Plate It or Hate It

Recent food world discoveries the ES crew is loving and hating…

Plate It: Saffron Chai

We’re already fans of chai lattes, but adding a hint of rich, flavorful saffron makes this taste like drinking a cup of gold. Available from Jaipur Avenue.

Hate It: Bacon Soda

We’re told you many times that bacon will never die, but it’s time for fake bacon flavor to take a hike. We loved this idea when we heard about it last year, but now that it has hit the market it turns out we actually like our soda to taste like corn syrup, not pork syrup.

Plate It: Whipped Cream Vodka

 

Enough with this artisan vodka trend. Isn’t the whole point of vodka that you can mix it to the point where you don’t have to taste it? Enter Pinnacle Vodka‘s version, which makes vodka taste like pumpkin pie. Trashy? Yes. Delicious? Double Yes.

Hate It: Jars

First every faux-downscale hipster bar in the world started serving beer from little jars (and charging the same price as full pints) — now dessert has migrated to the jar, too. Could just be me, but I don’t get the appeal — what was wrong with glasses and bowls?

(Photo: Calgary Reviews)

Plate It: The BeerTender

Now this is a drinking trend we can behind: kitchen counter-sized beer kegerators, and available for under $100! The only problem we see is that it appears to work only with those Heineken mini-kegs, but we’re betting some of you homebrew nerds could rig something up. Anyone?

Hate It: “A Handful of Almonds”

ES-er Emily writes: It just pisses me off when celebrities in magazine interviews talk about how “a small handful of almonds” is their favorite go-to snack. A few cases-in-point:

Paula Zahn: ” If I’m on the run, I’ll just eat a handful of almonds. ”

Cindy Crawford: After each lunch, one of the most famous top models chew a handful of almonds to satiate her hunger.

Maria Menounos: “My days can be really busy, so when I grab a snack, I want it to work as hard as I am. I want it to give me energy, fill me up, and fuel my body. I like to grab veggies, like baby carrots or a handful of almonds.”

Trust me, I’ve tried it a million times (including RIGHT NOW which is why I thought of this) and eating seven nuts when I’m starving at work just never does it for me. I get that there’s protein and whatever, but…no. Not a substantial snack. And now Trader Joe’s is cashing in on this with a product called “just a handful of almonds.” Oh my god, because there is no way I could just “measure” a “handful” on my own out of a bag.

(Photo: Not Martha)