey Mustard to the curb, and replace it with this.

Purchased Price: $6.19 (4 piece McCrispy Strips), $3.99 (Snack Wrap)
Rating: 9 out of 10 (Sauce), 5 out of 10 (Snack Wrap)
Nutrition Facts: (just the sauce) 90 calories, 8 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 5 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of sugar (including 5 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein.

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