Cool Hunting

Pop Chips
On a recent road trip we tried some Pop Chips and were very pleased with their light and crisp taste. Even better, they are not fried (fat and oil) or baked (dry and tasteless). Instead, Pop Chips use a combination of heat and pressure to create a healthy but delicious snack. We enjoyed the Parmesean Garlic Potato Chips a bit more than the Wasabi...

Eight Salty, Sweet, Mouth-Puckering Licorices
by Karen McGrane Licorice seemed wrong and bad to me as a child, one of those things like coffee ice cream or kissing in movies that made me deeply suspicious of adult desires. As my tastes have matured so has my preference for licorice and I seek out only the darkest, chewiest, and most complex flavors. Used as a sweetener and a medicinal since ancient...

You Bars
After an athletic mom and her marathon-running, allergic-to-milk son got fed up with the energy bar options on the market, they took matters into their own hands and came up with a customizable alternative that they call You Bars. On their site, customers can make up their own recipe to their exact specs, choosing from a variety of ingredients like almond butter, soy protein,...

Elev8 Me Protein and Fruit Bars
If you're anything like me, you've searched long and hard for a protein and energy bar that wasn't filled with loads of chemicals and artificial ingredients. After reading about and trying a couple of flavors of Elev8 Me bars, I started buying them by the case! Elev8 Me bars were created by a very physically active family in Vancouver who wanted to create the...

FoodShouldTasteGood's Chocolate Tortilla Chips
We were expecting a total disaster when we tried these chocolate tortilla chips from FoodShouldTasteGood. Finding the balance between salty and sweet is always a challenge and often disappointing. These chips deliver both in creating a chip on the edge. They are salty enough to accent the corn and the crunch, and just chocolately enough to be noticed and appreciated without being sweet or...

Madhouse Munchies
Like other Vermont food products before them, Madhouse Munchies potato chips are naturally scrumptious, made with gourmet ingredients, and comparatively healthy. Made with mono-unsaturated canola oil, kettle-cooked and certified vegetarian, the snacks are trans fat-, hydrogenated oil-, and cholesterol-free, and significantly lower in saturated fat than their competitors. Their trademark slogan, “super crispy, really good,” is simple and true. We recommend the Mesquite BBQ,...